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Caring for your laptop is easier these days since modern ones are more resilient. However, they are expensive devices, so unless you have good insurance, it helps reduce long-term expenses if you look after your device. With proper maintenance, a laptop should last for up to 10 years.
Learn to Extend Battery Life
The battery that comes with your device will degrade over time and won’t last forever. In fact, it’s likely that having to replace a battery is the first problem you will have. Yet you can extend this by charging it properly, something most people don’t realize. First, keep an eye on how much charge you have (https://setapp.com/how-to/show-battery-percentage-on-mac). And then charge your device when the battery level it shows is between 20% and 80% for longer life.
Use Padding when Caring for Your Laptop
Laptops and other mobile devices have come a long way since they were first invented. Back in the day, the slightest bump would dislodge a RAM chip or crack the screen. Today, they are much sturdier and tougher. Despite this, they aren’t invincible. So you need to mind how you handle your device. If you are prone to knocking it, or you often use your laptop in a hazardous environment, then consider adding padding to absorb the shock of any impact when using it.
Keep Cables Tidy and Organized
Cables are very easily broken, and a broken cable is often the cause of laptop battery charging issues. Additionally, broken cables can become dangerous if there is bare wire exposed. This can give you an electric shock and possibly cause a fire. Fortunately, all it takes is good cable management to ensure your cables last as long as they can. For example, never wrap cables around something. Make sure they are always straight, and store them properly in a laptop bag.
Set Your Device for Automatic Updates
Your operating system, like on a Windows phone, macOS, or Linux such as Android, is the software you use to control your device. And like other software, they rely on updates. Updates are vital for ensuring your device runs well. They often add more features, but crucially they can address security issues such as backdoor vulnerabilities that hackers can use. This is vital because many backdoors relate to the hardware of a device just as much as the software.
Pay Attention to Device Security
Further to security, your laptop or mobile device is always at risk. And this is why you need to learn a little about cybersecurity to make sure you don’t experience an attack. Just knowing the basics will shield you from all but the most determined hacker. So give these small tips a try:
Come up with a strong password that only you could ever know.
Limit the capabilities of guests or other users of your laptop or device.
Install the best antimalware you can afford. Malwarebytes is recommended.
Use a VPN to prevent your online activities from being tracked and traced.
Use your web browser’s built-in security features, such as cookie cleaning.
Be careful about anything you download to your device’s physical hard disk.
Always log out of any sites you use, especially social media platforms.
There is much more to cybersecurity. But using just a few of these tips means you will be miles ahead of most users. In fact, even half of businesses don’t implement any of these at all. And those businesses could have your data at their disposal and ready for online thieves to steal.
Keep the Hard Drive Clean
Many newer laptops are beginning to come with advanced hard drives known as solid-state drives (SSDs). And these are much more efficient at stirring data than older mechanical hard disks. But if your device has a standard HDD, you need to keep it clean, not from dust, but from junk data. Data piles up and becomes disorganized and even fragmented. This is why you should “defrag” a Windows device. But also use cleaners like CCleaner to remove junk files too.
Wipe Down the Keyboard
It also helps to keep your device physically clean. But before you go reaching for the spray bottle, be aware of how to do this properly for a laptop. First, don’t use any liquids. Also, don’t use wet wipes. It isn’t advised to open your laptop up to clean the inside. But you can clean the screen and keyboard. To do this, use a microfiber cloth and alcohol wipes. Alcohol wipes won’t harm the device because they don’t contain water. Try to clean your device after every use.
Caring for Your Laptop Means Staying Away from Water
Finally, just like keeping your laptop cool, you shouldn’t need to be told to keep it dry. But keeping it dry is just as essential as any other care tip. Water will definitely kill your device, so don’t use it around sources of water. This means direct water, such as near a swimming pool or outside in the rain where it can be splashed. But your device can also fail if you use it near the steam, such as in the bathroom, or even if your home’s humidity is high when drying clothes.
Keep Your Device in the Shade
As you are probably well aware, laptops heat up. You may even use a leg protector to prevent burning yourself when you use your device for long periods. You can also use cooling devices you can attach to the laptop. But even the best cooling solution won’t work well if you use your device in direct sunlight, which will heat your laptop further. And a hot computer doesn’t work very well. So always use your laptop in a shaded area, or you will find it won’t last for very long.
Summary
You can save money and extend the life of your device by paying attention to certain things. So, when caring for your laptop, consider charging it properly, using padding to protect it from bumps, and using cleaning and security software. These will help keep it safe and working well.
