Did you know that several fans are running inside your computer at any given time? Without those fans, your computer would be completely silent. Unfortunately, without those fans most computers would also overheat and the components inside would fry.

The one downside to those fans running inside your computer, other than the noise, is that they naturally draw dust inside your computer. Over time, this dust builds up inside and can actually restrict the airflow inside your computer. This lack of airflow will eventually lead to your computer overheating – the very problem the fans were trying to prevent in the first place.

Because of this, it is a good idea to pop open your computer's case every 6 to 12 months and to use a can of compressed air to dust off the components. This will help your computer to run cool and keep from overheating – increasing the lifespan of the components, and your computer as a whole.

Be careful not to accidentally introduce any kind of static electricity to the inside of your computer case as electronic components are very sensitive to any kind of static shock.

Inside of your computer are several fans that run to keep the components cool. Without those fans, your computer would overheat and its components would fry.

Unfortunately, the fans won't do any good if your computer doesn't have any "room to breathe". Do not lock your computer away in a cabinet with limited or no airflow while it is running. This will cause your computer to run hotter than optimal and decrease its lifespan.

We recommend keeping your computer in an open area with room on each side for airflow. Underneath or on top of a desk are both great options!

One reason why we keep our car windshields clean is to keep the car looking nice, but did you know your eyes have to concentrate harder to see through the smudges and dirt, which can cause headaches? For this same reason we recommend regularly cleaning your computer screen.

To see the dust buildup and smudges on your computer screen, shut your computer screen off. We usually recommend cleaning it with a slightly dampened coffee filter (because it is lint-free). Try to avoid using hash chemicals or glass cleaners as this may damage the screen.

Have you ever noticed all the icons in the lower right-hand corner of your screen? That area is called the System Tray. Programs will place an icon there to let you know they are running in the background.

When you hover your mouse over an icon in the System Tray, a label will appear identifying the application. Hover over all the icons in your System Tray to get an overview of what is running in the background. Chances are if you don't recognize a program, you aren't using it. If you aren't using it, what's the sense in having it run in the background?

(Note: When you have more than three or four icons in your System Tray, Windows will sometimes hide those icons. To temporarily stop Windows from hiding your System Tray icons, click on the arrow Windows puts next to the last icon. The arrow will slide away to reveal all your System Tray icons.)

In most cases, right-clicking an icon will show a menu of options related to that particular application. Normally there will be an 'Exit' or 'Quit' option. Right-click an icon and select 'Exit' or 'Quit' to close the application and free up your computer's resources.

Sometimes you can stop an application from starting every time you start Windows by clicking on the Start Menu, selecting Programs, and then finding the Startup folder. Any applications within the Startup folder will automatically begin when Windows starts. Right-clicking on an icon and selecting Delete will remove it from the Startup folder to stop it from starting up when Windows does.

Unfortunately, almost all new computers come preinstalled with a bunch of junk programs. Also, after you have owned your computer for a while, it is possible that friends, family, or even you have installed programs that you don't use. Sometimes these programs start up and run in the background without you even asking them to do so. By uninstalling such programs, it is possible to reclaim processing power, memory, and storage space that would have gone to otherwise unused applications.

To uninstall an application, click on the Start Menu and open the Control Panel, then open Add and Remove Programs. A list will be displayed of all the programs currently installed on your computer. You can click on the program you want to remove and click the Remove button.

We also recommend cleaning your registry after uninstalling old or unused programs as uninstalled programs often leave parts of itself behind.

Caution! Be sure you know what you are removing from your computer, or you could lose data or functionality that you might have wanted.

After installing, uninstalling, and upgrading programs on your computer, an area of Windows called the registry can become cluttered. This clutter can slow down your system, causing it to perform at below-optimal levels.

Fortunately, several free tools exist that will clean out your registry. One that we recommend is called CCleaner. Not only can CCleaner fix your registry, it can also remove so-called temporary files from your computer that may accumulate over time.

Tip: When installing CCleaner, pay attention to the prompts it gives you. One of the options is to install the Yahoo toolbar. This will slow down your internet browser. To opt out of the Yahoo toolbar, uncheck the box next to that option.

Once you have finished installing CCleaner, open the Start Menu, click on Programs, click on the CCleaner folder, and click on CCleaner to launch it.

Along the left-hand side of the program there will be several large buttons. The first button is Cleaner. Along the bottom-right is a button labeled Run Cleaner. Click on Run Cleaner to empty out your temporary files. (Warning: this will also empty your Recycle Bin.)

The second large button on the left is Registry; click on it. Then click on Scan for Issues. Once it has finished scanning, click on 'Fix Selected Issues'. When CCleaner asks you whether or not you want to save a backup of the registry keys it is removing, we would recommend doing so.

After CCleaner has finished fixing your registry, you can exit the program. There are two other large buttons to the left, but those functions are for more advanced users. Feel free to poke around if you want, but do so at your own risk.

Because of the way Windows handles files, sometimes something can happen to them that is referred to as "fragmenting". That is, even though the computer shows a file as existing in one location, the file may be physically scattered throughout your hard drive. When the computer opens the file it will have to gather all the pieces from the various locations. The more places a file is scattered, the longer it will take to gather those pieces.

While you will probably never experience a noticeable slowdown due to the fragmentation of any of your own stuff, fragmentation commonly happens to files the computer uses to run. By "defragmenting" those files, your computer has less running around to do its job, thus speeding it up.

A program that we recommend using to defragment your computer is Disk Defrag by Auslogics.

After installing the program, you can find it by clicking on the Start Menu, then Programs, Auslogics, the Auslogics Disk Defrag folder, and then by clicking on Auslogics Disk Defrag.

To start defragmenting your computer, simply click on the Defrag button. The defragmentation process could take anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes. Once it has finished, click on Finish.

The registry is a special place in your computer where Windows stores pieces of information about how to run. In the same way that files on your computer can get fragmented (see "Defragment your hard drive" above), files in the registry can get fragmented too.

A program that we recommend using to defragment your computer is Registry Defrag by Auslogics. (Note: Make sure to uncheck the Ask Toolbar option when installing – this optional add-on will slow down your computer.)

After installing the program, you can find it by clicking on the Start Menu, then Programs, Auslogics, the Auslogics Registry Defrag folder, and then by clicking on Auslogics Registry Defrag.

To start, simply click Next. After it is done analyzing your registry, click Next again, and then click on Defrag. It will ask you if you want to restart, to which you should reply Yes. The defragmentation process itself takes about a minutes and your computer will restart twice. After it has finished restarting, you are good to go!

Going online without antivirus protection is like sleepwalking through a battlefield in your PJ's. Before you know it, you will be hit!

In 2008, viruses for PCs tripled, and there are an estimated 20,000 new viruses being released into the wild every day. Most viruses pretend to be something fun and innocent, but they are really wolves in sheep's clothing.

Now, more than ever, it is imperative to have security software installed on your computer.

#1 on our list is Kaspersky Internet Security (kaspersky.com). They have won many awards in antivirus protection and do a great job of staying in the background and letting you use your computer without getting in the way.

Second on our list is Trend Internet Security (trendmicro.com). Maybe not as good as Kaspersky, but a little more affordable.

Lastly, if you don't want to spend any money at all on antivirus, AVG Internet Security is a free antivirus program (avg.com). We will caution you, however, as with most things in life, you get what you pay for. The paid options will offer better protection than the unpaid ones.

Your antivirus software is only as good as it is current. Most antivirus programs will automatically update themselves daily. However, checking every once in a while to make sure this is happening in not a bad idea.

If your antivirus subscription has expired, chances are it is no longer protecting you. If not a paid subscription, at least have a free antivirus program installed. Something is better than nothing.

We also recommend keeping all of your software up-to-date. How to do this varys by program.

Generally speaking, any adult websites, gambling websites, file sharing or free music download sites, gaming sites, social networking sites, and most free download sites are the most likely culprits to give you viruses.