Week 3 Question 11/27/2023 - 12/3/2023: POST REPLY HERE

First of all make sure to keep the unit dust free and secondly make sure to keep the unit dust free. Heat buildup is one of the enemies of a properly working system. For a desktop open it up once in a while and either use canned air made for computers, or a small vacuum cleaner also designed for computers. Also periodically run diagnostics on your Dell just to make sure that everything is properly running. And for peace of mind make backups either using Windows backup and restore or a program such as Macrium Reflect Free (or the subscription version). I cannot begin to count the number of times a backup has saved me from having to reinstall Windows. Sometimes problems happen out of the clear blue, such as a bad update from MS (ask me about one of the latest Windows 11 update fiascos) or a driver version that looked good until it failed before fully installing. Last of all there are a number of good maintenance programs such as Memtest 86, which can diagnose problems that start out with vague symptoms. Lastly a reliable anti-virus program that is run routinely. The Windows version is very good and has always had high marks from AV Test. But there are many other quality AV programs that should be considered in a weekly schedule of maintaining the system. One last tip for desktop users. Consider a good UPS product. I have never had a hardware failure cause by power outages or surges over many years while my system was plugged into a quality UPS. I know this may be redundant with already mentioned suggestions but it is how I maintain my systems. 

This may go beyond simply cleaning but the topic included maintaining and that is just as important as a clean system.

Mini towers:

I clean myself with brush (not harsh) attachment on a handheld Shark.  I don't blow dust around.  My Shark has a lot of power and spins fan blades while the brush cleans them.

If the heatsink is dirty, I simply remove it and the old thermal paste.  Then I clean the dirt off under a faucet.  When applying thermal paste before reinstalling, I apply the thermal paste with 5 dots like the 5 of dice.  The CPU is typically either square or rectangular.  One round dot in the middle doesn't do it for me.  I've seen this technique used and it doesn't always cover the whole surface.

Dust filters are available for mini towers.  May be customizable ones available too, like for smaller PC's.

As for maintaining, my PC's never slow down (knock on wood).  If it were to slow down, I'd start uninstalling Windows' bloatware apps in the start menu.  Then eliminate apps I don't use anymore.

If still no luck, I'm comfortable with reloading the OS, which I have saved on a flash drive.  It only takes a reasonable amount of time on an SSD.  Everything is backed up outside of the PC - another maintenance tip.  Another Rockstar may have touched on that too.  Can be flash drives, external HDD's (very dependable), cloud storage, and/or etc.

If I have to reload the OS, like if I get BSOD, something that helps get me back up and running quickly is I have screengrab(s) saved of my desktop(s).  Then I easily see which programs need reloading and easily put my shortcuts back and where I want them.

Something I have run across online is there's numerous tips for BSOD recovery and specific BSOD error codes.  I and some others in the forum have never been able to beat it other than to reload.