IBM Thinkpad T40

It’s time to clean your PC the right way! Get ready for PC spring cleaning time. If you think about it, do you remember the last time you had your PC cleaned? Deleted old files from your PC? If you can’t remember, you are most likely due for a cleaning.

No worries, many people don’t have time set aside to clean their computers, but they do find time to notice that their PC is slowing down. The regular cleaning of your computer and its parts, especially in a restaurant environment, can keep your system running smoothly and help you determine which files are still important and which ones need to be trashed. This can also get your restaurant POS system up and working the way it should be.

Follow these simple tips for your spring cleaning:

1. Start with your mouse. You might not suspect it, but your mouse could hold all sorts of harmful bacteria that may cause illness. Use a proper amount of cleaning solution on a lint-free cloth to clean your mouse every few weeks. If other people using your PC, are getting ill because of it, then you might want to consider cleaning your PC more than the usual.

2. Next is your keyboard. Keyboards collect a lot of extras from you—little crumbs from lunch, dust from papers or folders scattered across the desk, and sometimes even dirty hands on the keyboard. Getting your keyboard cleaned is easy: shut down your computer, unplug it and take your keyboard to a trash can. Gently turn it upside down, and lightly shake it or use compressed air to remove any dirt beneath the keys.

After you have cleared the debris from around the keys, use cotton swabs with a small amount of cleaning solution like isopropyl alcohol to clean in between the keys. Next use a lint-free cloth with a little bit of cleaning solution to wipe the tops of all the keys. Finish up by wiping the entire keyboard with a dry cloth.

3. Cleaning your computer. The actual computer component that your monitor, keyboard and mouse plug in to is either a tower or desktop unit. These units can astonishingly collect vast amount of dirt, especially if they are placed on the floor. Have you baffled after seeing what’s under your PC tower? If so, then you seriously need a spring cleaning time!

With the same lint free and cleaning solution, start wiping down the outside vents and around the connections. The key is to make sure you get as much dust as you can out of the vents. {The more dust, the more heat is kept inside.~The more dust is in there, the more likely your computer is going to overheat.}

4. Dump the trash. Can’t remember how long has it been since you emptied the trash files in your recycle bin? The recycle bin is where any deleted files are dumped before they are permanently removed from your PC’s hard drive. Emptying the recycle bin is easy. All you have to do is right click on the “trash can” icon, then choose “yes” and it will permanently remove all files, giving you more free space for your hard drive.

5. Clear the cache. Another burden for your disk space is temporary Internet files that have not been deleted for ages. To delete temporary Internet files within Microsoft Internet Explorer, open IE, click on Tools, then Internet Options. You can find a “Delete…” button under the Browsing History section. Click Delete and you will have a number of choices: Temporary Internet Files, Cookies, History, Form data, and Passwords.

Here’s a brief description of each choice:

Temporary Internet Files: Deleting this will remove all copies of the websites/webpages you’ve visited, along with any images and media that are saved on your PC for faster loading.

Cookies: Also called the browser coockies, serves as the storage area where your web browser store bits of information. Deleting these will remove all of your website preferences such as login information.

History: This will permanently remove the list of websites you have visited.

Form Data: This will delete any saved information that you have typed into forms.

Passwords: This will delete any passwords that are automatically filled in when you log on to a website you’ve previously visited.

There’s also the Delete button that can clear all info of the choices above.

These easy steps should be enough help to start spring cleaning your PC! Clean your computer regularly, especially if your PC is placed in an environment, like a restaurant kitchen, where dirt and spills are common.

The author of this article is the Vice President of Customer Relations at POS-For-Restaurants. With over 20 years of restaurant POS solutions experience, POS-For-Restaurants helps you use your technology to be more efficient and more profitable.

Find more information on our website: POS-For-Restaurants.com