Decent guide, except that it was written 3+ years ago. There are some flaws to it, that can get the average user in trouble like:
Oiling a fluid-bearing fan?
Not using compressed air to clean the fan blades (why not just hold them in place?)
Defragmenting your HD (not a very good idea if you have an SSD(s) installed....
These are only the issues I saw when skimming the article. There is a reason computer kits are not $49.95 at your local radio shack - modern day machines can be expensive beasts, and allowing a novice user to get inside can be a dangerous thing.
Being a tech myself, some of the things I have seen happen:
- When trying to clean CPU heatsink/fan combos, ppl have broken one of the mounts, then thought to themselves "Hey, it's still got 3 of them, it should be good." Wrong!
- When trying to clean dust bunnies out of the computer, they forget that their computer is in 'sleep / hibernate mode - and it powers on as they accidentally bump the mouse / press a key right when the vacuum cleaner hose is making contact with the mobo....
- Power wires get unplugged and then they forget to plug them back in and then you get a system fail (particularly with CPU heatsinks)
You really need to have a basic understanding of the hardware inside
your computer before jumping off on this project. Paying $200 for cleaning is outrageous, indeed, I charge ~20% of that, but I'd rather you pay me $40 to do it right after researching your computer than doing it yourself - and then paying $200, $300, or even more to repair parts of your computer / the computer itself.
