Dirt is the main enemy of PCs. Dirt blocks air flow, causing the system to run hotter and less reliably. Dirt acts as thermal insulation, causing components to overheat and thereby shortening their service lives. Dirt causes fans to run faster (and louder) as they attempt to keep the system cool. Dirt worms its way into connectors, increasing electrical resistance and reducing reliability. Dirt corrodes contact surfaces. Dirt is nasty stuff.
Computers become dirty as a natural part of running. Fans suck dust, pet hair, and other contaminants into the case, where they rest on every surface. Even in clean rooms, operating theaters, and other very clean environments, a PC will eventually become dirty. If there's any dust in the air at all, the system fans will suck it in and deposit it inside the case, where it will become a problem sooner or later.
The severity of the problem depends on the environment. Industrial environments are often filthy, so much so that standard PCs are unusable. In a shop-floor environment, we have seen standard PCs become so clogged with dirtliterally in one daythat they stopped running because of overheating. Typical home and office environments are much better, but still surprisingly bad. Pets, carpeting, cigarette smoking, gas or oil heatall of these contribute to dirty PCs.
Routine weekly vacuuming of the case exterior helps, but is not sufficient. Figure 3-1 shows the back I/O panel of a PC that was left running 24 hours a day for 6 months in a typical residential environmentwhich happens to be our homewithout being cleaned other than casual vacuuming of the accessible areas of the case. (Barbara asked Robert to point out that she vacuums thoroughly and dusts every week, but that Robert specifically asked her to make no special effort to clean this system so that he could use it as an illustration.)
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