In my travels around the Southport area, fixing people's PCs, I have seen some examples recently of pretty poorly maintained ones. I am talking about physical problems (mainly dust) and software problems also. Here are some tips to maintain your PC.
One of the biggest problems in PCs today is that we never open them up and clean them out. We live in very dusty environments and that dust naturally accumulates inside the PC's case and fan assembly. The primary reason to clean the dust out is because of the potential for heat buildup. PCs today run faster than ever and that generates heat. Not only does the main microprocessor run hot, but also there are now microprocessors on plug-in cards, especially video cards, that generate heat. Your PC will not work properly if it overheats and many new systems now have internal temperature sensing circuitry for just that reason.
If your fan intake is clogged with dust, that will limit air flow and also cause temperature increase inside the case. Dust buildup can also lead to bad connections for such things as memory modules and internal cables.
Cleaning your PC is fairly simple but DO NOT DO THIS IF YOU ARE UNSURE OF HOW TO OPEN ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT! UNPLUG THE POWER CABLE, open the case, get out your vacuum cleaner (using a soft brush end would be a good idea), and just vacuum out the dust inside. Also vacuum the opening for the fan in the back (from the outside). Of course, take care not to disturb any cables or connectors. You can also use a pressurized air duster can, commonly sold at places like WalMart. This approach actually works a bit better, but you still need to vacuum up the mess later.
Make sure you check that the fan on the processor itself is turning freely and clear of dust.
If you don't want to open the case, at least vacuum out the large fan opening in the back.
If you know what you are doing, it doesn't hurt to occasionally reseat all the cards and connectors, but that is a job best left to the very experienced.
As far as software goes, I often see PCs that I characterize as "constipated"! These PC's hard drives are full of unneeded temporary files and the hard drives have never been defragmented. Both of these situations can lead to increasingly slower performance.
To clean out your temporary files, click Start / Programs / Accessories / System Tools / Disk Cleanup. The program will then search your hard drive for files that can be deleted. Select the types of files (you can probably delete all of them) and click OK to do it.
Then defragment your hard drive by first closing all open programs. Select Start / Programs / Accessories / System Tools / Disk Defragmenter and follow the directions. This procedure can sometimes take a long time (even hours) and it may be a good idea to do it when you have lots of free time or perhaps overnight.
These steps should make your PC a lot happier and run better. PLEASE NOTE that opening up electrical equipment has the risk of shock exposure. If you are at all concerned about being able to do this type of work, get professional help.
(Bob Seidel is a local computer consultant in the Southport / Oak Island area. You can visit his website at www.bobseidel.com or e-mail him at bsc@bobseidel.com).