How to Clean a Laptop

Contributor

By Amanda Morin
eHow Contributing Writer

Article Rating: (6 Ratings)

Smudged screens, grubby, sticky keys and fingerprints are the price you pay for having laptop computer, especially if you have children. Though it would be ideal to keep your laptop in mint, factory-issued condition, it's virtually impossible to do so. You're going to have to clean your laptop in its lifetime--probably more than once--so it's worth learning how to do it safely.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Compressed air
Cotton swabs
Cotton cleaning cloth or old t-shirt
Rubbing alcohol
Microfiber screen cleaning wipes
Toothbrush

Step 1

Gather your supplies. To clean the laptop screen you'll need a very soft cotton cloth, rubbing alcohol, water and cotton swabs. The cloth is the key. Anything other than soft cotton has the potential to leave scratch marks and damage the screen's protective layers. Old cotton t-shirts or cloth diapers are both ideal candidates for this project.
Step 2

Power down your laptop, unplug it and let all the components cool completely.
Step 3

Make a dilute alcohol cleaning solution or purchase microfiber screen cleaning wipes. To make the alcohol solution, mix rubbing alcohol and water in a 1:1 ratio.
Step 4

Dip your cloth in the cleaning solution and wring it out until it's just damp. Gently wipe your laptop screen with the cloth, making sure not to press down on the screen. Don't worry about getting the edges of the screen cleaned--that's what the cotton swabs are for.
Step 5

Dip a cotton swab in the alcohol solution. Press it against the edge of the container to get rid of excess liquid and then use it to clean the edges of your laptop screen. It's okay to "dig" a little to remove packed-in dirt, just remember to switch to a new cotton swab when the original one is covered in debris.
Step 6

Use the cotton cloth to wipe down the keyboard and clean away any easily accessible surface debris with a moistened cotton swab. Remove any remaining dirt, crumbs or what-have-you by spraying the keyboard with a can of compressed air.
Step 7

Wipe the screen, keyboard and casing again with a damp cotton cloth. Dry it with a second cloth if there's any moisture remaining, it's not a good idea to close the laptop if any cleaning solution is remaining.
Step 8

Clean the cooling vents with compressed air. Spray them gently and from a reasonable distance to remove dust and debris, but avoid spraying so hard that the fan blades over-rotate.
Step 9

Use dry cotton swabs or a toothbrush to clean your laptop's I/O ports. The cotton swabs can be used to wipe away visible debris, but shouldn't be inserted and moved roughly around in the ports. You risk leaving behind cotton fibers or getting more dirt into the ports that way.

Comments

TheAhmed said

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on 1/9/2009 thanks for help i really appreciate that
and i need another favour
i don't have enough money to buy another laptop so i was wondering can i change the processor ?!! and will it affect badly on the other systems ..