Quote:
Originally Posted by theducks
I brought it up in 'changing Hard drives', as the same people that are scared to tackle the HD upgrade job, will probably NOT open up and 'dust' either 
Floor level systems collect more Lint, which block air flow (inside and entry). Dust just reduces cooling efficiency (unless it contains high metallic content, then  ). |
Cleaning out dust is much easier than swapping HDDs. My machine is at desk level and still collects dust like a stray dog collects fleas. Fortunately, all I have to do is shine the little flashlight I always keep on my desk (old age sucks!) on the grill on the side of my computer. If I see dust, I open her up and gently blow it out with canned air (and yes, I do know to not spin the fans and to not touch anything unless I'm grounded).
The carrots seem to do well in the dust in my house so it mustn't have too high a metalic content (it does tend to glow in the dark though). All seriousness aside, it's interesting where the dust comes from. Before I started my book scanning project, most of the dust that got into my computer was fine grained house dust. Now, it's long fiber paper dust. That stuff is really insidious!