Al Carrell: One of the keys to keeping your computer healthy and happy is to have it in the right kind of environment. By that, the right temperature, the right humidity. Fortunately, the computer likes the same humidity and temperatures that you and I do, so the house is a pretty good place to take care of it. You don't want to have extreme changes in temperature.
Cleanliness is another big factor. Now we'll start with the screen up here. You know that it gets a lot of dust on it because it attracts by static electricity. Well, you can buy one of these cleaners, even at the grocery store, which is going to cost less than at the computer store, and just spray it on there. And you want to be sure the computer is off when you do this and also, you want to make sure that you don't use anything except something that's made for computers. Glass cleaners won't get it. Now, that didn't look very dirty but probably it had attracted some dirt on there. As a matter of fact, a lot of dirt. A lot more than I thought.
The next thing you'd want to check is to see that the places where air goes into the computer are not clogged up with dust. Once you're inside there, you want to use compressed air, because it will blow the dust away. Make sure you get the dust off of all the boards that are in there and also any places that are made for air, like around the fan, you'd want to be sure they're not clogged with any dust.
To clean the mouse, all you have to do is turn it over. With most of them you just make a twist and this little thing comes out and you can take the ball out and clean that with rubbing alcohol. After you get it clean, you want to wipe it dry with a lint free cloth. And then while you're at it, you can use some of this head cleaner that's made for recording equipment and just use a Q-tip and go inside and clean the inside.
Also, we have to protect the computer from ourselves. We're guilty of coming in with a cup of coffee or a soda and going to work and if you spill down on the keyboard, you're in a heap of trouble. If your keyboard has been spilled on and it's dried out and it's not working at all, here is one last resort to try. But only after you make sure that it's not going to work otherwise. Give the keyboard a shower. I know this sounds kooky, but after everything else has failed, you might as well give it a try. When you do get through, you want to turn it upside down, let all the water drain out, and give it 24 hours to dry before you try to use it again. Good luck.
Episode 46 1996 - 97 Season
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