I would like to talk about the importance of keeping the computers you own clean. You may think that I mean the exteriors of your hardware (as in the keyboard and mouse, or even the screen), but I am referring to the insides of your computers and peripherals.
A good preventative maintenance procedure is to make sure that multiple layers of dust do not accumulate on the components. Power supplies, processors and floppy drives (for those that still have them) are all susceptible to heating up, gumming up, and failing prematurely from the dirt and grime that seep in through the various openings in your hardware’s cases.
You can buy canned air (read directions carefully) or blow hard enough on your own to get the unwanted dust bunnies out of the picture, but please note that you should never blow directly into a floppy drive as the dust will scratch the magnetic heads. Try to blow out or away from the floppy’s read/write heads to remove any dust from those particular mechanisms.
*Editor’s Note: I still have an iMac G4 kicking around at home, and while I love the iconic form factor (and thusly, will never sell it), the top-facing vents are dust (/pet hair/etc.) magnets, so I make an effort to remove it from time to time to keep it running cool. -KH
Another Mac quick tip while we’re on the subject of cleaning…
Periodically, you may have to throw something off of your hard drive into the Trash can on your desktop. Did you know that you can turn off the warning that pops up about emptying the trash?
By holding down the option key before clicking Special in the menu bar and selecting Empty Trash, you will not have to verify with the computer that you want
your trash emptied. You can also select the Trash can with a single click; go to File in the menu bar and pull down to Get Info and permanently turn off the warning there.
Be warned, there will be no other warnings!