Laptop Care: How to Protect Your Laptop When Traveling

Most business people who travel these days have a laptop in tow. Since the workflow doesn't stop when the need to travel arises, these are necessities that connect them to the rest of the world and allow them to take care of whatever business comes up during the time that they're away. That being the case, there are certain guidelines that should be followed in order to ensure the safety and protection of your laptop when you get called away from the office.

One of the first considerations that should be made is in regard to the laptop's security. Since thieves will target these as often as they will cash, jewelry or other valuables, it's critical to put as many security measures into place as possible when traveling through airports, bus terminals, train stations and any other form of public travel. Of course, it's never wise to leave your laptop unattended. It's a sad testament to the way of the world, but you can be fairly certain that when you return, your equipment will be gone.

When packing for your trip, place the laptop in a case that's different - and less obvious - from its standard carrying case, and make sure that it's checked in as carry-on luggage. This will not only ensure that it doesn't get stolen, but will be in the pressurized part of the plane, rather than the baggage compartment, which doesn't have pressure or climate controls that are needed to ensure the integrity of the laptop.

If you're planning to take a nap while you're en route via public transportation, be sure to secure the laptop before going to sleep. Some people go so far as to cuff the unit to their wrist, but there are other measures that you can take, which include placing it in its case and putting it between your feet or between yourself and the wall if you're sitting by a window. In the event that anything should actually happen to violate the integrity of the laptop - or if it should be stolen, despite your precautions - it's to be expected that you'll have backed up all critical information onto disks before beginning your travels.

When you arrive at the hotel, speak with the front desk clerk to be sure that their phone jacks are compatible with your unit. If they happen to use a digital phone system which differs in voltage from that of a standard phone jack, your modem will most likely be damaged when you try to plug it in and dial-up to get an outside connection. The best approach is to call ahead and check on these accommodations before making the trip, so that you'll know what to expect and not be left with any nasty surprises.

In addition to the laptop itself, it's always a good idea to bring an extension cord and extra batteries. Even though you may plan to use electricity, you should also include a back-up plan, and batteries may only give you a few hours' worth of power at a time before needing to be recharged or changed. When possible, cut down on the use of those things which need large amounts of energy, such as CD-ROMs, and reduce the number of auto-saves on your machine.

By using your common sense and taking simple precautions, as well as including some back-up cords and batteries, you should be able to travel safely and simply with your laptop without a lot of hoopla.

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9 Proven Ways to Take Care of Your Laptop

It is imperative that you take care of your laptop and keep it in its best condition so you can take advantage of its full life. It can also help maintain your laptop speed. What follows are a few proven, easy ways to protect and extend the life of your laptop.

1. Keep food and drinks away from your laptop. As much as possible, you should refrain from drinking beverage and eating your meals while working on your laptop. Spilled liquids and fallen food crumbs and bits can easily damage the sensitive circuitry inside.

2. Avoid touching the LCD screen. When shutting it off, be sure to hold it with both hands while closing the lid gently. Screen repairs don't come in real cheap so you may want to clean your monitor with approved cleaning materials only.

3. Keep it cool by using and keeping it in a well-ventilated area. Laptops generate a lot of heat which can damage the internal circuitry. It is also a wise move to install a laptop cooler or chill mat to reduce the machine's operating temperature. Laptop coolers come in two designs. Some laptop coolers draw away heat from the laptop's underside while others blow cool air towards it. They may run through a power adaptor or a USB hub.

4. Use your laptop's battery. At least once a week unplug it from the wall and let it run on battery power until it tells you to recharge. This will make the battery life lasts much longer.

5. Do not let it run for straight two days, even on powerful laptops. Laptops can get very hot and leaving it on for a longer period of time may cause overheating. It is advisable to install software that automatically puts your laptop in a sleep or hibernate mode or even shut it down after a period of inactivity.

6. If you need to move and take your laptop more than a few feet away, shut it down or put it to sleep before moving on. Do not walk with your laptop on because you are risking the hard drive with every stumble, stump, or jar you make.

7. Don't close anything inside your laptop. There is a little clearance between the screen and the keyboard and even a couple sheets of paper can put stress onto the screen. Also, avoid putting heavy objects on top of your laptop. These careless actions can damage and break the screen.

8. Get your laptop a carrying bag to reduce the risk of breaks because of laptop being bumped to or dropped accidentally. Moreover, your laptop bag should be big enough to avoid scratching and squeezing to contain the laptop inside the bag.

9. Guard its health by using antivirus software and firewall. Install antivirus and keep it updated from time to time. Your internet-connected laptop is always at risk of being infected with viruses, so you may want to take the necessary precautions. Data loss because of viruses can give you headaches.

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Tips for Laptop Care

After buying a laptop, it is essentially important to take good care of it. Good care and maintenance will enhance the battery life and will keep your laptop in a smooth working condition for longer.

The basic and the most essential element of any laptop is a battery.

So, read the following tips to take care and enhance the life of your laptop battery:

1.Recharge the batteries daily.

2.Try to keep the display at lower settings.

3.Charge your battery whenever you have access to electrical outlets.

4.Keep an eye on how much battery is consumed and how much is remaining.

5.Clean your battery with a clean swab or by rubbing alcohol over the battery. Keep it away from debris.

Here are some more tips for laptop care that you can follow to enhance the smooth functioning and overall maintenance of your laptop:

1.Laptop should never be left unattended.

2.Do not try to disassemble or repair any part of your laptop.

3.Do not place any kind of decorative on laptop.

4.Always keep laptop off the floor.

5.Shut your notebook before moving it

6.Do not walk with a notebook which is power on.

7.Do not try to convert your laptop case into your office bag.

8.Never keep any kind of liquid especially soda or sugar syrups near your laptop.

9.Always hold the laptop from the base not from the LCD screen.

10.When closing your laptop, make sure that there is no pen or pencil left on the keyboard. This can cause harm to the monitor.

11.Keep your laptop at least 6-8 inches away from any electronics such as television, music system or refrigerator because these electrical appliances have magnetic fields that can harm the smooth functioning of your laptops.

12.Don't sit on a rolling chair with laptop.

13.Follow all the rules and guidelines mentioned in the user manual.

14.Clean your laptop monitor with a soft damp cloth or a clean cellulose sponge.

15.Use pressurized air to clean the keyboard.

16.Disconnect the AC power and all external peripherals before cleaning.

17.Close the display panel and check that it is latched securely in the closed position to protect the keyboard and display panel.

18.Try not to use the notebook in very hot conditions mainly when your laptop is running on battery.

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Laptop Care Tips For The Toshiba Satellite L630

There is a saying that says that giving birth to a child is not a big deal, taking care of the child is. The same thing can apply to the Toshiba Satellite L630. Owning this kind of laptop is not really the big task; taking care of it is the real job. You will find that a lot of people are usually very careful when they have just bought their computer. However, once they have stayed with the laptops for some days, they do not really see a big deal in reducing the amount of care that they are supposed to give it.

Install An Antivirus

The first step towards taking proper care of your laptop is by installing an antivirus on your computer. You will realize that there are so many people who would like to get access to your Toshiba Satellite L630 so as to steal some information which they can then use to get some money off you. At times, such bad guys do not really want to steal some money from you, but they just want to cause havoc to your computer so that they can feel good. Installing an antivirus, anti-spyware and anti-adware will really help you in a big way.

Clean Your System regularly

The other thing that you need to do consistently is to ensure that you clean your system regularly. You will realize that as you continue to work on your Toshiba Satellite L630, the files fragment and it starts getting very slow. This has got absolutely nothing to do with the computer in question, but it is something that happens to all computers. For this reason, you need to make sure that you clean your machine as often as possible.

Avoid Overheating The Toshiba Satellite L630

The other thing that you ought to do when you want to take care of your machine is to ensure that you do not let it overheat. One way to ensure that this does not happen is to make sure that you do not put your computer on some soft material that will cause the laptop to retain the heat. You can therefore ensure that you avoid this by putting it on some hard surface, or on something that is slightly elevated.

All in all, the Toshiba Satellite L630 is not really much different from the many other Toshiba laptops that are currently in the market. For this reason, you can check out other laptops to see if there are any other ways in which you can take care of your own.

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How To Take Care Of Your Laptop Computer

As the proud owner of a laptop computer, you'll want to keep your machine in the best possible condition.

Aside from cleaning your screen and dusting the keyboard, however, you'll need to take a few extra steps to maintain your laptop's health:

-- Play it cool

A laptop computer generates a lot of heat, especially when running the latest high-powered software. Too much heat and you risk damaging the internal circuitry.

Always try to keep your laptop in a well-ventilated, cool environment. And ensure you don't block the fan grills on the sides, back, or bottom of the machine at any time.

-- Handle the screen carefully

Avoid touching or playing with your LCD screen.

Yes, it might be fun to watch the waves generated by your finger against the screen, but LCD displays are fragile devices that must be cared for.

Take care when cleaning the screen too, and use only approved cleaning materials.

You won't want to pay the money for screen repairs or, even worse - a new machine entirely.

-- Don't drop it

Whatever you do, don't drop your laptop computer! Keep it safe inside of a carrying case when moving around or traveling.

Don't leave it on the edge of a table or on an unstable support of some kind. One ill fated drop to the floor could spell death for your mobile office.

Try to make sure the rubber feet underneath are in good condition and are still attached. This will prevent the device from sliding around accidentally.

-- Be careful with those drinks...

If you need to have a drink while working or playing, be careful not to spill it.

Your laptop computer could suffer the consequences from just a few drops of liquid poured in the right places.

While you probably do eat and drink around it regardless, you will want to occasionally wipe down the edges, the keyboard, the touchpad, and maybe even wipe down the screen to keep any dirt from accumulating.

-- Just say no to viruses

Security wise, make sure you obtain an anti-virus program.

Secondly, keep it updated!

Buying an anti-virus one month and not updating it for the next six really negates it purpose. Your laptop computer could be exposed to hundreds and thousands of new viruses every month if you don't update your virus definitions.

Most anti-virus programs have automatic update methods, eliminating the need for you to have to remember to do it manually.

-- Avoid Popups

Pop-ups are particularly annoying on a laptop computer. Trying to close a bunch of windows without a regular mouse can be a nuisance.

You'll want a pop-up blocker, such as the Google Toolbar (located at http://tools.google.com), to prevent these pop- up ads.

Many intrusive forms of advertising, and even some viruses, can install software on your machine by using various forms of pop-ups. It's best to get yourself a blocker and avoid the situation entirely.

-- Use a firewall

Always utilize a firewall on your Internet or network- enabled laptop computer. Even if you use Windows XP's built- in firewall (or purchase one from such companies as Norton), your security will greatly benefit from it.

Blocking out all the unnecessary ports and closing all the loopholes will prevent a hacker or virus from freely entering your hard drive.

So there you go. Combine all of the above tactics and help your laptop enjoy a happier and healthier lifestyle!

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How to Re-Calibrate Your Laptop Battery?

It is difficult to predict how long a laptop battery charge will last because each computer user has different habits and needs. The rate at which you use laptop battery power will determine how long you can use the battery of your laptop. You can re-calibrate your laptop battery if the battery's life has gotten shorter over time. Your laptop battery might need a good calibration if it doesn't seem to be getting the mileage that it should. How to re-calibrate laptop battery? The following paragraphs will give you the answer.
First put the laptop computer to sleep by turning off the screensaver and other power management settings of the computer. Then fully charge the computer and allow it to run all the way down until the computer shuts off automatically. Once the laptop battery has fully drained, charge it back up again and restore the screensaver and power management settings.
Re-calibrate your battery every month or so by fully charging, fully discharging, and then fully charging again. Basically to have a chance to re-calibrate your laptop battery is to turn off all power-saving features completely and then fully recharge them. If it doesn't work for the first time then try two more full discharges and recharges.
The above way of re-calibrating the laptop batteries works well with laptops using Ni-MH cells. But not with laptops using Li-Ion batteries because deep discharges will actually decrease the charge capacity and lifespan of Li-Ion cells. Moreover Li-ion batteries irreversibly lose approximately 20% capacity per year from the time of manufacture at a typical 100% charge level at 25deg.C, even when unused. Li-ion batteries irreversibly lose approximately 2%, 4%, 15% at 0deg.C, 25deg.C and 40deg.C respectively, when stored at 40% charge level. That is every deep discharge cycle decreases the capacity of the Li-ion batteries. As the Li-Ion batteries are chemical in nature, charging and recharging is not going to fix the problem once the chemical reactions stop happening. Therefore the best advice for re-calibrating the Li-Ion batteries is to store the battery at 40% charge if it kept unused for any unlimited period of time. Also don't leave the battery in the laptop if you don't use the battery or if you plug the laptop into outlet power.
You can also re-calibrate your laptop battery using IBM Thinkpad Battery Maximizer in order to maximize your laptop battery's life. If your laptop has IBM ThinkPad Battery MaxiMiser and Power Management features installed, you can verify the condition of the laptop battery. You can check the status of your battery using the Battery MaxiMiser Gauge in the taskbar tray. The ThinkPad's Lithium Ion battery pack that seems to be an intelligent battery uses a microprocessor to monitor its capacity. Then the microprocessor of the battery pack passes the information about the remaining battery capacity to the laptop. The laptop indicates the capacity with high accuracy.
Using the HP Laptop Battery Learning Utility, a modified version of a Win98 boot floppy, can also help you. Just place it in the floppy drive, and then turn on the computer. The re-calibration process is automated and takes about six hours to finish. This utility is available in different versions for different models. You can run the utility every two months.
If the laptop battery is still bad then it must have developed a memory that cannot be erased easily. If calibration doesn't help, then it is the right time to purchase another battery.

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Laptop Battery - Test Your Laptop Battery

If you want to know whether your laptop battery have remaining charge, you can make an easy test. The simplest way is to connect it to your notebook computer. And then you can turn on the unit to check out whether there is remaining charge or not. This is a common way, and many people know it. Do you know some other ways? Following are some different ways to test your laptop battery. If you are interested in these ways, you can choose your desired one. Before the test, you need get ready these things: a multi-meter, test light, battery charger and battery tester. Four different things mean that there are four different ways to test the battery.
If you want to choose a multi-meter, you need to connect the battery to the multi-meter. Connect the battery's positive port to one end of the multi-meter, and the negative port to the other end. And then you can read the multi-meter how much charge is left in the battery. You can easily read the exact number at electronic multi-meter. However, if your multi-meter has gauge, you need to know the right way to read it.
When you choose a test light, you have to make certain that the test light is working beforehand. A working test light will glow if it is connected to a charged battery's positive port. So you can put the test light in your battery's positive port to check out whether your battery is charged or drained out.
Choose a battery charger to test your battery. You can simply place your battery on the charger. And then you will know it whether it needs a charge or not.
Finally, you can use the battery tester to test the battery. You still need to put both the battery's positive port and negative port in each end of the tester. And then you can directly read how much charge left in your battery.
Some ways are rough, and some ways are simple. You can choose one of them according to your tools. Remember to charge your battery if it is drained out.

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