What are Computer Ports & How to Clean Them
What are Computer Ports?
You may have seen slots at the sides and back of your computer. These are computer ports. You can connect external devices to your computer via these ports. Some examples of external devices are thumbdrive, hard-disk drive (HDD), mouse, keyboard, monitor, microphone, speakers and headphones.
Types of Ports
There are numerous ports for various external devices. Here are some of them.
Universal Serial Bus (USB) Ports
Nowadays, most computers have USB ports. They can connect almost any kind of external device to a computer at high speeds. In the past, computers had different ports for respective external devices such as printers and disk drives. With the invention of USB ports, almost any kind of external device can be connected to computers easily. In addition, most USB ports are plug and play. This means you just need to connect the external device to the USB port and you can immediately use it.
High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) Port
HDMI ports can connect a computer to an external device via a HDMI cable. Some common external devices are digital television, video projector, digital audio device and computer monitor. HDMI ports transmit both video and audio to the external device at high definition. Due to this, the video and audio capacity, performance and resolution is enhanced.
Headphone Port
Headphone ports allow your computer to connect to headphones. It usually transmits analog audio signals from your computer to headphones.
Clean Ports for a Good Connection:
There are times that it seems that our HDD, thumbdrive or charger do not finish connecting via the computer ports. This can be for many reasons, but one of them can be dirt. The procedure to follow to clean it is very simple and similar to the keyboard.
In this case, the first way of action will be to try to eliminate all the dust from the port with air under pressure. For this, we will use the straw that comes with the compressed air can, in order to focus the air output. It is better if we propel the air at a certain angle, and not perpendicular to the port.
In case it is still dirty, we can use a piece of cotton bud or something similar by gently inserting it through the port. What should not be used in almost any case is a wire or any other rigid material. If we use a rigid tool, we can damage the connection pins and disable the port.
Get Professional Help for your Computer
Computers tend to slow down and deteriorate over time apart from getting dirty. As such, you may need to get it serviced at a computer or macbook repair shop. Budget PC Upgrade Repair offers a comprehensive array of computer repair services. You can simply bring your computer to one of our stores or let us collect it from your home. We will perform a diagnostic on your computer and explain the charges to you. If you choose not to proceed with the repairs, we will not charge you for the diagnosis.