heads of the drive. You should only clean a floppy disk drive when it begins having read
or write problems. Every so often you may want to blow any dust or debris out of the
drive by blowing compressed air in the drive slot.
A floppy disk drive cleaning kit can be purchased at virtually all computer supply
stores. When the drive begins exhibiting signs of reading or writing problems, use the
cleaning kit to clean the read/write heads, following the directions on the kit.CD-ROM and DVD Drives
Two things should be regularly cleaned on a CD-ROM or DVD: the disk tray and the
lens. The tray is cleaned with some general purpose cleaner or isopropyl alcohol by ap-
plying the solution to a soft, lint-free cloth and gently wiping down the tray. Avoid
pressing down on the tray. Allow the tray to completely dry before closing it.
To clean the lens, you need to purchase a CD drive cleaning kit that is designed for
tray-based CD players. There are many versions of CD cleaning kits available, including
someforcaddydrives,automobiledrives,andothers.InthecleaningkitwillbeaCDdisk
that has a set of very small brushes on it that clean the lens as the disk spins. Follow the di-
rections on the package exactly to avoid damaging your CD drive.Miscellaneous Components
Two other components mounted on the motherboard that require attention are expan-
sion slots and external ports.Expansion Slot Connectors
The connectors in an expansion slot should be cleaned at least twice a year. You can use
contact cleaner that is made especially for cleaning metallic electronic connectors, but in
most cases, you don’t need to go that far. Typically, you only need to remove the expan-
sion card without touching its contacts and use a soft cloth, like the Scotch-Brite HPEC, to
wipe the contacts off. Wipe each contact from top to bottom rather than across to avoid
dislodging it from the card. Blow out the expansion slot using compressed air.
If you see any discoloration on the card’s contacts or on those in the slot, which are re-
ferred to as gold fingers, it is either oxidation or a chemical reaction of the metals. Use
contactcleanertocleanthecontacts.Useaswabtocleangoldfingers;avoidrubbingthem
with a cloth.External Ports
About all you can do for an external port that extends through the case is to keep it from col-
lecting dust. A very dusty port may make a poor connection. Use compressed air to clean off
any unused external ports, especially USB ports. Do not use water or alcohol on female ports
because it can get down inside the pinholes and possibly corrode the connection.(^594) PC Hardware: A Beginner’s Guide