Cleaning laptop case
Cleaning the exterior portion of the laptop case
can help keep the laptop looking new. The exterior case of a laptop can
be cleaned by using a damp cotton cloth that has been dampened with
water. It is not recommended that the exterior case of the laptop be
cleaned with household cleaning solutions. However, if there is a
substance on the laptop that cannot be cleaned with water, we suggest
using rubbing alcohol.
Cleaning case openings
If dust, dirt, hair, or other substances are in the
case openings, it can prevent air from getting into or out of the
laptop. This can cause the overall heat of the laptop to increase, and
in some cases may also cause such issues as random reboots.
Look for laptop openings where the laptop draws in
cool air from outside or blows out any hot air from the inside of the
laptop. These openings are usually on one of the sides, the back, or the
bottom of the laptop. Dust, dirt, hair, or other substances can almost
always be removed easily using a cotton swab and/or compressed air.
Warning: If you're using compressed air to
clean the openings that have fans within them, it's possible that the
amount of air blown on the fans can cause them to over spin, damaging or
destroying the fan. To help prevent this issue, place something
in-between the fan blades, such as a toothpick.
Cleaning laptop keyboard
Like almost everything else on a laptop, a keyboard
is also different from the standard computer keyboard. With many laptop
keyboards the keys cannot be
completely removed. Therefore, we suggest cleaning the keyboard by
using the same damp cloth you used to clean the exterior case of the
laptop. In addition, compressed air can be used to spray any dust, dirt,
or hair from in-between the keys.
If you've spilt something onto the laptop keyboard (like a
soda)
that's causing the keys to stick and cleaning it does not help we
suggest that
you have the laptop repaired since the keyboard cannot be replaced.
Cleaning laptop mouse (touchpad)
Cleaning the laptop
touchpad
can help improve the look of the laptop and also many times will help
improve the responsiveness of the touchpad. To clean the touchpad
surface, use the same damp cloth used to clean the exterior of the
laptop.
Cleaning LCD display
Additional information about cleaning LCD and flat
panel displays can be found on our
main cleaning page.
Cleaning internal laptop components
Cleaning the inside of a laptop computer can be a
difficult task. However, in some situations, it may be necessary because
of excessive dust and/or dirt buildup within the computer, such as on
the processor's
heatsink.
Unfortunately, however, because of the complexity
often involved in disassembling the laptop to reach many of these areas,
Computer Hope cannot provide this information online for every laptop
ever made. If you believe after cleaning your computer that it is still
overheating because of dust and/or dirt buildup, we suggest taking the
laptop to an authorized repair center.
Other cleaning information and help
Additional information and help with cleaning other
portions of computers as well as discs and other computer related
peripherals can be found on our
main cleaning page.
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