How to clean the HP Pavilion 550

Unplug all peripherals from the computer.

Stand the desktop tower upright so that the back of the tower is facing you.

Remove thumbscrew below the side panel handle.

Once the retaining thumbscrew is removed, pull off the side panel to expose the internal components.

Lay the computer down so that the opened side is facing you.

Clip an anti-static bracelet to any exposed metal on the computer chassis.

Locate the hard drive located near the front panel of the case.

Remove the for screws holding the hard drive in place.

Make sure to reattach the wire connected to this screw when putting the hard drive back in.

With your hand under the drive, slide the drive out from the caddy in the direction indicated by the arrow.

Locate the flat and wide SATA cables.

The SATA cables can simply be removed by holding the head of the cable and carefully pulling them out.

Remove all the connections located at the bottom of the circuit board.

Locate the chassis fan header cable.

Press the clip on the connector and disconnect the cable from the circuit board.

Remove the three screws holding the chassis fan in place.

Set aside the fan for clean up.

Remove all screws holding the circuit board in place.

Locate the Wi-Fi card and remove the antenna cables connected to the card.

Now that the circuit board is loose, gently lift the board out of the case and place the board onto a non-conductive surface.

Locate the RAM module and press the white tabs to remove the RAM.

Set the RAM on a static-free surface.

Remove the screws attaching the CPU fan to the CPU heatsink.

Set aside the fan for cleaning.

Press down on the heatsink retaining clips to remove the heatsink.

Prepare the Q-tips and isopropyl alcohol.

Remove as much of the thermal paste on the CPU as possible.

Put a small pea-sized drop of fresh thermal paste onto the CPU.

The CPU heatsink can now be secured back in place.

Use a vacuum and/or compressed air to remove dust from the chassis fan.

Use compressed air or a vacuum to remove dust from the CPU fan.

If dust is present on the hard drive, remove it using compressed air.

Inspect the computer case and remove any dust using a vacuum, towel, or compressed air.

Place the circuit board back into the case and secure the board using the screws removed earlier.

After the circuit board is secured, secure the fan using its specific screws.

Insert the hard drive and reattach it using the correct screws.

Reattach the antenna cables to the Wi-Fi card.

Reattach all the SATA cables and peripheral cables.

Once every component is secured inside the case, slide the side panel back on and secure it using the thumbscrew.