The portability factor of the laptop makes it a powerful and convenient tool for many. A good laptop is a powerful tool and hence, can be expensive as compared to a PC. Therefore, swapping laptop is not as easy as a phone. Hence, keeping your laptop maintained becomes important altogether as everybody knows that a well-maintained device lasts longer. Maintenance saves you from swapping burnt out devices for new and keeping your hard-earned money in check. But this maintenance task is not as easy as it seems. Any unconscious mistake on our part can cause hardware damage, loss of data, security mismanagement and system instability. Laptop maintenance isn’t rocket science; a typical non-expert can decipher the dos/don’ts and extend the device life.
All you need to know about Laptop Battery maintenance:
Most of these tips need to be followed regularly. And none of them require excessive efforts on your part in terms of time and money. Here are the top 7 tips to remember about the maintenance tasks.
Keep device accessories and openings clean:
It is always convenient to start with the most basic and easier stuff. For this, you can begin with the keyboard or mouse pad. A dirty accessory might stop working and require replacement if not taken care of. So, instead of spending money on buying replacements, regular cleaning of dust and dirt save you from hindrance. A damp and lint-free cloth or wet wipes can clean the accessible surface of your laptop. To clean harder to reach parts of the keyboard such as spaces beneath the keys, we can use compressed air. Try cleaning the dusty laptop ports and crevices too. As clogged ports result in decreased airflow in and out of the laptop which could contribute towards the overheating of the laptop.
Pro tip: To clean these dusty matters, set a recurring reminder.
Avoid spillage and food crumbs:
Keep food and drinks away from your laptop to avoid messy situations. A single spill is enough to ruin your device or any of its components. As for most laptops, all the key components are right below the keyboard. Also, food crumbs can get stuck beneath keys making them unresponsive.
Pro tip: No food near the workstation.
A big no-no to overcharging batteries:
Our constant fear of running out of battery makes us keep our device plugged in for charging. Much common error could arise because of overcharging as it reduces the batteries’ regenerative capabilities. This might cause your device to either not getting charged or charge slowly because of overcharging batteries or because of defective charging hardware. And the situation could lead you to a point where it isn’t possible to work without keeping your charging cord handy.
Pro tip: Don’t charge until your laptop gets down to 20%.
Avoid overheating of the device:
The thumb rule for this is- do not block the vents. It ensures that the internal components of the device remain cool enough to function. This is an important tip for users with high-end gaming laptops or people who use a laptop on a stretch. Therefore, experts suggest keeping your laptop on an elevated surface to ensure good airflow. Besides this checking whether or not the laptop fans are working and ensuring adequate ventilation or airy ambiance will also help.
Pro tip: if required, use a laptop cooling pad.
Avoid forceful shut down:
Make sure to shut down your laptop properly. It seems like most of us are always in a hurry to switch off and store away the laptops, we avoid waiting for it to cool. All these actions result in the heat-trapping in the laptops which gets accumulated inside the padded unit instead of getting released into the air. These actions seem small but in the long run, may hurt the battery life and the device. Therefore, wait for the device to shut down and cool a lit bit before packing it away.
Pro tip: Try to avoid cold booting your device unless emergency calls for it.
Use external hard drive for backup and file storage:
Your work might require you to download and store many heavy files. These files can hinder your laptop speed and performance. So, the better option would be to store them on an external hard drive without having to stuff your laptop memory.
Pro tip: You can get a cheap 2TB hard drive and keep your device running.
Protection from malware threat:
Using high-quality anti-malware software seems to be the best way to protect your laptop. New devices already have them preinstalled. So, it becomes essential for older devices to have a renewed anti-virus running through their system as they are more prone to malware attacks. Follow an established source for recommendations on the ideal anti-malware software which could satisfy your needs and specifications.
Pro tip: You can also run malware scans to create full proof protection.
Lastly, keep your system updated, as it will ensure that lesser issues arise with your laptop. Now, that you know these maintenance tricks, try to put them into practice. And don’t forget to share your tips and tricks for laptop maintenance.
