How clean dust out of computer.

My neighbor told me she had just used can air to clean her computer and had plenty of dust, etc.
I have never cleaned mine...didn't know it was needed. Have had computer about 5 years.
How do you know IF it needs to be done? I don't have any trouble that I notice (doesn't get hot or anything). How necessary is it ?
Also if necessary, how do you do it? Can't afford to hire person to do it.
Thanksrolleyes

 

This video covers the matter very well.
I suppose most home PCs in the world go by their entire life without ever being cleaned. However it does affect the performance and the lifespan of your computer. Dust hinders the cooling of your PC making it easier to overheat and shutdown. Apart from that, it is generally not comfortable to browse through a layer of dust when you want to put in a new component or rearrange your hard drives or whatever tinkering job with the hardware. If your case has a dust filter next to the cooling fan it can gather TOO much dust.

It is recommended to dust your pc every 6 months, depending on how dusty you consider your environment to be. The most proper way to do it would be buying one of those compressed air dusters. With my older computers I tried to play smart and used our 2hp air compressor for more pressure and less cost. Surprise, these compressors use oil to lube their engine and this left the inside of my computer with an unnoticeable film of oil that made dust stick even more after that. So either go for a can of air or use an extra dryer module between your air-hose and the compressor.

Attention to:
1) The PC must be disconnected from electricity. The compressed air can leaves moisture as it decompresses. This moisture cannot damage your PC and will evaporate within a second but you understand that wet+electricity don't go together.
2) Hold the cooling fans when you blow directly on them. The airflow will make them spin a lot faster than they are made to and this can break them or simply wear them down. Put one finger in the middle of the fan (the sturdy part) and use the other hand to blow the dust from each fin.
3) Better to do this outside and working downwind (with the wind blowing from you towards the PC). In 5 years your computer should have enough dust to produce an impressive little dirty cloud.

From my experience the areas with the most dust are:
1) Heatsinks, between their folds.
2) Dust filters
3) PSU -extra care when blowing inside your PSU. You don't want to tear down any connections in there.

Watch the video and let us know if you have any questions.

 

Thanks so much....Appreciate it !