A surprising PC speed culprit: dust

Whether you realize it or not, an enemy of your computer's performance is dust. Over time, your fans will pick up dust which collects on the components, the heat sink and on the fan blades themselves. Eventually, this impedes cooling and can cause your machine to run hot, reducing efficiency. It can also gum up the working mechanism of the fans, causing them to overheat or seize.

The issue? One you probably think about every day: how do I speed up my PC?

As a case in point, I have an old Toshiba A70. Over time, the fans and interior of the computer became gummed up with dust, causing the computer to overheat and shut down. It couldn’t be restarted until it cooled down. At one point I bought a laptop cooling device, but the dust was the real problem. Here’swhat I did to resolve it.

Step one was to turn off the computer, then unplug it. Secondly, I got a large can of Dust-off with a tube to guide the airflow (a similar product will do). Use this to clean the inside of your computer, including your fans, heat sink and power supply.

This is one dusty PC!

When I cleaned my laptop for the first time, I was amazed by the huge cloud of dust that appeared. Blowing it out a few times (as well as the fans) did the trick. In a few minutes it was clean. After that, the machine booted up and ran well. It got warm, but not hot enough to shut down. After that, I didn't need the laptop cooling device, either.

CAUTION: Don’t use a household vacuum cleaner. You could seriously damage your components. I know of one case where a woman used a vacuum cleaner. It turned one of the fans into a generator and destroyed the motherboard. Don't let this happen to you!!

I hope that this helps you speed up your PC so it boots and runs faster. Like any other precision instrument, it does require periodic maintenance.