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On Windows 10, and this might work for earlier versions too, you can check what .NET Framework version you have by navigating in the Registtry Editor to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\NET Framework Setup\NDP. From there, select the latest version (probably v4), select the Client key, and look for the Version value.

The are other ways to find your version, but this is probably the quickest way. There’s an excellent article on Windows Central explaining the various ways, but I’m blocked from posting it again.

Personally, I hold the fan with a grounded hand and use compressed air on it like that. I was advised to do it like this many years ago and there’ no risk of rotation this way. You’re right that you can break a fan if it rotates the wrong way, though, an important warning.

As for your question: yes, dust is conductive. Dust, not very pleasantly, is mostly made of dead human skin, and skin is conductive (as you probably found out playing with balloons as a child).

Might you get away with it? Sure. But a quick Google comes up with sites such as How-To Geek recommending strongly against it, as well as anecdotes from users on Reddit and Superuser claiming that they had computer components killed while vacuuming them.

I don’t know if it’s evidence per se, but the logic behind it makes sense: you shouldn’t go near computer components with anything that can carry a static charge, and that includes vacuums, which can build one up from the movement of dust. Compressed air, on the other hand, is used with a distance between itself and the components, and comes out at such a rate that it cleans everything right up. Similarly, this is why you should always ground yourself when messing around inside your computer.

Sorry to contradict you, it just doesn’t seem worth the risk to vacuum given the risks and the cost of the alternatives.

Since we’re sharing links, a shout out to a slightly older but still mostly relevant (I used this guide when I installed Windows 10 last year) article on Computerworld by an author with whom we’re all familiar.

Just search for “The definitive guide to privacy settings in Windows 10 Creators Update“.

I would add the link myself, but it’s blocking the link for being spam, which is rather ironic considering the website and author!

Moderator note: Added link

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dmt_3904, Zig

Cleaning your computer is always important, but it’s also important that you don’t vacuum it. Use compressed air, use a non-static brush, use rubbing alcohol, any of those are good, just don’t vacuum. Vacuums create static around the nozzle and this can discharge into components and kill them.

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jburk07, doriel, DriftyDonN

Well spotted! My eyes totally glazed over that box. Still, it can’t hurt in case they enable in for Windows 10 in the future. Okay, Microsoft isn’t going to add back a privacy setting that they removed, are they…

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b

If you have Windows 10 Pro or Enterprise you can go into the Group Policy Editor (as admin) and set Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Search > Allow Cortana. to Disabled. That’s the easiest way to do it.

While you’re there, you might want to set Allow search and Cortana to use location. to Disabled and Set what information is shared in Search to Enabled/Anonymous info (by default, Microsoft sends itself all of your search history, not even anonymised).

If you have Windows 10 Home, you need to use the Registry Editor (as admin). Go to Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search and set AllowCortana to 0 by double clicking it. If AllowCortana doesn’t exist, create it by right clicking on Windows Search in the left hand menu and clicking New > DWORD (32-bit) Value with the Name AllowCortana, the set it to 0 by double clicking it.

Restart to apply the change.

I personally have absolutely everything turned off Settings -> Privacy, with the exception of allowing certain apps to run in the background and allowing certain apps access to Documents/Pictures/Videos/File system as required, and have never had any problem with this. I clear all of the histories every time I update Windows (as updates have a tendency to reset settings) and have never noticed any difference to how my computer works when I do.

If you want to go further with privacy settings, then making sure you’re using a Local Account and disabling Cortana are the main things that you can do to further this goal. There are changes to Search that can be made both via Settings and via Group Policy Editor that can further enhance your privacy too.

That is a fantastic guide and I applied it last year when I installed W10.

I note that you don’t mention the Manage preview bulds setting that Microfix just mentioned though. Do you not recommend it?

Thanks for that tip about the Group Policy setting.

For anyone else interested in this, WUfB is located at Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update -> Windows Update for Business.

Counter-intuitively, it seems that it needs to be set to Enabled and a sub-setting then set to Disable preview builds for it to work.

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Microfix

All the big sites where you can watch videos such as YouTube, Netflix, Facebook, etc. use HTML5 (which is built into all browsers), not Flash, to serve videos. And as Paul T said, modern browers already block Flash, so if your browser is up to date and you can still watch the videos you want to that is further confirmation that it’s not in use.

Furthermore, Flash is out of date and a security vulnerability to some degree, so you should want it gone from your system. Microsoft is actually doing us a service by removing it – shocking, I know!

The only thing that Flash is used for is for some very rare and out of date websites, but if you encounter one of those you will know and can install a Flash alternative if you simply must access it.

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Coldheart9020

I can confirm what Microfix said about running without a battery. I’ve run both of my laptops without batteries for years to keep the heat down and preserve the longevity of the components, and they’re both fine. Just be careful not to knock the power lead out!

On the subject of surge protectors, it’s important to be aware that not all surge protectors are created equal. Surge protectors come with a rating in joules saying how much they can withstand, and this varies wildly between brands. I personally use the APC brand, which I’ve found to be the best in the UK, but better brands may be available where you live.

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Microfix, OscarCP, Charlie

You make a very good point about his delusion. I hadn’t considered that. Perhaps it could have been made a bit clearer, or perhaps I’m at fault for not noticing it. Either way, it’s a good point.

I wouldn’t describe myself as a big fan of war movies, but I watched a lot of them when I was growing up, as they showed them on TV regularly. A lot of American ones, but mainly all of the 50s and 60s British-made movies made back when my country still had a film industry of note. This includes Zulu, so I have seen it, but also includes great movies such as Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia, Where Eagles Dare, The Heroes of Telemark, The Dam Busters, etc. We produced a lot of war films back then! I suppose it was a time when my country was even more obsessed with WW2 and empire than it is now! But yes, Zulu is definitely the best of the bunch, since it’s not just a glorification of war, although that does make it a harder watch.

[Sky]

Honestly, as Alex says, you have nothing to worry about. I’ve run Firefox on a SSD for years and it’s barely through any write cycles. If you’re still worried, you could type about:config in the address bar and set browser.cache.disk.enable to false. This will prevent Firefox from writing to the drive. It will cause it to take up more RAM, however, so if you run a lot of tabs at once then make sure you have enough first. I used to use this preference on a computer with only 4GB of RAM and it was fine, though.

EDIT: Microfix beat me to it while I was typing! Hopefully the further info helps anyway.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 1 month ago by Sky.

On Grave of the Fireflies:
I get what you’re saying about Downfall, but I don’t think that you can compare it, because while the characters in both films are in the midst of a war, we’re not meant to feel sympathy for the characters in Downfall, whereas we are meant to feel sympathy for the characters in Grave of the Fireflies. I feel like the point of Grave of the Fireflies is to show the consequences of war on a civilian population, the suffering they have to endure as a result, yes? Given that, making the suffering of the main two characters in it come about partly because of the actions of one of them and not solely because of the war I feel distracts from that message of the brutality of war on a civilian population. It’s still a very moving and harrowing film, though, and I don’t dispute its place among the great war films.