Keeping your laptop safe and healthy is crucial for optimal performance, extended longevity, and effective data protection. Especially now, given all the impacts we’ve seen happening to huge companies. This inspired me to share a few of my practical tips to ensure your device remains in top condition, physically and digitally. From regular cleaning routines to cybersecurity best practices. I’ll cover how to avoid overheating, protect your sensitive data, and extend your laptop’s lifespan.
Regular cleaning and physical maintenance
We can often be guilty of forgetting to clean our tech. Dust and grime can accumulate, affecting airflow and the proper operation of your laptop. Regular cleaning is required, but how often should you clean your laptop?
External cleaning should be done at least once every 6 months, and this involves cleaning the keyboard, screen, and case. When cleaning the external parts, you’re trying to clear away excess dust and any crumbs or other contaminants clinging to your laptop.
Internal cleaning only needs to be completed once a year. If you’re comfortable opening up the case, you can use compressed air to blow dust out from the vents and fan blades – just make sure you hold the blades still while cleaning them. If your CPU is overheating, you might also need to replace the thermal paste on the chip.
Protecting your data
Of course, you also need to keep your laptop protected from cyberattacks. Many people are led to believe that they need specific antivirus software; however, this simply slows down your computer. If your laptop has Windows Defender installed, this is usually enough to protect your device.
If you want to stay protected while browsing online, however, you can do this by investing in a vpn for pc. A vpn, or virtual private network, is a method of encrypting data as it’s transmitted across wireless networks. In essence, this keeps your browsing safe from any prying eyes.
Best practices for battery health
The battery is one of the most important parts of your laptop, and if it’s not looked after, you can find that it quickly degrades. To keep your battery healthy for as long as possible, here are some key practices you should follow.
Don’t use it at high temperatures
Lithium-ion batteries deteriorate quickly when they’re at high temperatures, so using them or charging them when it’s hot can permanently damage their capacity. This is also why you should avoid having your laptop out in the sun.
Keep it between 20% and 80%
Fully charging and discharging your battery repeatedly can be extremely harmful to your battery’s lifespan. Instead, it’s suggested that you try to keep the battery level between 20% and 80%. This avoids it being fully charged or discharged.
Store it below 50%
If you need to store your device for a while, it’s highly recommended that you make sure the battery level is below 50%. Fully charged batteries can degrade more quickly if not used for a while, so we recommend you make sure the battery level is between 20% and 50% before storing it.
There are obviously lots of other things you could do, but those are just my top few tips to get started! Hope its helpful 🙂
LL x
*This is a contributed post. As ever, all opinions are my own.
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