When you buy a brand-new laptop, you’re usually going to have to pay a pretty penny for it. While some laptops will cost you just a few hundred dollars, most are going to run you somewhere between $500 and $1,500.
With this in mind, you’re going to want to do everything in your power to ensure that a new laptop lasts you a long time. You can do this by doing the proper laptop maintenance on it.
By maintaining your laptop over time, you’ll guarantee that it gives you maximum performance when you use it. You’ll also sleep better at night knowing that it’s in optimal health and that it doesn’t have any minor or major problems with its hardware or software.
So, what should you do to practice the proper computer maintenance on your new laptop? There are some simple steps you can take to make sure your laptop is well-maintained at all times.
Use this guide to keep your new laptop humming along for many years to come.
Keep Food and Drinks Away From Your Laptop at All Costs
First things first: If you’re going to put down a bunch of money on a new laptop, the last thing that you want to do is put it into a position where it could get ruined on one of the first days that you have it. That means that you should not, under any circumstances, eat or drink anywhere near your laptop.
Every year, thousands of Americans ruin their laptops by spilling food and drinks on them. All it takes is a little bit of water inside your laptop to potentially ruin it for good.
You might be tempted to eat a snack or drink some coffee while using your laptop. But this is almost never a good idea. You’re going to put your laptop at risk every single time that you do this.
Stick Your Laptop Into a Case If You Plan to Move Around With It
If you’re going to stick your laptop in one spot and leave it there for the most part, you might be able to get away with not buying a case for it. But if you’re going to take a laptop to work, school, or someplace else regularly, then a case is going to be essential.
A case will protect your laptop in the event that you drop it on the ground. It’ll also provide it with protection from dirt, dust, and other debris while you’re moving it around.
There are tons of great laptop cases out there for those in the market for one. Find one that will work well with your laptop and invest in it today.
Clean the Outside of Your Laptop Every So Often and Wipe Down the Screen and Keyboard
No matter how careful you are with your laptop after buying it, it’s eventually going to start to get dirty on you. The outside of your laptop, your screen, and your keyboard will all get attacked by dirt, dust, and debris all day long and start to show signs of wear and tear if you’re not careful.
Because of this, it’s going to be important for you to wipe down the outside of your laptop every so often. It’s also going to be important to use the right cleaning materials to clean your laptop screen and your keyboard. It’ll keep your laptop looking like new for a long time.
Take Good Care of Your Laptop’s Battery
One of the reasons why many people prefer laptops to desktop computers these days is because laptops provide them with an opportunity to move around while using their computer. Laptops obviously have batteries in them, which gives people a chance to use them wherever they want.
As part of a laptop maintenance plan, though, you will need to make sure that you take the right steps to maintain your laptop’s battery. You can do this by:
- Leaving your laptop plugged in when you’re near an electrical outlet
- Not allowing your laptop’s battery to go all the way down to 0% when you’re using it
- Replacing your laptop’s battery when it’s no longer able to hold a charge for very long
When you first buy a laptop, it might seem like the battery in it will last forever. But over time, laptop batteries can start to get weaker and weaker if you don’t maintain them. So be sure to use the tips we just talked about to keep yours strong for as long as you can.
Shut Your Laptop Down Completely At Least Once Every Few Days
A lot of people tend to leave their laptops turned on almost all the time. If you do this, you’re eventually going to notice that your laptop will slow down on you and stop working in the way that it should.
To keep your laptop firing on all cylinders, you should try and shut it down for at least 30 minutes or so every few days. It’ll give your laptop a chance to rest and recharge and make it run faster than it would otherwise once you start it back up again.
Install Antivirus Software on Your Laptop
Earlier, we touched on how the outside of your laptop is going to be under constant attack when it comes to dirt, dust, and debris. But we should point out that the inside of your laptop is going to be under attack early and often, too.
There are all kinds of viruses and malware that can attack your computer if you don’t take steps to prevent it from happening. These viruses and malware could possibly expose your personal information to the world and make it unsafe for you to connect your laptop to the internet.
You can avoid welcoming viruses and malware to come onto your laptop by:
- Being careful about opening up attachments sent to your email inbox
- Not clicking on links that lead to websites that you’re not familiar with
- Making sure that the websites you do visit are secure (look for “https” at the start of their URLs!)
You can also avoid introducing viruses and malware onto your laptop by installing antivirus software onto it. This software can really work wonders for those who want to provide their laptops with all the protection that they need.
Steer Clear of Running Too Many Programs on Your Laptop at One Time
From the moment you fire up a new laptop for the first time, you’re going to begin adding new programs to it. It won’t be long before your laptop is running all kinds of programs in the background.
Every now and then, you should go through the list of programs that you have on your laptop and decide whether or not you still need them. You could very well be running programs that you don’t even use anymore and not realize it.
When you have too many programs running on your company at once, it’s going to have a big impact on its performance. Your laptop is going to slow to a crawl and struggle to keep up with your commands.
By limiting the number of programs that you keep on your laptop, you’ll allow it to achieve maximum performance. You’ll also free up plenty of space so that you’re able to add new programs that you’ll actually use whenever you want to.
Update Your Laptop on a Regular Basis
About once every few weeks, you’re going to get a notification on your laptop letting you know that it’s time to update it. Companies are constantly creating new security patches and making other improvements to their operating systems and then letting those who use these systems know about it.
You should not ignore these update notifications! It’s very important for you to update your laptop so that you’re always running the latest operating system on it. It’ll protect your laptop and help you make the most of it.
You should also keep an eye on your laptop’s age and plan to replace it after you’ve had it for a few years. That’s the average lifespan of a laptop these days, so you’re going to want to get out ahead of things and plan accordingly when it comes to laptop replacement.
You should look at this site to see some great deals on new laptops. And if you end up buying one, you should use all the laptop maintenance tips we just provided to make sure you’re able to maintain it properly from the moment you bring it home and open it up.
Performing Laptop Maintenance Will Keep Your Computer in Tip-Top Condition
No one wants to get stuck using a slow computer that takes forever to open up programs and connect to the internet. After buying a new laptop, you can avoid finding yourself in this scenario by taking the right steps as far as laptop maintenance is concerned.
Utilize all the tips that we’ve laid out here to take good care of a laptop. You’ll get better performance out of it and keep it for a lot longer when you make laptop maintenance a top priority.
Learn more about buying laptops and maintaining them by browsing through the articles on our blog.