In Nigeria's climate — with dust, heat, and variable power — PCs that aren't maintained fail faster. The good news is that basic maintenance takes less than 2 hours per year and dramatically extends component life.
Every 3 Months: Physical Cleaning
- Use compressed air (or a can of air duster) to blow out dust from case filters, CPU heatsink, GPU heatsink, and PSU
- Clean case intake filter with a soft brush or rinse under water (allow to fully dry before reinstalling)
- Check that all fans are spinning freely and not wobbling
Every 6 Months: Software Health
- Run Windows Disk Cleanup and remove temporary files
- Use CrystalDiskInfo to check SSD and HDD health — look for "Good" status and low reallocated sectors
- Check Windows Event Viewer for recurring errors (look under Windows Logs > System)
- Update GPU drivers through GeForce Experience or AMD Adrenalin
- Verify backup status — is your important data backed up to an external drive or cloud?
Every 12 Months: Hardware Service
- Replace thermal paste on CPU (and GPU if performance has degraded)
- Check all PSU and data cable connections — reseat if they feel loose
- Inspect RAM sticks for dust on contacts — remove, clean with a clean eraser, reinstall
- Monitor temperatures and compare against records from 12 months ago — a significant rise indicates a cooling problem
Signs Your PC Needs Attention Now
- Random restarts or blue screens under load (often thermal or PSU issues)
- CPU or GPU temperatures exceeding 90°C at idle or under light load
- CrystalDiskInfo showing "Caution" or "Bad" drive status (back up immediately)
- System runs noticeably slower than when you first built it (check for thermal throttling)