So I come home from work the other day and find that my home PC is shut down. I mumble to myself, "Damn kids, messing with my stuff again". When I turn it back on I'm greeted with charming rhythmic beeps and nice little message from Intel stating that my PC overheated and automatically shut down (sorry kids, I didn't mean to jump to conclusions). Wonderful. Ignoring all the prompts to have the PC inspected by a professional I pushed my PC back to life with a few key presses and before you know it I'm back into Windows.  Firing up Intel's Desktop Control Center displayed a CPU Zone in the red with about 175 degrees Fahrenheit (not far from the "Captain, she can't take more" limit). Peering in through the clear fiberglass beyond the flashing neon blue lights as data pulsated through the system I could see 4 dust bunny encrusted fans working away as expected (1 CPU, 2 case, 1 power supply). Could it be the dust causing my headache? Excited to get out my can of compressed air, I fumbled through my drawers of outdated PC parts to find a half full can of air. Resisting the urge to sneak up behind my wife and shoot some cold air on the back of her neck (because I'm evil like that), I resorted to the less fun, but definitely fun task of shooting compressed air into all the nooks and crannies of my PC sending billowing clouds of dust out onto the carpet and surrounding area. The only way to ensure that dust was indeed the problem was to leave the PC running and view the CPU Zone Temp. on the fly, adding an extra element of danger (so they say). Instant results revealed themselves via the Intel Desktop Control Center when my CPU Zone temperature started to average 115 degrees Fahrenheit and stayed there:

Moral of the story: Blow the dust out of your PC more than once a year.