does dust from outside affect my computer?

Question

my computer is dusty at times, but inside it is super, infact it's a new one. it works super. but does this outside dust affect the software or the performance of my computer in any way?

Answer 1

Make sure there is not too much dust around the air vents. If the air vents get blocked, the harder it will be for your fan to cool the computer. And an overheated computer usually doesn't work very well and eventually turns into quite a heavy paperweight.

If there is too much dust on your motherboard, some sockets might get clogged, but this is unlikely as the case should do a good enough job to not allow this to happen.

The biggest threat is the little holes on the outside of a pc. I'd make sure that the USB ports, ethernet/phone, and other little pins and ports are relatively clean. My laptop can't connect to the internet now cuz the ethernet port won't hold the wire for long (I've tried several working on other machines wires now).

Another danger is you might get a bug residing in the case, and it might get squished and cause problems.

But if its normal dust, computers SHOULD be fine. I've had my desktop since 1998 and never even dusted it once, and it is still running fine.

Answer 2

not as long as it does not clog the air vents