# Be honest - when did you last clean behind your computer?



## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

I have to confess that I only clean behind my computer when:


I have to call in the computer technician
I've lost something

I have a plague of ants threatening to invade it
I'm putting off starting a new novel
[/list]


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## gljones (Nov 6, 2012)

HA!  good topic.  
My wireless hub blew up on Wednesday.  This means I had to make an expedition into the wilds behind my computer desk to get to all the wiring.  
I was frightening.  I have 3 cats and a dog.  It seemed like there was enough fur back there to build another animal.  

I hope it's several years before I have to go back there again.


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## MegHarris (Mar 4, 2010)

Wait... there's a space behind my computer?

*checks*

Well, I'll be. I thought that pile of junk was just part of the desk...


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## JumpingShip (Jun 3, 2010)

Jan Hurst-Nicholson said:


> I have to confess that I only clean behind my computer when:
> 
> 
> I have to call in the computer technician
> ...



Since mine is a laptop and I just took a shower an hour ago...


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## Quiss (Aug 21, 2012)

My Martha Stewart tip:

On occasion, use a string to lure your cat behind your monitor.  Remove cat, shake the dust off it outside. Voila.


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## SarahCarter (Nov 8, 2012)

I have a laptop, so all that's behind my computer is my knees. And... Ok, maybe I haven't cleaned behind my computer in a while...


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## brendajcarlton (Sep 29, 2012)

I have to vacuum the couch frequently due to a large very, very hairy dog in the family.  Since my laptop is usually on the couch anyway, I often run the vacuum hose over the keyboard at the same time to get out crumbs, dog and cat hair etc.  A couple of weeks ago I vacuumed that little nipple thing in the middle right off.  I never use it anyway, but I tore the whole vacuum bag apart until I found it and put it back on.  When I told my daughter about it, she said, "You were vacuuming your keyboard?? Mom!!"  Now I will never live it down.  How did I know no one else does that?


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## DuncanMH (Apr 24, 2013)

Yesterday, as it happens!


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## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

brendajcarlton said:


> I have to vacuum the couch frequently due to a large very, very hairy dog in the family. Since my laptop is usually on the couch anyway, I often run the vacuum hose over the keyboard at the same time to get out crumbs, dog and cat hair etc. A couple of weeks ago I vacuumed that little nipple thing in the middle right off. I never use it anyway, but I tore the whole vacuum bag apart until I found it and put it back on. When I told my daughter about it, she said, "You were vacuuming your keyboard?? Mom!!" Now I will never live it down. How did I know no one else does that?


I was told never to put a vacuum cleaner near the computer because of the static. Apparently you can buy cans of compressed air to blow out the dust (and cat dander). We used to have a compressor and I have cleaned the inside of my computer with because the fan was rattling and needed a clean  I thought a hair dryer might work, but this also causes static (according to my technician).


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## Dolphin (Aug 22, 2013)

This one time in college, my friends and I filled my living room with crappy old PCs, so that we could LAN CounterStrike and such. They were treated rather abusively, what with scouring Russian warez sites for cracks and serials, but that was their job. They were lucky just to have a roof over their heads.

One day, we cracked open one of the towers to swap out some hardware, and there was a ball of moss inside the size of an infant.

Now I assure you, my apartment wasn't dank at all. Not very. And I knew that computer; I had had brought that computer from my childhood home. Which wasn't dank. At all. That computer had never been hiking or backpacking, never been left outdoors and forgotten. Yet there it was, as if transmitted from Russia with love.

Horrifying.

I hope you don't find any alien life forms when next you clean your computers. You might want to carry a weapon just in case.


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## brie.mcgill (Jun 5, 2013)

I have a really nice Corsair tower for my desktop that has dust screens that slide out for cleaning. I got it about eight months ago, and just recently dared to look at the bottom of the tower during a move. It was AMAZING to scrape away all the dust bunnies and cat hair that would have otherwise been wrecking the inside of my PC. (The interior is still pristine!)

The laptop goes everywhere with me, though, and it's more of an issue of, "When have I last cleaned the food from my keyboard?" Constant smears of snot, dead bugs, and chocolate sauce on the screen. Well. A writer must do what a writer must do. 

One time I plucked all the keys off a keyboard to rearrange them in dvorak (umm, try having people over to use your computer in that state, it's lots of fun). This convinced me there are some places one simply should not go. Or that some should simply never eat at the computer (but I'm a lost cause).


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## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

So I moved about 7 years ago...... yeah, thats about right.


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## George Applegate (Jan 23, 2013)

Fiendish, Jan. You carry on writing while the rest of us stop and spend hours on unnecessary computer hygiene.


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## Jerri Kay Lincoln (Jun 18, 2011)

When I moved in . . . five months ago . . .


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## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

brie.mcgill said:


> I have a really nice Corsair tower for my desktop that has dust screens that slide out for cleaning. I got it about eight months ago, and just recently dared to look at the bottom of the tower during a move. It was AMAZING to scrape away all the dust bunnies and cat hair that would have otherwise been wrecking the inside of my PC. (The interior is still pristine!)
> 
> The laptop goes everywhere with me, though, and it's more of an issue of, "When have I last cleaned the food from my keyboard?" Constant smears of snot, dead bugs, and chocolate sauce on the screen. Well. A writer must do what a writer must do.
> 
> One time I plucked all the keys off a keyboard to rearrange them in dvorak (umm, try having people over to use your computer in that state, it's lots of fun). This convinced me there are some places one simply should not go. Or that some should simply never eat at the computer (but I'm a lost cause).


Great idea about the dust screens. Must see if anything like that is available here.

A recent Which report found that iPads and other tablets had more bacteria on them than toilet seats. One tablet tested had a count of 600 units per swab of staphylococcus aureus compared to a typical toilet seat that had a count of less than 20 

A friend lost a keyboard to orange juice squirting into it when he ate an orange at his desk. I cover my keyboard with cling wrap (I think it's called Saren wrap in the US) which not only keeps it clean, but also prevents similar mishaps


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## Writerly Writer (Jul 19, 2012)

Be careful about searching back there, you might end up in the fourth dimension.


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## Daphne (May 27, 2010)

At the same time as I last cleaned behind my fridge.


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## Zelah Meyer (Jun 15, 2011)

When we last took it apart to replace my graphics card. If it's not broke, then I don't fix clean it!

As for my keyboard ... I think it's alive.


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## AriadneW (Feb 16, 2013)

I use a laptop and it travels with me. Just don't ask about my computer at work, that's a whole different story lol


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## Kenny Soward (Dec 1, 2011)

Dust allergy here...so I try to get clean behind my monitor at least once every six months  As far as the iPad and bacteria, I recommend getting a box of lens wipes and wipe it down, front and back, three or four times a day or so. Same (or as much) as you would wash your hands.


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## AnyaWrites (May 16, 2014)

Jan Hurst-Nicholson said:


> I have to confess that I only clean behind my computer when:
> 
> 
> I have to call in the computer technician
> ...


I was just wondering the same thing and so I decided to search kboards for the topic.  I'm in the "putting off editing my novel" stage, so I decided to do some cleaning.

I bought some compressed air and holy dust Batman. My keyboard was just so... ugh... so wrong. Now everything is shiny and new and I have no more excuses.


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

Well, my computer is a laptop - but even so, I rarely fold down the screen and clean behind the damn thing.


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## Sandpiper (Oct 28, 2008)

I use a laptop.  When it's not on my lap (or some table), it's on a higher chest I can stand at.  The modem, router, and all the "spaghetti" are behind and beside the chest.  I have one dog.  He sheds -- creates a second dog?


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## KMA (Mar 11, 2009)

Thank heavens I use a laptop. Behind the router is a scary, scary place.


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## deckard (Jan 13, 2011)

KMA said:


> Behind the router ....


Sounds like a science fiction story.

Deckard


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## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

AnyaWrites said:


> I was just wondering the same thing and so I decided to search kboards for the topic.  I'm in the "putting off editing my novel" stage, so I decided to do some cleaning.
> 
> I bought some compressed air and holy dust Batman. My keyboard was just so... ugh... so wrong. Now everything is shiny and new and I have no more excuses.


My keyboard is covered with cling wrap (saran wrap?) in case of spills. It also keeps the keys clean and the dust out. But now you remind me - I've dusted under it, and wiped under the mouse


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## Tony Richards (Jul 6, 2011)

I don't clean behind my computer on the basic principle that what I don't know isn't going to hurt me ... unless it grows really big and comes crawling out from back there, I guess.


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## Susan Alison (Jul 1, 2011)

I did have a computer die of dust-inhalation once, so I clean my (new) computer a lot more often than I used to clean my old one...

Um....  *looks for vacuum cleaner*


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## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

Susan Alison said:


> I did have a computer die of dust-inhalation once, so I clean my (new) computer a lot more often than I used to clean my old one...
> 
> Um.... *looks for vacuum cleaner*


Umm - you're not supposed to use a vacuum cleaner because of the static. You should be blowing the dust out with a compressor (not a hair dryer because that can also cause static problems (or so I've been told)  . I think you can buy tins of compressed air to do the job.


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## Susan Alison (Jul 1, 2011)

Thank you, Jan.

*puts vacuum cleaner away* *gets out air compressor*


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

My husband always used an air compressor.
Behind the computer looks good.  Glad you didn't ask about the printer stand.


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