We’ve all got bad habits. At Laptop Plus, we aren’t here to judge. But we are here to help. We aren’t trying to tell you how to live your life, but below are some really bad tech habits you need to break, before your laptop does!
Not shutting down
Laptops are great because you can just close the lid and walk away, right? Well, not quite. Most people believe that their laptop shuts down when it is not used or when the lid is closed. In fact, it’s doesn’t. There are three ways to properly power down a laptop: Sleep, Hibernate, and Shut Down. Sleep will enter a low power mode, it will keep the computer from overheating and stop all the activity going on.
The biggest difference between sleep mode and hibernation mode is that Hibernate saves all of the info that's loaded in your RAM (anything that you had running at the time) to your hard drive and completely shuts off. And finally shutting down, this is the best and the safest move for when you’ve stopped using your laptop, especially if you’re going to be moving around with it.
Taking laptop to bed
Many studies have now proven that bringing your tablet, laptop or other devices to bed at night can be linked to sleep problems. It’s less about the physical closeness to the technology and more about how our brain reacts to having them nearby. Though they might be shut down, your brain can’t seem to do the same. Particularly the blue light given off by screens while we look at them, stimulates the brain to believe it’s daytime, delaying your body’s ability to fall asleep.
Also, though this technology is evolving, fast there have been many reported cases of laptops, phones and tablets overheating whilst being tangled up in your bedsheets, much like you do! Moreover having these gadgets lying around the bedrooms means they are more likely to be stepped on when getting up in the middle of the night or in the morning, which is an expensive mistake to make while half asleep.
Not backing up data regularly
Most people still aren’t backing up the contents of their computer on a regular basis. Admit it, you aren’t and you probably know better. Backing up your data to an external hard drive (that you keep in a safe and separate place) ensures that you won’t lose precious memories, documents and information that you have on your computer.
Laptops are very clever things, but even geniuses have blips from time to time. Try setting yourself a calendar reminder to do a backup. Insert link about data recover?
Ignoring updates
Updates are annoying. They always pop up while you’re doing something important (like mid-Netflix binge.) We get it. It’s almost universally common to cancel when you see a system update notification so you don’t have to restart your computer in the middle of a task. But, making sure all your programs, antivirus and operating system updates are current is essential to keeping your computer running smoothly and securely. Otherwise the next interruption could be a crash while you’ve editing a 100 page document for 4 hours.
Most updates are made to fix an existing common problem or make specific software compatible with others. Therefore listen to your laptop when it’s asking you for what in really needs and allow your computer to update once in a while.
Care for your laptop's battery
It’s easy to plug-n-play when it comes to your tech, but did you know it’s optimal to optimise your laptop battery the first time you use your new gadget? And also every few months thereafter. This will help keep your battery in top condition.
Thankfully, to do this is really very simple: fully charge the battery and then let it run down completely before fully charging again. Done. Tick that off the checklist.
Treating your laptop charger badly
Laptop chargers have feelings too! Ok ok, no they don’t. But treating yours nicely will mean it lasts far longer and charges your laptop faster, which is something we can all agree on. Sprawling it across the floor, stepping on it without a care or rolling your computer chair wheels over it will all lead to a frayed and potentially dangerous product.
So, next time you scrunch your charger’s wires into a big knot, or wind it too tight, remember, there’s a far better way to do this. And we can show you right here. Channel your inner Marie Kondo and try to organise your tech wires neatly.
Do we sound a like your nagging mum here? Perhaps a little. But just like your mum, we’re trying to look after you and the device you spent lots of money on. If, of course, you haven’t followed these handy steps you can always contact Laptop Plus for troubleshooting with you product.
