The keyboard is your primary means of communicating with your PC. You may spend more time touching it than any other object in your office, except perhaps the telephone. So why do we spend so little time thinking about keyboard hygiene?

You may want to save this task for after lunch because it could affect your appetite, especially if you are in the habit of snacking at your desk. Better yet, if you work in a public area in your firm, wait until everyone has left for the day to avoid embarrassment.

This is not an especially pleasant task, so you'll want to do it right the first time. Once you've picked the right time for this task, there are a few supplies you'll need. To clean your keyboard, you'll need a can of compressed air (available at any computer store for about $5); a bottle of isopropyl alcohol (about $2 at any drugstore); cotton swabs; and two clean, soft cotton cloths (a cut-up old T-shirt will do).

Unplug the keyboard and place it on a flat surface covered with newspaper. Turn it upside down and tap it gently to knock out loose dirt. Then turn it vertical and spray compressed air between the keys. Finally, turn the keyboard upside down, shake it again, and slap the bottom. Repeat this spray-shake-slap routine until nothing comes out. With the keyboard still unplugged, put some alcohol on one of the cloths and wipe the surface clean. Dip a cotton swab in the alcohol and clean between the keys where the cloth can't reach. Alcohol evaporates pretty quickly, but if necessary dry the keyboard with the other cloth.

Your computer mouse is another object you touch frequently throughout the day. If you are lucky, you have an optical or laser mouse. Dirt is far less likely to impact the operation of non- mechanical mice like these.

However, if you still use an old-fashioned mechanical ball mouse, dirt can prevent it from working properly. In severe cases, it can become nearly unusable.

If your mechanical mouse stops rolling properly, cleaning the inside rollers should make it as good as new. All you need to get back on a roll are a can of compressed air and possibly tweezers. Unplug the mouse and turn it upside down. You'll see a little plastic disk with a hole in the middle. The roller ball shows through the hole. Turn the disk in the direction indicated by the arrows (counterclockwise on Microsoft mice), remove the disk, and take out the ball. You'll see two or three rollers inside. Lint and dirt on these rollers are what make your mouse misbehave. Blow some compressed air onto the rollers to loosen the gunk, which tends to clump into big pieces. Then pull the stuff off with your fingers or with tweezers. Clean any surface oils off the ball with mild soap and water.. Reassemble the mouse.

If you can't tell if that is an ampersand or a numeral 8 on your screen, it may be time to clean your PC monitor.

No matter what type of screen you have, it is safer to clean it with the power turned off. When the monitor is off, you can see the smudges and dirt better, and you can be sure that you won’t burn out any electrical components if water or cleaning liquid is inadvertently dripped onto or into the monitor. If you accidentally drip liquid onto a monitor, turn it off immediately and allow it to dry completely before turning it back on.

Cleaning a CRT monitor is pretty easy. Just turn off the monitor, slightly moisten a soft cloth with water (don't use glass cleaner, especially if it has ammonia - ammonia can damage the surface of the screen), rub the screen, and wipe it dry. Never spray anything directly on the monitor.

Removing dirt and grime from an LCD monitor or notebook screen is a bit more complicated. You'll need a microfiber cloth (such as those sold or given away by opticians for cleaning eyeglasses), as well as a few ounces of a mixture that's half water and half isopropyl alcohol. Turn off the monitor (if it's on a notebook, turn off the PC), lightly moisten the cloth with the fluid, and wipe carefully.

With both CRTs and LCDs, wait a few minutes after you finish cleaning before turning the monitor back on. That should reduce the problem of excess moisture affecting electrical components.

Now lets get to the heart of the matter - cleaning your PC's system case. Aside from the usual dust bunnies, insects, rodent droppings, and even small snakes have been found inside computer cases.

Don't let the prospect of what you might find inside the case deter you from this task. Dust is one of your PC's worst enemies. Months or years worth of accumulated dust can block the flow of air moving through your computer. Without a free flow of air, your PC can overheat. Overheating is one of the leading causes of PC component failure.

Start on the outside of your PC's case. Wipe down the exterior of the case and wipe or blow any dust or other obstructions from all openings-- including the floppy drive opening (if your PC still has one) and any memory card reader slots.

When using compressed air, always release it in a series of short blasts. Long continuous streams can cause condensation, which would deposit unwanted moisture on your PC and would quickly cause the can to chill down and lose force until it warms back up again. Keep the can upright; otherwise, you'll use up the can very quickly.

Use compressed air to clean the power supply fan at the back of the PC case. Try not to blow dust into the case. If you place a vacuum cleaner hose next to where you're blasting the air, most of the dust will be sucked into the vacuum cleaner as it is dislodged by the compressed air. If you have several computers to clean and don't want to haul your full- sized vacuum cleaner into what can sometimes be cramped spaces, consider buying a special computer vacuum cleaner.

Opening a computer's case is not nearly as scary as it seems. Of course, make sure the computer is not only turned off, but also unplugged from the electrical outlet. The easiest way to do this is to unplug the power cable where it attaches to the computer at the computer's power supply (typically adjacent to the fan described above). Most newer computers have easy open cases that don't require the use of a screw driver. Recent Dell desktop and mini-tower models, for example, feature hinged clamshell cases that will swing open if you press buttons (usually green) on the top and bottom of the case.

One precaution you may want to take, although not strictly necessary is the use of a grounding strap on your wrist when you venture inside a PC's case. This is especially useful in colder climates or in an air conditioned office with especially dry air and synthetic fiber carpet which tends to generate a buildup of static electricity. If you sometimes get a static electric shock when you walk across the office and touch a metal doorknob, use of a grounding strap might be a good idea. When using a grounding strap, after you put it on, touch a metal part of your PC after you have turned it off, but before you unplug the power cord. In most cases, a computer is grounded only when it is plugged in. Grounding straps are available at most office and technology stores.

Once inside, first wipe the dust and grime from the inside of the case walls with a slightly damp cloth. If you have a cannister vacuum or a special computer vacuum, use it to remove as much dust as possible from the interior of the case. Carefully remove dust from wires, chips, and other circuitry. Use the soft brush attachment. Dust can act like an insulating blanket to trap heat and lead to premature failure of electronic components. If you don't have a vacuum, use your can of compressed air. Be careful to blow the dust out of the case, not just around into another part of the case.

When audio CD's were first introduced in the mid-1980's, the promise was "perfect sound forever." We now know that audio CD's and their computer data counterparts can be damaged from improper handling. Dirty CD's can result in data read errors from the computer. This may make it impossible to install or reinstall important software or read critical data copied onto a CD.

Fortunately, smudges and dirt and easy enough to remove from CD's. There are dozens of inexpensive CD cleaning kits on the market. They are available nearly every where, from office supply stores to big box technology retailers and even drug and hardware stores. But if you want to try it yourself without any special tools, there are a few things to remember.

Data is deposited on a CD is spiraling tracks like an old fashioned phonograph record. But instead of starting on the outside edge like a phonograph record, the data starts near the center progresses outward. You may have noticed that CD's you burn yourself, if not filled to capacity, will have a data ring limited to the inner portion of the disk while the outer area will be empty (characterized by a slightly different color or level of reflectivity).

Unlike cleaning a phonograph record, never clean a CD by rubbing the surface in the circular direction of the data tracks. Use a clean cotton cloth and wipe against the data tracks. Start from the middle of the CD and wipe towards the outer edge. Wiping with the tracks in a circular patter may add scratches to the CD in an orientation that will decrease your computer's ability to accurately read data from the disc.

For many years Amicus Attorney's practice management software has been the leader in ease of use and integration with the top time/billing/accounting programs for law offices. The new version, Amicus Attorney 7, has some great new features that will give you even greater control over the information in your practice. Here are some highlights:

Favorites - you can set up quick shortcuts to any record type in Amicus 7, so that you can quickly access these records from anywhere in Amicus. This also includes your Internet Favorites, which can also be easily accessed from within Amicus.

Multiple Files and Contacts - You now have the ability to keep multiple Files and Contacts open at the same time. Along with this, you can assign phone calls, events, notes, etc. to multiple Files and/or Contacts. So you can now keep records of a conference call among more than one Contact / File / Firm Member. And you can set up associations between multiple files.

Log in from any desk in your firm - now you can access your Amicus Office from any PC on your network - you are no longer tied to a workstation. You can also easily connect over the Internet (Premium Edition only).

Customization - In Amicus 7, you don't just have custom fields, but you can set up custom records, and lay them out the way you want to see them on a File. If a divorce attorney wants to record the names, DOB's and SS#'s of the children from a marriage in Amicus 5.x, he or she can create custom fields but has to lump the information for multiple children together in some way. In Amicus 7, you can create a record type that has the following fields: Name, DOB and SS#. You can then store the information for each child as a discrete record. (Unlimited Custom Fields and Custom Records are only available in the Premium Edition).

Appointment Notification - Amicus 7 has built in notification of appointment changes, either to assigned firm members or to all assigned contacts. Imagine the power of your client getting an e-mail confirming the new appointment time without you having to do anything more than move it in Amicus? Reminders of upcoming appointments can automatically go out by e-mail as well.

Searching - You can now search through Amicus for anything in one very powerful dialog box. You can search for text across Files, Contacts, Notes, Documents, Library Pages, etc. - and you can save search definitions for conducting a similar search in the future.

Contact records - you can now link contacts to a master client record, and you can have unlimited addresses for a contact. That means that if any of the client's contact information changes, all contacts linked to that client change automatically.

E-mail Integration - In Amicus 7 you can see Outlook in the ComCenter, not just a link to your e-mail, but you actually see Outlook itself. Many users (and consultants) found the sacrifices of managing our e- mail through the Amicus 5.x ComCenter too painful - those sacrifices are now gone.

Auto-Text (Text expansion) / Spell Check - you define your own list of text shortcuts, and when you want your text anywhere in Amicus, just type the abbreviation, and the text will expand. And the Spell Check feature automatically gives you red-lined spell check features.

Attaching Documents and/or Folders - Just associate a folder from your hard drive or server) to a matter, and all documents placed in that folder will appear in Amicus. You can now also attach documents/folders to a person, not just a File.

Chronologies - of every type of record can also be found on people - not just on a File.

Automatic histories on events - keep track of who reschedule a meeting, who cancelled the conference call - automatically

Precedents / Linked events - Much more powerful precedents and linked events - easy ways to change the events in a precedent, and easy ways to see what events a precedent is made up of

Notes / Stickies - Improved "Stickies" - you can easily create a Sticky, and decide whether to send it now, or at a later date

Billing Activity Codes - you can create your own personal list of most often used billing activity codes so you don't have to search through the list of all 50 for the firm.

Document Assembly - more options - greater flexibility and easy of use. Better template naming conventions and a new document template tree for easy selection

Workgroup Calendar - Instant workgroup calendars that make it faster and easier to coordinate with your colleagues - and you can now see a full 24-hour day

Enhanced Document Assembly Options - more flexible document generation options, better template naming conventions, and a new document template tree for easy selection of templates - still works great with Word, WordPerfect and HotDocs

Document Management - The Premium Edition has considerably expanded document management. Network folders can be automatically created for each Client/Matter, and all documents will be stored there by Amicus, no matter where they are created.

Firm Directory - all users of Amicus Attorney now have access to a Firm Directory in the People module, which also allows users to see all of the people involved in a file, including Firm Members.

Customizable Floating Toolbar - the Amicus toolbar can be customized to display some or all of the quick select icons, and can include the timer in the vertical display

These features sound great, but how do they work in the real world? Here is your chance to find out - for free! We are using the magic of Web-based conferencing to offer demonstrations of Amicus 7. Demonstrations will last 30 minutes and are scheduled by appointment. Be sure to email Carmen Relatores at crelatores@cni-incorporated.com ASAP to reserve your spot. We will send you the log-in information for the web demo via return email.