Just blow the dust off. If this doesn't work, the disk is lost (and the warranty seal is broken, so don't expect a refund).

@krazywomen: you might want to look into asking questions the smart way and start a new thread for a new question.

I would guess that pure distilled water would be pretty harmless for (gentle) cleaning of keybds and circuit boards.
Wouldn't try it on disks though...
isopropyl alcohol is popular, along with some unlikely candidates http://forum.gsmhosting.com/vbb/f148...eaning-680093/ ...

You mentioned discs. I'm assuming you mean the platters in the HDD. A HDD can't be serviced in the field, that renders it unreliable and therefore unusable. The tinyest spec of dust between the head and platter can scratch the platter. Disassembly must be done in a clean room and these days is only done to recover data.

I'd _never_ stick a keyboard, or any other electrical stuff into a dishwasher to clean it.

I use the 'warm soapy water and leave it to dry' method like SharpyWarpy. Though I add metho to the water, and rinse in water then a bit of metho.

BTW, I learnt that method from my father, whos been an electrical engineer since the late 1960s.

Hmmm...I shoud have put a smilie in to make it more obvious I was joking.

I is possible to get away with cracking a HDD and even changing platters without a clean room (I've done it). But yeah, I wouldnt trust any HDD that has been opened, even if it was done professionally in a clean room. Its just not worth the risk, HDDs are cheap....

@ cascade9

I've been an electronic engineer since the late 1960s and wouldn't use anything other than water but only if really pushed. Then again it would depend if it was hard water, you can get lime deposits which would impare its use. I feel you'd really have to love a keyboard to have to resort to washing it. (John VV's the guy using the dishwasher BTW)

We used to look after Atex Editorial systems (Based on DEC PDP11 technology) at a local newspaper which used keyboards with individual keyswitch mechanisms. Each had a foil disk on a foam pad which, when pressed, registered a capacitance change which was seen as a key press. The newspaper employed people to cpme round and clean the keyboards with some sort of spray stuff... We'd have to spend most of the day replacing key mechanisms as the spray destroyed the foam pad. Another one of the reasons I don't advise washing a keyboard - they don't all use the same means of registering key presses. The newer membrain ones would be the only ones worth trying.

The only disk platters I can remember being "cleaned" with water belonged to DEC RK05s,RL02s,etc where a headcrash meant replacing and aligning heads. (Sheesh! I've forgotten the name of the larger DEC drives with removeable "cake stand" disk packs! )

Play Bonny!

http://www.wordnik.com/words/accuracy

Regards

Its best to use demineralised/distilled water if you're going to wash electronics. Hard water is a no-no. Even normal tap water isnt good thanks to the crap in it (flouride, clorine, etc.), and I use tank water (rain water) over tap water. Its also best to be careful about what soap you use, most commercial soaps tend to have salt as an ingredient.

You dont have to love a keyboard to wash it......I know one guy who was washing his keyboard about once a week, due to one of his kids being a nasty little sot who would pour a drink over the keyboard about that often.

Not that I wash keyboards that often, most of the time if I wash electrical parts its a motherboard, RAM or expansion cards.

Yeah, I know. I just dont get why you quoted a post I made (where I though it was pretty clear I manually wash) then put in something about dishwashers....