Questions tagged [cleaning]
Physically cleaning computer hardware, both as maintenance and post-accident
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What is the best way to clean your dvd-burner?
What is the best way to clean your dvd-burner?
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Will using a bicycle pump to clean my laptop damage it?
I have a Lenovo G580 laptop. Unfortunately, there is no way to access the fan even after opening maintenance hatch, so I have no real way of removing dust from the cooling vents without using some ...
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is the dust or dirt in USB bad to USB port?
I've got a new laptop that I like, but my USB stick has quite some dirt that is sticky and unable to clean, and some dirt which looks like an oxidization or even corrosion. Plugging it into the new ...
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how to get rid of computer mites? [closed]
My laptop is infested with these white stuff which I dismissed as dust initially until I saw it move. There are at least 15 of theses crawling about my keyboard now, and I saw some slip beneath the ...
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Dust stuck on Laptop Screen
The image u can view, is of my laptop screen, on which the dust is stuck and does not come out easily. The dust from keyboard keys over the time when laptop kept in bad position, the dust sticks on ...
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Using Isopropyl alcohol to clean SSD, CPU/GPU sockets [closed]
Wanted to ask after reading this other question.
there are visible signs of moisture on or bear components of a laptop after the machine was exposed to steam/water vapor and you are concerned about ...
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Suck or blow? What's better for dust?
The guy at the local PC hardware store told me it's better to use a small hand-held leaf blower to blow dust out of your PC case than a hand-held vacuum cleaner. Why is this? I understand that fans ...
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How to clean a laptop screen?
I have a laptop that is about 2 years old, and the screen is getting very dirty, full of smudges from my fingers (yes, I know, I shouldn't touch the screen). The screen is not glass, it's soft and ...
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Windows Installer Cleanup Utility retired, alternative?
So the Windows\installer folder (and the WinSxS folder, but that's another story) is eating up quite a LOT of space on my hdd. Windows Installer Cleanup utility was the tool of the trade before, but ...
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How to find or clear traces of deleted folders in windows 11?
I'd like to understand specifically how and where does this program finds traces of my deleted folders, do any of you have any idea how to find or clear them manually?
To be more specific, those ...
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Is it okay to vacuum a laptop keyboard?
Is it okay to vacuum a laptop keyboard? Would it cause any damage?
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How can I view the list of files previously deleted by Storage Sense?
How can I view the list of files previously deleted by Storage Sense? I use Windows 10.
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How do I clean the rubber surface on my mouse, which has become sticky over time?
I've had a Razer DeathAdder for a few years. The surface is quite sticky, not like a residue but more clingy.
Wiping with water doesn't work. It gets smooth when wet but straight back to sticky when ...
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Is it okay to keep washing and reusing microfiber cloths for cleaning monitors?
I've read in multiple places that microfiber cloths are one of the few materials safe enough to clean monitors without risk of scratching, so I use those whenever I need to clean the outside of any ...
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Any way to clean a PC safely with vacuum?
I have cleaned by CPU with a vacuum cleaner about 5-6 times now. Today I learned that cleaning the PC in such a manner can short the motherboard and render the PC useless. However, a vacuum cleanup ...
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How can I remove the smell of cigarettes from my computer?
I'm a smoker, and of course I smoke in front of the computer when I'm at home.
Last Friday I moved out from my mother's house to my own, and since the computers were always turned on and the room was ...
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Monitor Cleaning: Is it okay to use light cleaner on wet microfiber cloth? [duplicate]
I sprayed some light 409 Household Cleaner on a wet Microfiber cloth to clean my 2 Year old monitor screen.
Lot of websites, say not to do that. Other resources say its okay to use Isopropeyl alcohol,...
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How can I remove Norton?
Norton came pre-installed on my Win10 laptop. I used NRnR.exe to remove it, but still get the following at start-up:
How can I remove Norton?
After running NRnR.exe to remove it, and rebooting, ...
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Laptop turns off immediately after I turn it on
My laptop was having overheating issues so I decided to open it up and replace the thermal paste and install a new fan, so far I only have removed the old thermal paste residue using rubbing alcohol ...
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How to physically clean a USB connector safely
I have a USB flash drive, and the male USB connector on it has gotten rather disgustingly sticky (lent it to colleague with small child, he let the child play with it (never again))
Can anyone ...
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Can a photosensitive drum be damaged if cleaned with isopropyl alcohol?
Some background:
I've got a drum for a Brother MFC-8710dw that has some streaks. As per the instructions I've been cleaning it with a dry lint free cloth.
I've noticed though that lots of people ...
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Best way to salvage SD cards exposed to salt water and contents of the lithium batteries?
So, right off the bat, I want to acknowledge that the data on these cards is likely lost to time. However, I am hoping someone may know some best practices to check for sure.
I recently recovered some ...
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Cleaning touchpad and now wont work
My laptop was kind of dirty s i decided to clean it with a Lysol wipe, (Mind you I wringed it out)
and now everything but my touch pad works.
Like the touch pad will be fine for 20 seconds but will ...
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How to clean an already installed Mac OS Mavericks without a complete reinstall
I have an iMac that has OS X Mavericks installed. I've been using it as a desktop computer for quite a while now. Downloaded movies, installed apps, have several users, etc.
Now I need to give this ...
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Can you soak a keyboard in distilled water or 99% iso for smells?
A slight varient on a somewhat common issuue, but in this case I have a g915 that a cat peed into pretty substantially. The owner then ran the keyboard under the sink and rice dried. While it works ...
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Laptop Fan Makes Grinding Sound Every Two Months After Cleaning
I am using some old laptops as a render farm (100% CPU load 24/7), and one of them (around 7 years old) eventually started making a grinding noise from the fan. I disassembled it and cleaned the metal ...
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Is it safe to use 70% isopropyl alcohol on electrical contacts on any device with a battery as long as it's powered off?
I'm talking about USB ports and charging ports for laptops and phones. I want to use a cotton swab or a microfiber cloth dampened with alcohol to clean the inside. Compressed air won't do it.
They're ...
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Moving Roaming folder
My C: is always full and the main reason is because of the Roaming folder, I see people on the Internet move it to another drive to save space. Is it really safe to do this? How to move it, I always ...
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Want to clean those hard-to-reach stubborn files (Windows 10 and Google Drive)
OK well the start of this project was that I wanted to donate or give away some my old computers. One of them is a Sony integrated VPCJ1 PC nearly ten years old, now running Windows 10, which is still ...
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Greasy water in laptop's DIMM slot
I have a laptop that got some soup spilled onto it between the space bar and the touchpad. Almost all of the soup ended up in the upper DIMM slot which sits underneath the keyboard.
I took the laptop ...
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How to clean hardware with an air compressor?
Can I safely use an air compressor to clean the internal components of a computer or might hardware be damaged if the air compressor is too powerful?
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Isopropyl alcohol and water droplets
I have a big container of 100% isopropyl alcohol that I purchased. I poured it in a small spray liquid bottle that used to have ethanol/propanol, which I cleaned with water. What I realized after ...
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how do I clean ink out from inside the hp officejet 8600 printhead?
I'm getting the dreaded "there is a problem with the ink system" on my hp officejet 8600. After watching a bunch of youtube videos I took it apart, and when I took the springs out (see ...
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Clean thermal paste from touch contact points on the underside of the CPU
I bought an used CPU (Intel "Core 2" E4700) on eBay and it came with the underside dirty with something that seems it´s thermal paste.
Before I send it back, I wonder if it could it still work ...
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Is it safe to soak a motherboard in vinegar?
Some older motherboards have batteries that will leak over time. Obviously this can cause damage to the motherboard. I read on the interwebs that to clean up the leakage, one could:
take the ...
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Is it safe to use an Electric Duster to clean PC?
Is it generally safe to use an electric duster onto the PC?
Are there any components that should be exempted from being blown by
an electric duster?
Is there a maximum air pressure (psi) that you ...
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Tips for getting latte or soda out of your keyboard?
For the first time in my entire life yesterday, I accidentally spilled some latte in my ergonomic keyboard.
The keys are starting to stick a bit now, and I was just wondering if there was some way to ...
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Water damaged parts, is there any chance of recovery?
I live in the Philippines and our house here was one of the many that was submerged by the flash floods that Typhoon Ketsana brought. We moved one of our computers from the first to the second floor ...
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Do cans of compressed air do anything besides scatter dirt inside?
They often recommend to use cans of compressed air to clean laptop inside.
I'm curious if scientifically this good idea. All the spray seems to do is scatter the dust in the laptop, it doesn't ...
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Isopropyl okay to use on MacBook screen?
I've always used a mixture of isopropyl alcohol and distilled water to clean my computer screens (50% water and 50% * 70% isopropyl). From what I understand, these are exactly the same ingredients ...
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Cleaning computer cables In the dishwasher
A large quantity of assorted computer cables came into my possession. The collection includes almost every type of computer-related cable (video, USB, Ethernet, printer, audio and speaker, SATA, ...
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Proper way to remove saliva from motherboard [duplicate]
Saliva came into contact with my CPU. I cleaned the majority off with 99% isopropyl alcohol, but shelved it for later.
Now I am once again in the process of cleaning it, as the motherboard I bought to ...
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how to remove registry keys of recently uninstalled programs in revo uninstaller pro
I used pc decrapifier to uninstall lots of programs because revo uninstaller takes a lot of your time just to uninstall a single program. Can I remove the registry keys and folders left behind by pc ...
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How should I clean these faint yellow spots on my display?
It happened two days ago. I thought I had unknowingly used my laptop without sanitizing my hands, so I had sprayed the sanitizer on the keyboard. After that, I closed the left my laptop unused for ...
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Cleaning a dusty laptop motherboard
I have an old laptop that hasn't been opened or dusted for the better part of the six years I've had it, and when I took it apart to upgrade the storage, I found a lot of caked on dust on the ...
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How to protect your Computer and Resources from Monsoon season
Well How do I protect my Computer from Monsoon Season. I just found out that in Monsoon season RAM and Motherboard gets slow and wet due to Moisture. Also my Keyboard becomes full of Fungus. How do I ...
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What solvent can I use to clean a Canon (LP2000 detachable) print head?
The magenta ink channel on my inkjet printer is blocked. I know about products on eBay, but I'm located in South Africa. I know that I shouldn't use methylated spirits (since they will leave a residue)...
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I have to clean my laptop fans every 1 to 2 days [duplicate]
I have a gaming laptop, to be specific its a acer nitro 5. Every one to two day's I have to open it, clean it, and sometimes i put some WD 40 to make it less noisy. Sometimes the fan blades start to ...
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How can I clean up junk files from my computer?
I'm getting a new laptop, and giving mine to a co-worker. How can I clean out all the junk & temp files?
(A clean Windows install is not an option.)
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Is it safe to delete the Isolated Storage folders?
I've found a lot of files in this folder:
C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\assembly
These files seem to be used for Isolated Storage. Are they safe to delete?
If so, how do I delete them? I do not ...
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