TIPS TO MAINTAIN YOUR LAPTOP
1. Prevent accidents before they happen. Protecting your laptop's hardware is usually a matter of caution. You can avoid the majority of common pitfalls by doing the following:
Keep food and drink away from the laptop.
Use your laptop in safe conditions (e.g., away from water, extreme temperatures, and so on).
Place your laptop out of reach of children and pets.
2. Buy a computer case. Especially if you're particularly accident-prone, having a hard-shell case for your laptop will prevent damage from minor falls or spills when your laptop is shut.
You might also want to invest in a specific laptop bag (or a backpack with a dedicated laptop compartment) if you travel often.
3. Know how to treat the battery. Unfortunately, factory laptop batteries tend to have reduced lifespans, so your laptop's battery life will usually not match the factory estimates. Battery life reduces each time you have to charge it, so consider keeping your laptop plugged into a power cable until you absolutely have to use the battery.
4. Use your laptop in ideal conditions. When using your laptop, try to recreate the best possible conditions by doing the following:
Make sure your hands are clean before using your laptop.
Place your laptop on a clean, dust-free surface.
Make sure the laptop is well-ventilated by ensuring that the vents are clear of obstructions.
Keep your environment at a neutral temperature.
Use a dehumidifier if your climate is exceptionally humid.
Clean your laptop often. Taking a few minutes to clean your computer of dust, grime, residue, and so on will make a huge difference in your laptop's lifespan. Focus on the following:
• Keyboard
• Vents
• Screen
6. Be gentle when plugging in peripherals. Peripherals are items you plug into your laptop; these can include USB flash drives or accessories, headphone or speaker cables, adapters, and even the power cable. Many of these items have specific ports or locations into which they fit, so pay attention to the shape and size of an item's connector before plugging it into its respective port.
7. Don't leave your laptop in a car. Not only do the insides of cars experience large temperature swings that could damage a laptop, but a laptop (or laptop bag) is an inviting target for a thief.
8. Avoid placing things on top of your laptop. This can push the LCD screen into the keyboard, and may eventually damage your laptop's screen.
• This includes anything from your phone to books, dishes, or clothes.
9. Shut down your laptop once every few days. You may notice that your laptop begins to run sluggishly after a few days of being constantly on. You can remedy this problem by turning off your laptop all the way and leaving it alone for 15 minutes; this will allow your computer's hardware to rest and reset. To turn off your computer all the way, do the following:
• Windows — Click the Start
icon, click the Power
10. Hold and lift the computer by its base. If you lift your laptop by the screen alone, you could damage the display or the hinges attaching the display to the base. The display is also easily scratched or damaged by direct pressure, so take care not to place pressure on it.
11. Protect the screen. One of the reasons your computer's screen will always end up smudged regardless of how careful you are is because the laptop's screen touches the keyboard keys, which have oil, grit, and dust on them, whenever you close the lid. You can cut down on this problem by placing a thin piece of foam or plastic on your keyboard before closing the lid.