Heat is your computer's biggest enemy. You'll notice vents on both the front of
back of your computer. These are designed, along with the internal fans,
to move air across the electronic components in you computer. Any accumulation of
dirt, lint, pet hair, etc. will block this airflow and cause early failure. Vacuum
as often as necessary to keep the vents clean (turn off the computer and unplug it
before vacuuming).
Cigarette smoke is the biggest cause of early hard drive failure. Why? Because
the smoke particles are so small they cannot be filtered and eventually damage
the heads. If you smoke, get a non-ionizing electronic air filter for your computer
room.
Honeywell makes nice ones.
