National Clean Up Your Computer Month January

National Clean Up, January is a good time to clean up your computer on the inside and out.

There are several tasks I do to keep my computer humming along, so I thought I’d share those with you to get us all ready for the annual computer clean up. I use a small vacuum cleaner for my keyboard, canned air for the inside of the case and microfiber cloths with a touch of soap and water to clean plastic parts. But do you know how often you should clean your computer? Are there certain steps to follow? I hunted all that up and have it all here for you.

I also jotted down what computer software I use to clean the computer of unwanted files, adware, spyware, cookies and more. Let me guide you through the information in honor of January – National Clean up Your Computer Month.

Cleaning Your Computer – How Often?

How To Figure Out How Often To Clean Your Computer
Do you know how often you should clean your computer? There are some points to consider about the environment your computer lives in to help you figure out how often to clean your computer.

First of all, are you in a smoking environment? If you or someone in your home or office smokes, you should clean your computer more often than those in a non-smoking environment.

Do you eat or drink by your computer? Guess what ~ you should clean your computer a bit more often to get those crumbs and soft drink stains off the keyboard and monitor.

If your computer is in a home/home office environment, your computer should be cleaned more often than computers in an office setting. There’s more dust kicking around in our homes than in offices. Go figure.

If you have pets (cats, dogs, birds) where your computer is located, then the computer will need to be cleaned even more often. Pet dander and fur (or feathers) can get into your computer’s case and create problems for your computer. Fluffy, the cat could make your computer “fluffy” on the inside!

Metro Vacuum MDV-1BA DataVac Pro 4.5-AMP Computer Vac/Blower

Prevent Dirt and Dust from Harming Your Office Equipment

Specially designed to clean computers, printers, and other electronic equipment, the Metropolitan Vacuum MDV-1BA DataVac Pro helps keep dust and debris from damaging your valuable devices. Offering the right amount of suction, as well as attachments designed to reach hard-to-access areas, this high-powered blower safely cleans your computers and peripherals.
This fully portable computer vacuum cleaner/blower is engineered to get into those tight, hard-to-reach spots on your peripherals. Includes power unit; 19″ flexible hose, crevice tool, air “pin-pointer;” soft bristle dust brush; convenient shoulder strap; plus five extra reusable/disposable paper bags and the new micro cleaning tool kit. 120V/60Hz, 1.73A.One-Year Guarantee. (USA)

Brite Brush BBDB Detail Brush with LED Light

Perfect for dashboards, keyboards, events, woodworking, and more
For those hard-to-reach places that seem to gather an inordinate amount of dust and debris, turn to this clever and convenient cleaning brush. Its slender construction fits comfortably in hand, with sturdy bristles designed to reach into the tiny crevices that make dashboards, keyboards, vents, intricate woodworking, and other small spaces so difficult to clean. Equipped with an ultra-bright LED light, the unit illuminates surfaces with a bright beam that makes it easy to ensure a job well done, even in low-light situations. Even more, retractable bristles and a compact size mean the unit stores safely and travel well in a glove box or tool box for quick and handy use anywhere. The detail brush measures approximately 6-1/2 by 1/2 by 1 inches and carry a one-year limited warranty.

Cleaning Your Computer On The Inside

Do You Do Windows?
Keeping Windows and your other software clean and up to date is also critical to the health of your computer. Viruses and a slow running computer are just two undesirable results of not caring for the inside of your computer. Yikes!

Personally, I routinely use anti-spyware and anti-malware applications, an uninstaller that scans my hard drive for leftover files and registry entries, an anti-virus that I keep up to date and CCleaner (Computer Cleaner, formerly Crap Cleaner). By routinely, I mean I have a schedule.

I use

every few days to keep the clutter from building up and taking up space on my hard drive. I’ve included a nicely done video from YouTube that shows you what it does and how to use it, on this page. The application is free.

I use

Search And Destroy, Super Anti-Spyware, and Malware Bytes weekly to remove adware and malware. Then I run Avast Anti-Virus to make sure nothing bad is still hiding out there.

 

I use Defraggler, from the same company that makes CCleaner, to defrag (fancy word for rearranging) the files on my hard drive monthly.

When I uninstall programs, I use

to do it instead of the Add/Remove Programs from the Control Panel. Revo Uninstaller can scan your hard drive for leftover files and your registry for leftover entries and remove those too.

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