Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Cleaning Up

I break one of the cardinal computer rules--I eat by my laptop.  These food crumbles plus dust and dirt from everyday life mean that inevitably, I occasionally have trouble using one of the keys on my keyboard.  In the past, I have dealt with this scenario by dusting my laptop, tipping it, or using a thin piece of paper to probe underneath the troubled key, depending on the obstacle's persistence.

I recently read about how to clean computer and laptop keyboards.  I was not having trouble with any particular key that day, but I had been noticing the pet hair and dust that was building between the keys.  As it was late, I mentally filed the information away for later.  Unfortunately, I did not save the page itself and now cannot find it.  I decided to try it for myself today, using my rarely-touched number pad as a test area.  I unplugged my laptop and turned it off.  (I did not remember, however, to take out the battery).  Then, I gently popped off the keys, making sure to put them in order on a flat surface not easily accessible by pets, and dusted underneath.  Replacing the keys took a bit longer, but was fairly straightforward.  I had to go over them at the end to check that each corner had popped in all the way.  Once the keys were all back on, I apprehensively turned the computer back on.  A quick check confirmed that all of the keys were still functional.  Success!

I now know exactly what to do when a pesky speck gets under one of my keys.  My thanks go out to the writer of original piece, wherever you are.

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