Do the cold, dark days of winter have you dreaming of tropical beaches, sunny deserts, and the inside of your PC? You read right. The climate inside your computer can rival that of Death Valley in the summer, and triple-digit temperatures are bad news for your hardware.

Most desktop PCs run comfortably when their internal temperature is between 60 and 110 degrees Fahrenheit. (Check your system documentation to find your PC's exact range.) Internal temperatures over 110 degrees can stress delicate circuits and electrical contacts, which may substantially shorten your computer's life. Hard drives are especially vulnerable when the temperature goes up: Data transfers slow down, and data written to the disk is more likely to be lost. Here's how to beat the PC heat.

Avoid ups and downs: Sudden changes in temperature are just as harmful to your PC's circuitry as high temperatures. The biggest temperature changes occur when you turn your system on and off, so leave your PC on but use its power-management functions to keep its innards as cool as possible when it's idle. When you turn on your computer in a really cold office, let the system warm up for 15 minutes before saving anything to its hard drive.

Listen to your fans: Your PC keeps cool by blowing a constant stream of air through its case. The primary air mover in most PCs is the power-supply fan, although some systems have an additional ventilation fan built into the case. Even in relatively clean offices, dust can accumulate on the fan intakes and seriously obstruct airflow. Clean your PC's fans and fan intakes regularly, especially if you hear a change in the fans' one-note whir.

Most CPUs also have a cooling device--either a fan or a heat sink. (A heat sink is a metal plate with fins or spikes intended to dissipate heat.) If your CPU's fan or heat sink stops functioning properly, a CPU failure won't be far behind.

A heat sink needs a constant flow of air to remove heat. In most PCs, the internal fans provide the required airflow. Never leave the case off your system while it's running. Going topless may lower the overall temperature inside your PC, but it also destroys the internal airflow patterns that keep your CPU and other components from overheating.

Mercury rising: Most PCs made in the last few years monitor and report on the state of their case, CPU, and power-supply fans. Some also provide data on the system's internal temperature, and some have a temperature alarm built into their BIOS. You usually have to open your system's CMOS setup program to see these statistics. But we've found a handy workaround: Just use Alex van Kaam's Motherboard Monitor freeware utility to keep watch over your PC's fans, voltages, and temperatures.

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