# How to clean dust from inside laptop?



## OBM-man (Jun 8, 2009)

I have a Notebook Toshiba Satellite A300. My laptop overheats lately in less than a minute. It burns too(really, the left side burned my hand and I used toothpaste). I'm 100% sure its the dust that accumulated in there for the last two years. The fan's working. How do I clean it inside out? Fans, heatsink, keyboard, everything? And please don't tell me to take it to a specialist or manufacturer, I really don't trust them, they screwed up my old laptop before, and even still made me pay! All they know is "open with screwdriver, blow away dust with mouth", they don't even check the laptop model, they're all a bunch of uneducated ignorant con artists! They make me so mad I want to.... sorry where was I? 
How do I clean this laptop at home?


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## joeten (Dec 4, 2008)

Hi this may be of some help How To Clean A Laptop (Computer Basics)
and this caould also be usefull Disassemble, repair, take apart, upgrade, clean Toshiba laptop or notebook yourself.


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## Nathan_NCFC (Mar 17, 2009)

Personally since it's a laptop, I'd use a air cannister, they're relatively cheap and blow out compressed air at a decent pressure, it always cleans the inside of mine and any crap under the keyboard gets blown out very easily.


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## OBM-man (Jun 8, 2009)

Nathan_NCFC said:


> Personally since it's a laptop, I'd use a air cannister, they're relatively cheap and blow out compressed air at a decent pressure, it always cleans the inside of mine and any crap under the keyboard gets blown out very easily.


Well I heard that they're dangerous(they might break your fan, or mess up something else), is that true? Cause I really do want to use compressed air, it's more plausible than disassembling the laptop.


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## Nathan_NCFC (Mar 17, 2009)

Well personally i've never had a problem using them and i've used them on multiple laptops and desktops. Part of my computing A levels we had to study computer systems maintenance and we was also taught there to use compressed air. I don't think it'll do any damage really, as long as you keep it moving and dont hold it over a particular component for a long period im sure it will be fine.

Nathan


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## OBM-man (Jun 8, 2009)

Nathan_NCFC said:


> Well personally i've never had a problem using them and i've used them on multiple laptops and desktops. Part of my computing A levels we had to study computer systems maintenance and we was also taught there to use compressed air. I don't think it'll do any damage really, as long as you keep it moving and dont hold it over a particular component for a long period im sure it will be fine.
> 
> Nathan


Woah! You studied computer systems maintenance! Tell me more please! How do I use the compressed air? Do I blow it through the fan and have it come out through the other side of the laptop? Or the other way around maybe? And shouldn't I use a toothpick or something to prevent the fan from rotating while I blow the air? Here's the laptop between: How to disassemble Toshiba Satellite A305 laptop. Guide with instructions.


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## Nathan_NCFC (Mar 17, 2009)

Well the compressed air as you probably know comes with a straw-like tube so you can easily aim it into the laptop, this is what I normally have done in the past and it has never caused any problems or damage. You can put it directly under the keyboard of course and that'll get anything from under the keys, as for inside the laptop if you feel you wanted to have something hold the fan still then you can but I believe it will be fine either way as I've said I've always just done it by blowing compressed air through the vents at the side by placing the straw just outide of the vent (not inside) and you get quite a bit of dust blowing out of other side or any other place there are more vents. Does the trick for me, on my old laptop it cooled my average temperature down by about 10°. Still I suppose if you actually disassembled your laptop and gave the whole internal motherboard a blow over it would be even better results but as you say it's more plausible to just give it a quick one over from outside of the laptop. Quickly about your question to know more without going off topic.. it was just one of the modules I had to study alongside my actual course, it was basically using things from system tools to enhance performance, taking apart computers and laptops and working inside of them also like.. changing RAM, graphics cards etc etc.. just general playing with them and repairing/enhancing performance 

Hope this helps, let me know how you get on.

Regards,
Nathan


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## joeten (Dec 4, 2008)

Hi you might save yourself some time if you follow the link in my previous post it covers cleaning and how to avoid any issue with your fan,The internet is good but also abounds with misinformation often posted by people who hear something but never verify the truth,we are very vigilant here and would not give or allow others to give bad info,you can also do computer maintenance courses at night school or go a step further and go for A+ and many others if your interested look up your local colleges or community college they will have something in some of them.


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## OBM-man (Jun 8, 2009)

Nathan_NCFC said:


> Well the compressed air as you probably know comes with a straw-like tube so you can easily aim it into the laptop, this is what I normally have done in the past and it has never caused any problems or damage. You can put it directly under the keyboard of course and that'll get anything from under the keys, as for inside the laptop if you feel you wanted to have something hold the fan still then you can but I believe it will be fine either way as I've said I've always just done it by blowing compressed air through the vents at the side by placing the straw just outide of the vent (not inside) and you get quite a bit of dust blowing out of other side or any other place there are more vents. Does the trick for me, on my old laptop it cooled my average temperature down by about 10°. Still I suppose if you actually disassembled your laptop and gave the whole internal motherboard a blow over it would be even better results but as you say it's more plausible to just give it a quick one over from outside of the laptop. Quickly about your question to know more without going off topic.. it was just one of the modules I had to study alongside my actual course, it was basically using things from system tools to enhance performance, taking apart computers and laptops and working inside of them also like.. changing RAM, graphics cards etc etc.. just general playing with them and repairing/enhancing performance
> 
> Hope this helps, let me know how you get on.
> 
> ...


Well first off, sorry for the late reply, it's cause I have only one computer and I was disassembling it, using the other answerer's link as a guide. You're probably wondering why I disassembled it?
At first I was so excited to just clean it from the outside with the compressed air, so I went to the supermarket in search of a can, asked one of the helpers where there was one, he laughed at me and said there's no such thing(like I said before, everyone here is an ignorant stupid worthless piece of ...), anyway, I just went for the second option, take it apart(wasn't as complicated as I thought it was). And I did, every single piece until I reached the CPU, then I hesitated after reading all that stuff about dried out thermal paste and that I would have to add some new paste if I removed the CPU(as if I'm gonna find any thermal paste if I can't even find a compressed air can). Anyways, I didn't find much dust anywhere, and I couldn't clean the fan very well(I just used a vacuum cleaner), and there's still a mountain of hair, debris, and dust under the keyboard which I couldn't do a single thing about, 10 letters still don't work (I'm writing this post using on-screen keyboard btw).
Now I'm so lucky the computer turned on! I mean if you saw the way I was hacking at it to remove the screws and plugs and motherboard.... Anyway, I'm never ever going to repeat that again!
PS: I still want a way to clean the keyboard, can I immerse it in distilled water?


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## OBM-man (Jun 8, 2009)

And joeten, thanks for the link Disassemble, repair, take apart, upgrade, clean Toshiba laptop or notebook yourself., I followed the guide step by step. But as I noted above, It wasn't of much use, except for permanently breaking the express slot(or maybe you call it expansion slot) but big deal, I never used it.


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## oscer1 (Jan 27, 2010)

you do not want to immerse the keyboard in any solution of any kind. you can take the keys off to clean out from underneath them. Did the keys work before you disassembled the laptop?


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## cl0udedth0ught (Sep 29, 2004)

You can also spray around them (the keys) with compressed air. A local computer shop, radio shack, Lowes (electrical dept), and walmart should have it to purchase. I've gotten it before at wal-mart in the electronics section. Obviously, the person you talked to wasn't too bright.


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## OBM-man (Jun 8, 2009)

oscer1 said:


> you do not want to immerse the keyboard in any solution of any kind. you can take the keys off to clean out from underneath them.


Yes I know I can take the keys off, the question is Can I put them back on again? Are they removable(Toshiba Satellite A300)? I searched the entire laptop manual and the entire internet to find an answer and still nothing.



> Did the keys work before you disassembled the laptop?


No. Like I said, it's because of the mountain of rubble underneath.


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## oscer1 (Jan 27, 2010)

then get some canned air and blow it out. If you have no stores that sell canned air then you can get it online. If can not get it out with the air then pop the keys off and clean it that way. If keys still not working then i would start be re-seating the ribbon cable to the motherboard and if that doesn't fix it you probably need a new keyboard.


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## oscer1 (Jan 27, 2010)

here is a video on how to do it.

‪Replace Keyboard Key on Toshiba Satellite A300 A305 A200 A205 L300 | Fix Laptop Installation Repair‬‏ - YouTube


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## OBM-man (Jun 8, 2009)

I still can't remove it. I pull up as hard as I can, but I think I'll break it if I pull anymore. This tutorial only shows how to put a new one on(preferably one you buy from them). Should I just yank it out? Cause it's not something I can do with trial and error.


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## oscer1 (Jan 27, 2010)

well first try the air and see if you can get the stuff out then see about taking keys off. to practice i would try on a key that you probably never use much like the the key to the right of the number 1 ```~~~


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