Four Laptop Maintenance Tips to Adopt in 2022

Crucial for work, study, gaming, and more, our trusty laptops are put through their paces daily. It’s for this reason that laptop maintenance is so important. Yet, many of us overlook this vital provision, entrusting our laptops to continue working with little or no intervention.

While they’re built to last, they will, of course, last even longer when properly cared for. With the supply of electronics across the board affected by the ongoing global computer chip shortage, taking care of the products you already own is more important than ever. Laptops, smartphones, and games consoles are all perfect cases in point.

With that, there’s never been a better time to take a new and improved approach to care and maintenance. And with laptops being some of our most important and widely used pieces of tech, where better to start? With that, we’ve put together a brief list of four laptop maintenance tips to adopt in 2022.

It goes largely without saying that keeping a laptop clean is of the utmost importance for maintenance. However, a quick wipe-over with a cloth or duster often isn’t enough. A laptop’s keyboard generally serves to demonstrate this. Because the keyboard is capable of accumulating crumbs, dust, and other dirt, poor keyboard maintenance can lead to issues.

First, it’s unhygienic. And secondly, in large enough quantities, such accumulations can clog and eventually break a laptop’s keyboard. The easiest way to clean out such debris is with a quick shake upside down, followed by a few short blasts of compressed air. Compressed air canisters are available for precisely this purpose from office supply stores.

At the same time, also take a moment to clean any ports, switches, and other components likely to accumulate dust and dirt. Finish off with an antimicrobial wipe or use a little isopropyl alcohol to kill any germs, and your laptop should stay in tip-top shape for the foreseeable future. A great way to then keep it as such is with a suitable laptop case or sleeve.

It’s not just keeping a laptop physically clean that’s important. Keeping it free of viruses and malware is arguably even more critical. Provisions like Microsoft’s Windows Defender Firewall or the state-of-the-art antivirus software built into Apple’s macOS should take care of this for the most part. Yet, running one or more secondary scans using a third-party program can help catch anything that the original scan missed.

Viruses and malware can prove catastrophic if allowed to infect a laptop. Once they’ve taken hold, getting rid of them can be a massive headache. Therefore, taking preventative measures, such as running frequent antivirus scans, should be crucial for regular laptop maintenance.

Along the same lines, it’s also essential to keep a laptop’s operating system up to date. Such updates should happen automatically, but it’s still a good idea to check. A great time to do this is when running an antivirus scan. That way, you can rest assured that everything is in order and that automatic updates haven’t been paused or stopped for one reason or another.

Not all maintenance needs to be hands-on. Taking out an Upsie extended laptop warranty is a great example and is one of the best ways to prolong the life of any laptop, notebook, or 2-in-1. First and foremost, they safeguard against manufacturing defects, mechanical faults, and other failures.

In addition, computer warranties from Upsie also offer additional protection against accidental damage. That includes drops, cracks, liquid spills, and more. With a choice of repair and replacement options available, a laptop is largely protected against anything that life has to throw at it for up to three years.

Best of all, Upsie’s warranties are up to 70 percent more affordable than warranties sold by manufacturers or retailers, ensuring that customers get the best protection possible at the best price.

And finally, backup your data. Backing up your data safeguards against lost documents and other files should the worst happen. While regular maintenance, antivirus software, and an extended warranty should help keep a laptop in great shape, backing up is still extremely important.

Irreparable damage to a laptop, for example, could see photos and other files lost forever if they’re not backed up. Thankfully, the process is mainly straightforward. Whether backing up to the cloud or an external storage device, laptop owners can even take measures to automate the process.

That way, if the worst does happen, any important files will be readily available for access on another device. Ideally, backing up to two or more places is preferable, such as both an external hard drive and the cloud. For help on precisely how best to do this, various tutorials are available online from laptop manufacturer HP and elsewhere.