Weekend Open Forum: How often do you clean your computer?

Once in 3 months

5-6 times a year, i.e. about every 8/9 weeks I take it apart, clean it, then put it back together. I must admit that I have done this only once in last few months as I don't get the chance to use it these days.

Every couple of months (or less) for me for my systems.

I tore down an old (7+ years) HP Compaq laptop for a friend and did a full clean and applied fresh thermal paste, and who would have thought the thing works like new now. Previously it would power off by itself after about 15-20 minutes of uptime, and when I opened it up it was a nightmare. NO idea how those fans were still spinning. XD

Well, they say the more we use are brains the more they will develop, perhaps at the expense of physical abilities and strength. Which brings me to my question, "how smart to you have to be before you can't lift 70 pounds"......?

Seriously though dude, you need to put wheels under that sucker.

My PC is not that dusty; I don't have any carpets in my room nor do I have curtains so no dust gets stuck anywhere. About once or twice a year

I throw my system in the wash for an 1 hour @ 350° every leap year.

If I open my PC to upgrade it and I see too much dust, I'll blow a into it with my mouth. Then I cough.

I clean mine with the hoover every time i hoover my bedroom

My computer has a nice environment. My room is as clean and dust-free as possible, because I have severe Athsma. The floor is lino instead of carpet, and there are no rugs or anything. Everything is hoovered and dusted regularly.

The computer has dust filters on every intake port. I clean the outside of the case with micro-fibre cloths and I hoover the dust filters. Sometimes I take it outside and blast the **** out of it with compressed air.

Feels good to have a nice, clean computer

I have the Antec DF-85 case, I clean the vents about once a week(dusty house -_-) and clean the inside about once every three months with my DataVac Blower.

Every 6 months is all you need to do if your system isn't being pushed to hard (over clocking etc)

After reading some of these comments I might be over doing it I do a thorough cleaning once a month . I'm working with a pentium 478 w/stock cooler fan so everything is open and quickly broken down . I only have one intake filter that I vacuum once a week . Yes I'm a smoker and I like to head off problems before they get worse . This PC is about 6 yrs old .

My case air intake uses 2 X 250mm fans with no filters, I have to pop it open about once every couple months for a quick dusting.

On a side note, I've fixed a couple chain smoker's computers... the gel like substance made up of tar mixed with dust is simply disgusting.

I was blew out my bros computer with a dust blower, it was epicly dirty and blue screening. Almost killed the cpu fan in the process. It ran like a champ for about a year after that.

Before and after Lans, as well as any major hardware upgrades. On average if none of the previous take place I would say 2-3 months.

Working at a computer sales/repair store I've seen some incredibly dirty systems, the ones that smell like ash trays are by far the worse. I find it hard not to laugh when someone asks me if that could be why their PSU stopped working, well the fan is seized and the rear exhaust is completely clogged with brown tar... I wounder. Makes me feel better about not smoking and fear for those who do.

i vacuum out my vents once in awhile... my computer weighs like 80lbs so i usually don't lug it downstairs and outside to blow it out unless i have to do extensive work on it.

i think once every 3-4 mths, when i have term-breaks. few yrs back i used to dismantle every part and clean it thoroughly. after knowing the hazard of statics discharge, i just vacuum it these days.

it doesnt cut it for my laptop, i have to open the maintenance cover and dismantle and brush the heatsink manually about twice a year. the vacuum couldn't reach the edges of the heatsink where it's not visible and dust are clogging there.

I used to clean my PC once in couple of months!

Almost weekly. I can't stand a dirty PC. My case has a side window to show off my hardware, so leaving it covered in dust is not an option.