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Greetings!
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 Welcome to the spring newsletter from Thames Computer Consulting.
If you find our emails helpful and of value, please forward them to your friends.
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Spring Cleaning |
 Spring has sprung and it's time to dust the cobwebs off of your
computer! So, what can the average user do to spring clean a computer?
Start
by using a barely damp cloth to remove dust from the case. To clean your
LCD monitor, buy a cleaner specifically meant for HDTV's. These cleaners work well on LCD monitors and are made for this
purpose. Do not use home cleaners like Windex or Fantastic on your
delicate monitor.
To remove dust from inside your computer,
purchase a can of compressed air at an office supply store. Turn off
your computer, unplug the power cord, open the case and blow out the dust by positioning the
can of air inside the computer case and pointing outwards. You'll be surprised at how much dust accumulates inside a
computer and it's great to get rid of it! Dust can cause the electronic parts to overheat reducing the efficiency and lifespan of your computer.
After
you've closed the case and powered the computer back on, download CCleaner, a free program that will eliminate all sorts of temporary
files and various other unnecessary files
that remain on your computer.
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According to the Federal Trade Commission, your hard drive is a "21st
century treasure chest for identity thieves and information pirates". Before you dispose of a computer, you need to remove the data from your hard drive. Even if you delete all the files off of your hard drive, the information can be easily retrieved. Wiping a hard drive clean involves either running a software program to write over the drive or physically destroying the hard drive. Using the software method is a good option if you are going to donate or sell your computer. Physically destroying the hard drive is the right move if you are taking your old computer to the town dump. There are many different software programs to erase your hard drive. Examples of two are 
