Laptop - Physical Safety & Maintenance

A ready reckoner on how to safeguard your laptop

‘Mr Patel is going to partner with one of the biggest travel agencies in Italy. To impress his associate, he has put together a highly comprehensive presentation loaded with valuable information. Picture this — the laptop gives way’!!

It can’t be very funny to be in a situation like his. Laptops today are an indispensable part of a businessman lifestyle. And when travelling it practically becomes ‘an office out of the office’. The best way to take care of it is to handle it with care.

Labelling
Purchase a luggage tag to attach to the carrying case with your name in it (no flap that covers the name). Attach something unique to the carrying case (to prevent someone else from taking the laptop by mistake, since the cases look the same). Label all parts of the laptop with your name and place an address label in the following places:

• Top of computer
• Inside
• Under the keyboard
• Both parts of the power cord
• If you have a computer with a swappable floppy/CD-ROM, label both.

Safety & Care
Be cautious about leaving the laptop unattended anywhere, there is a chance it could easily be knocked onto the floor, sat on, or stepped on. Know that dropping, jostling, or bumping will cause damage to the hard drive. One should treat the laptop with care! Do not place drinks next to the computer. One accidental spill onto the keyboard will damage it, probably beyond repair. Always hold the laptop by the bottom (keyboard half), never the screen. Use both hands. Correctly remove the wireless card before transporting. Do not store the laptop in very cold or warm places. Do not place the laptop close to any electrical appliance, because it generates a magnetic field.

Screen/Body Of The Laptop
Never twist the screen on its hinges (could crack the screen). Do not scratch or push on the screen. Never close the lid on a pencil or pen left on the keyboard (could crack the screen). Don’t slam the lid down (might damage screen or hinges). Always transport the laptop in a padded carry case, and never stack items on the lid of the laptop. Stickers leave a residue that can cause permanent damage. Clean the screen with a lint-free cloth; you can use window cleaner on the cloth.

Electrical Cord
Be careful when removing the power cord. Yanking it out of laptop from afar will cause damage. Do not wrap the cord tightly around itself. Instead, loosely wrap it in a figure eight pattern. Never turn the laptop over when it is plugged in. This could break the adapter plug at the back of the laptop.

Disks
Be careful when removing disks from drives. Small pieces are easy to snap off if you are not careful. Do not use damaged floppy disks! Remove disks from the CD-ROM drive or floppy drive before carrying.

(Check out the next issue for more tips on laptops)