Funny,mine is the same way.....

Thanks for the reminder, ladies. My SIL is coming over Sunday to do my computer for me--I'll be sure and hand the compressed air can to him and ask him to clean the big box of a thing under my desk here.

A few tips to prolong the life of the machine:
1. When vacuuming, don't "touch" any of the circuit boards, just hover over top of them about an inch, it will still get the dust off, and no components will be damaged.
2. Don't spin the fan when you do this. The bearing in the fan doesn't like to be spun, especially backwards. Often the fan needs to be changed after this happens.
3. Hold the side of the machine while you vacuum, and leave it plugged in but powered off. This helps the static not bother the components.
4. Air compressors, have them on very light pressure, no need to bash the cables around.
5. Compressed Air, hold the can right side up. Computer boards don't like that compressed cold refrigerant on them

How do I know? 16 years in IT ;)

I think it's survived our goof-ups - wish I'd read this BEFORE we started messing around with it!

For the most part, usually it's fine, the odd little touch. What we're really trying to avoid is the drop, and drags ;) Those little tiny components on each board are quite fragile and can literally be ripped off the board. That's what we usually refer to as a "Bad thing" (TM)

Some fans do appear to be more resilient than others. I have seen them go and others not, but it's better safe than sorry.

Neither I nor DH have the faintest idea how to open the computer tower to vacuum it!

I only have a netbook, no more tower!