Run the Battery Down

Whenever you get a new toy powered by a rechargeable battery, such as a laptop, cell phone, iPod, digital camera, etc., before you plug it into the wall or recharge it for the first time, make sure you run the battery all the way down first (to the point where it shuts itself off). Once the battery is completely drained, recharge it for at least 12 hours without using it. The reason for this is because the battery will hold a charge significantly better than if you do not do this.

Some devices come with a battery which has already been discharged completely prior to the charge you receive in the product, but just to be safe, it’s best to run it all the way down. I’m not sure of the exact reason why, but I can attest to the effectiveness of this method with my own cell phone. I have owned four and the one I did not do this on, the battery was completely useless (6 hour standby life) after about 4 months.

Tips For Cleaning Your Components

A good measure to take when doing system maintenance is occasionally cleaning your hardware components. Doing so removes dust and debris which can accumulate inside your system and degrade hardware performance.

While there are probably many more things you can do, I am just going to mention the simple and most obvious and ones:

• When cleaning the inside of your computer (motherboard, etc.) make sure your computer is off and you ground yourself before opening the case.
  
• Use only an air duster/canned air to remove dust from your components. I would recommend doing so outside so it doesn’t end up all over your house.
  
• Remember to blow out the insides of any intake or exhaust fans.
  
• When cleaning your monitor, make sure you do so with a clean rag and only use cleaning agents designed for electronics.
  
• Clean your keyboard.
  

Clean Your Keyboard

The other day while I was on the phone, I picked up a twist tie and started “picking” at my keyboard by running it through the gap in the keys. Of course since I haven’t cleaned it in probably 2 years, an enormous amount of dust, cat/dog fur, and other miscellaneous “gunk” came out. When all was said and done, about a handful of garbage was pulled out from under my keyboard.

The moral of this story is to make sure you periodically clean your keyboard. Be it with something as simple as a twist tie or with some fancy tool. You will probably be surprised what comes out.