Laptop Do's and Don'ts

Laptop Do's and Don'ts

Nowadays, many users buy laptop due to its portability and comfort ability features in using, and they are using it to store their personal data such as photos, official data, videos and other data stuff. In order to retain data for longer time, we need to take care of laptops. Follow below mentioned dos and don’ts for protecting your laptop.

 Laptop Do's:

• Always use laptop with a fully charged battery.
• Carry the laptop only in the special case.
• Lock the laptop when not in use. 
• Use the computer for business purposes only (For business users).
• Download and install software only from online sources you trust.
  
• Always use manufacturers  provided Power Adapter with your laptop.
• Use a soft cloth and alcohol free cleaner (preferably water) to clean the LCD screen
• While transporting the laptop, carry it in the bag provided with the notebook. Do not pack the laptop along with other things like files etc. inside the bags.
• Always unplug the power cord during lightning storms, in order to protect the unit from possible damage as a result of power surge.
• Always disconnect the laptop from telephone line during lightning storms, for the reasons mentioned above.
• Always follow the battery conditioning procedure while starting to use the new battery. Battery conditioning means charging and discharging the laptop battery fully three times initially.
• Backup your data regularly.
• To save battery backup time (a) reduce brightness and contrast control as less as possible. (b) remove PCM cards like modem, etc. when not needed (c) Install a disk caching program which will cut down hard disk access and save battery time.

    

 Laptop Don'ts: 

• Don't leave the Laptop unattended.
• Don't pick up your laptop by the screen.
• Don't bring your laptop to gym.
• Don't lend the Laptop to ANYONE.
• Don't carry the Laptop without using the special case. 
• Don't put anything other than the laptop inside bag.
• Don't bend the display. 
• Don't toss/throw the laptop.
• Don't place heavy objects on the Laptop.
• Don't eat or drink on or around the laptop.
• Don't put charger connected all time while 100% charged.
• Don't use your laptop on the bed.
  
• Never click on a link from an non-trusted source.
  
• Never pickup laptop by holding LCD. Never push, squeeze or otherwise apply force to LCD or its surrounding screen. Precaution needs to be taken while transporting laptop, so that LCD does not get damaged.
• Don’t keep any weight over the laptop.
• Never allow any metallic objects like paper clips etc to fall into the unit. If that should happen immediately turn off laptop and contact your IT team or nearest service center.
• Never allow any liquid to spill into any part of a laptop, and never expose it to rain or water.
• Do not place laptop near heat source and never expose laptop to direct sunlight.
• Avoid jerking or hard shocks to laptop.
• Avoid using laptop in dusty area, since dust particles can effect reliability of the laptop.

Do read and follow the manufacturer’s recommendations on battery use: 

Many users own laptops due to its comfort ability and portability in use. These features are available when your battery backup is good. In case your laptop battery backup is very low then use laptop near electric outlet that keeps your laptop from sudden shutdown.

Protect the LCD display monitor:  

Before shutting down your laptop, make sure that there are no things such as pencil, sticks, pen etc lies on keyboard. These can break the display screen when shut and screen will get scratches if items are hard. Hence, avoid keeping things on keyboard.

Do not use your laptop on the bed: 

Frequently using laptop on bed will cause its fan to observe dust and waste which lies on the bed. Finally, it leads to fan blocking and results in generation of more heat in laptop.

Do set up your user password: 

Keeping user authentication to access your data is a best practice. In case, your laptop is lost unfortunately then no one able to steal your confidential data. In addition, this will keep snooping eyes away if you walk away for a couple of minutes.

Try to keep the laptop on a flat and clean surface: 

Placing laptop on congested place and working, there are chances of damages to laptop. Therefore, it is better to place laptop on flat and clean surface that avoids minor damages to laptop and frees from dust.

Avoid placing materials on laptop: 

Things such as large sized books, metals etc keeping on laptop will push LCD screen into the keyboard and meanwhile damage it.

Inserting virus and malware infected peripheral devices to laptop: 

This makes virus and malware threats to enter into laptop hard disk data easily. Later, these threats spread throughout the hard disk and results in data loss. So, avoid inserting affected devices to laptop and maintain updated strong antivirus.

Do not expose your laptop to rapid temperature changes: 

Always use laptop in room temperatures that avoids generation of more heat and no potential damages happens. Moreover, avoid using laptop in the sunlight as well.

1. Don’t let your laptop overheat.

If you can feel the heat from your laptop on your skin as you lie on the couch, you have a bit of a problem. That’s especially true if your computer is shutting down unexpectedly, It’s a little trickier to cool down a laptop than a desktop computer, but it is doable. You’ll need either a laptop cooler or a small PC vacuum that sucks up the dirt in the vents.

2. Don’t remove or insert the laptop battery while the laptop is running.

This is a pretty obvious one, but it’s definitely worth mentioning. Among other suggestions, that users should always shut down your computer completely before removing the laptop battery, or you risk some serious damage.

3. Use the 80/20 method.

Your results will vary, but the well-known 80/20 method will assist you in prolonging the life of your laptop battery. If you’re not familiar with it, the main principle is that a laptop battery should never (or at least seldom) go below 20% or rise above 80%. It’s not easy to stick to that rule all the time, but if you’re able to then your battery will probably last a little longer because of it.

4. Don’t leave your computer fully charged.

Even if you don’t use the 80/20 method all the time (and I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t) do your best to not leave your laptop battery 100% of the way charged. Try to stay in that ideal 20% to 80% range (or better yet, 40% to 60%) when you’re away from your computer. That typically means not leaving your computer plugged in overnight or for any extended period for the sake of your battery health. There’s a good chance you’ll occasionally forget to unplug, though. You can avoid having to remember by using a product like the Belkin Conserve Socket that prohibits your computer from fully charging. One could argue, though, that the money spent on a Conserve Socket would be better spent on a replacement battery…

5. Never let your laptop battery run out.

This is one of the worst things for both your laptop battery and for your computer itself. As frustrating as it is when your computer goes to sleep before you can reach a charger, the harm of letting that happen is even more severe than you first realize. To avoid damaging the hardware (including the battery) be very wary of letting your laptop battery reach zero percent.