If ever the importance of keeping your computer dust free was in doubt, the recent case of a PC brought into the Surgery should serve as a warning. The owner reported that the machine had suddenly started refusing to boot into windows normally, would black screen and simply keep restarting in an endless ‘boot loop’. Without opening the machine up, it was apparent that there was an extensive build up of dust. With the case covers off, the full scale became apparent!
10 minutes later after some careful cleaning and extended use of a canister of compressed air, the inside of the PC was restored to pristine condition. And guess what, with no further tweaking, the machine fired up first time. There are a lot of computer jobs you might not feel comfortable doing yourself, but keeping your machine clean is certainly one of them.