6 Laptop Care Tips

Most of laptop owners only realized the importance of laptop maintenance when they actually had problems. But with all the benefits your laptop computer is giving you, especially for those making a living out of it, it’s very important to keep it in good shape. Following the easy steps below will help to ensure that it lasts longer and will need less maintenance.

1. Keep food and liquids away from your laptop. Did you know that laptop spills is one of the worst nightmares for laptop owners? Spilled liquids damage the electrical components or cause short circuits that can corrupt data or even permanently destroy parts. Even if you’re careful, someone else might bump into your table for you.

2. Cool down. Your laptop generates a lot of heat, especially if your CPU usage is always max out by running high-powered applications. Keep your laptop in a well-ventilated place and don’t block the fan grills on the sides. Laptop coolers are also a great accessory to help extend the life of your computer. Coolers have several fans to help reduce the heat and burning feeling on your thighs.

3. Protect the LCD display. Always close down the lid when you are not using your laptop, and make sure there is no small item such as pens or anything that will damage the screen when shut. Avoid touching the LCD screen that leaves fingerprints. Regularly clean it with cloth or one of those anti-static monitor wipes.

4. Don’t drop it. A good carrying bag reduces the risk of damage due to laptops being dropped or bumped when moving around or traveling. Don’t leave your laptop on the edge of your desk because one ill-fated drop could mean goodbye to your mobile device.

5. Keep the bad guys OFF. Install a good ANTI-VIRUS and ANTI-SPYWARE to help protect your system from viruses and malwares. Turn on your Firewall for added layer of security. Turn on pop-up blockers to avoid those intrusive advertising that may install software on your laptop. Avoid visiting unknown websites/links or opening email attachments from unknown sender to prevent risk of infection.

6. Clean up your system. Make sure you have the latest patch for your operating system and latest definition for your anti-virus. Defragging hard drives not only speed up data access, it also improves performance. Remove unused programs and other components that only consume memory. Clear your temporary internet files folder and cookies. Delete duplicate files or other huge files that you no longer use to free up space.

Simple things that you can do for your laptop can go a long long way. It can also save you some money and headaches.