Always have equipment off when cleaning.  Unplug if opening computer case.

For TVs and monitors, window cleaner or cleaners containing alcohol or ammonia CANNOT be used because it can remove the protective coding that protects your eyes.  They can also damage the inner electronics if it seeps in.
It is best to use a microfiber cloth and a non-alcohol cleaner made for screens.  Try using just the microfiber cloth first and if that doesn’t work spray some of the cleaner on the cloth.

For cleaning the computer surfaces (plastic or medal- not the actual electronic boards) I use some antistatic alcohol-free cleaning wipes. Sometimes  cotton tips can be used to clean places hard get at.

For getting out dust several different methods can be used or  a combination of them.

First Prevention:  Keep your computer away from pets, out of dusty areas,  do not smoke by the computer.  Have the computer as high above the floor as possible.

Second Air duster can:   Advatages: blows most of the dust away, portable
Disadvantages: Can be messy,  can be expensive buying the cans a lot, breathing in is dangerous.

Third Vacuum: Advantages: cleans neater, less fumes, reusable
Disadvantages: not compact( unless you have a special mini vacuum), noisy, may not get rid of as much dust sometimes, may cause extra static if not used correctly.

Fourth Air compressor:  Blows out all the dust, reusable
Disadvantages: peices may get blown into circuit boards, may be noisy, messy, may cause more dust to get in air making breathing dangerous

The computer I use both at home and my business.  It is mostly used for business, but some personal use as well.  It’s a notebook (Apple Macbook pro 17 inch)

I have an external 24″ monitor (Apple LED Display) I use along with the built in display at home.  I use a 19″ widescreen display at my business (Asus LED). both have built in audio.  The 24″ display also has a  charger, usb hub, microphone, and camera built in.  So I use the charger that came with the computer at my business. I also have an external optical mouse both places because I am sometimes more comfortable with that than the track pad.

For TV if I really want to watch it, I hook up a USB tv tuner(Elgato Eye TV Hybrid).

Even though I have one main computer, I do have other computing devices.  I have an iPod Touch which can browse the web, take photo/video, and run apps among other things.  I also have an Android phone which can besides doing phone calls, browse the web, run apps, gps, take photo/video and more. I also use either my computer, phone or iPod instead of a watch.

I also have an stand alone gps navigation system, and fm radios in the car, home, and office.  And 3 dedicated cameras that can do both video and still – besides the other devices that have cameras.

For viewing photos – It can be done with my computer and monitor, my iPod, on the camera itself, with another person’s  TV connected with a cable to my camera, my printer has a viewing screen, or on my phone. I also have a key chain photo viewer which I rarely use since my phone can perform that function better.  So a digital photo frame is not necessary for me.

I use external hard drives for video storage and local backup.

In addition I use outsourced providers for doing online backup and web hosting.
So maybe I have one computer, maybe more depending how its counted.

Either way people sometimes end up with the wrong web page.

The problem is made even more complicated by, most peoples home pages have a search engine, and also all the tool bars that end up on peoples browsers.

To deal with this problem some web browsers have address bar to the left and search bar to the right. Others have integrated search engine with the address bar.

Many people know the difference between search bar and address bar, however many do not.

Here I discuss why you may want to turn off your computer.

• At night to get to sleep I have my computer scheduled to turn off so I’m less likely to use it at that time and so it doesn’t make noise nor be bothersome with light.  That’s also a good reason to have computer or TV in a room other than the bedroom.
• Another reason to turn off  a notebook / laptop / netbook (portable) is so you don’t damage parts like hard drive or overheat when transporting.
• To repair, maintain, or upgrade internal components on a computer (it should also be unplugged and if portable the battery may need to be removed)
• It can make the log in password appear at start up.
•   if you have malware /trojen it may stop your computer from doing further damage.
• Of course it will save power too (if you don’t turn it back on again all the time).

On the other hand…

• If your computer doesn’t bother your sleep it may not be necessary to have it shut down.
• It can sometimes be hard on hardware the more you shut off and turn back on.
• Sometimes just putting laptops to sleep may be OK for transporting. Solid State Disk drives or flash memory can greatly reduce hard drive problems with moving (but can be expensive)
• You should probably have your computer go to a login screen automatically after a period of time or just log out.
• There other power reducing options.

I usually have my computer turned off after a while at night, so now you know what I do.

–Nate

see also http://www.natescomputer.com/2010/05/08/power-saving-tips/

1.  Run the antivirus, anti spyware, or removal tool
   Tip: Sometimes running the removal in Safe Mode works better (especially if your computer acts up otherwise). You can access Safe Mode by pressing the F8 key after your computer turns on and goes through POST, before starting windows – a menu will pop with Safe Mode option. (I keep tapping on F8 when the computer starts until the menu shows up)
   2nd Tip: Be careful that your virus removal is a trusted source. There are some fakes.
2. Run System Restore – an option in the Start/Windows menu under Program- Accessories- System Tools. Also available when starting safe mode and under the F8 menu at startup under Fix My Computer sometimes.
3. Backup necessary data files if possible (you should be doing this all along) and wipe out starting fresh with a clean install of Windows Operating System (OS) /System Recovery. This may require discs or running the recovery from a partition on the hard drive, or in some cases booting and installing it from the network or Internet.

These are just some tips. They may not work in all cases, but any these may work in certain cases.

Here are a few tips:

If your computer has Windows and didn’t come with any recovery discs, be sure to make them -whether on flash drives or DVDs.

Be sure to add your computer to your inventory list.  This can be used for insurance, warranty and other purposes. Remember to put down the model and serial number and service code(if applicable).

If this isn’t your first you may have to transfer the data you need from your old computer to your new computer.  You can do this with a USB flash drive/external drive, a cable connection, or network connection.

You may also have to learn the new features and differences with the new computer.

Enjoy your new Computer!

To try to avoid getting your email stolen:

• Make you’re password hard to guess. Use special characters or punctuation, lower case and capital letters, and numbers.
• Avoid single word passwords
• Make sure your forgot your password option is something only you know and cannot be easily guessed.
• Use different passwords at different sites.
• Be careful where you enter your password.
• If you have your own computer, try to have both your email, and contacts backed up locally on your computer so you can be up and running if you need a new account.
• Check your email often to make sure it is working.

Be Careful and Good Luck!

I learned about this watching Tekzilla