Do's and Don'ts on Laptops

You might find this article a little funny to read, especially since many laptop do’s and don’ts only require common sense. But you’ll be surprised by some of the things laptop owners do to their poor laptop units that lead to heightened wear and tear, and shortened laptop life. I had a colleague who fell asleep on top of his laptop and woke up to a black screen that would never work again. It would boot, he could hear it, but nothing would appear on the screen. This is just one example of simple laptop use rules – don’t fall asleep on your laptop.

When you own your very own laptop, it is vital that you keep it in tip-top condition so that you can get the most out of the unit and experience a long, healthy and productive relationship with it. Always make sure that your laptop is stored in a dry and cool area, and never store it in direct sunlight. Make sure that your laptop is always in a stable and secure place where if jolted in any way, it will not easily fall and break.
When using your portable laptop, do not use it next to any other piece of equipment that emits heat. Therefore, do not place it too close to another laptop unit whose fan is running and releasing hot air from within the unit to keep it cool. When laptops are connected to a DLP or LCD projector, be sure that your laptop is not directly facing the fan system of the DLP unit. DLP units tend to heat up quickly due to the high lumens that the projector lights contain to project images, which is why their fans release a hot air when the unit it in use. Keep your laptop away from this hot air if you want it to keep working in top order. Never use your laptop when you are drinking a beverage or are eating food. Any food or beverage that gets in contain with your laptop may just destroy vital functional parts of it.
When using a wifi signal that is external to your usual one, be sure first that your laptop’s antivirus software is updated and functioning. Also make sure that your laptop’s firewall is in its correct security settings to prevent any kind of threat from getting into your computer system. Defragment your files and make a disk-check regularly on your laptop. Be sure that your antivirus updates itself automatically and does regular and schedule virus scans of your system.
For a little extra security, do not share any folders on your laptop and disable the service called printer and file sharing option on your computer just to make sure. When you surf the internet, don’t open suspicious emails from sources you do not know. This will prevent viruses from getting into your computer. Overall, by following the advice of the laptop manual and from the service centers that you bring your laptop to, you can be assured to expect the your unit to last the lifetime that your laptop company guaranteed you on the day that you purchased it.