Do you make periodic backups?  If you don’t, you are not unlike the hundreds of notebook users that do not backup their information.  Most people assume that since a laptop is more durable than a desktop, the hard drive in the notebook should last longer.

Inevitably, laptops are just as likely to have a hard drive failure as a desktop.  Often these failures can be more costly as a large number of business people use their laptops specifically for work.

In order to protect your data, you can try some of these steps:

1. Purchase an external hard drive.

   By purchasing (don’t just buy it - use it) a portable hard drive, it is easy to make backups.  Usually you just have to plug the hard drive into the USB port on your laptop and you can use the included backup software to backup your vital files.  Price on external hard drives usually start out around the $100 mark and up.

2. Use a USB flash drive

   With USB flash drive prices plummeting, this can be a cost effective option if you do not have a lot of information to backup.  Provided your data takes up less than 8 GB or so (currently the largest size available at a reasonable price) this can be a convenient option.  Not only do USB flash drives fit in your pocked, they can also fit in your safety deposit box for extra security.  Most flash drives also come with some security software to protect your information should the drive get stolen.

3. Make a backup on DVDs or CDs

   One of the cheaper options, you can backup your information on traditional CDs or DVDs.  The catch with this method is that you have to do it, there is not really any automated backup solution that would backup to your optical drive and change disks as needed (as of yet).  One advantage of backing your data to optical disks is that they should last longer than the above discussed options and provided you are not using re-writeable disks, do not run the risk of being erased by accident. 

Remember to backup your information, it shouldn’t be considered a chore, rather you are protecting your pictures, data, and potentially your livelihood by engaging in this important habit.

When you first boot up your laptop, chances are that you will get a notification that you should make a set of recovery disks.  You should get a screen similar to the following:

The above example is from an HP computer. 

The reason you want to create a set of recovery disks is that they allow you to restore your computer to what it was like when you purchased it from the store.  Now, there is a recovery partition on your hard drive, but if the hard drive fails, you would have no way to recover your computer.  That is why you need to make the recovery disks. 

In most cases you will need either a couple of DVDs (provided your notebook has a DVD-burner), or ten CDs (varies per computer).  It takes some time for the computer to collect all the files it needs to copy to the disks.  What I would suggest is to start it, go do something else, and check on your notebook from time to time.  You can expect the process to take an hour or two depending on the speed of your computer and the speed of your burner.

Be sure to label each disk as you remove them from the computer.  Typically, the program will ask to check the disks you have created after it has finished making the recovery set.  If there are any errors on any of the disks, you will have to do this process again.  Just make sure that when you are done, that you put the disks somewhere that you can find them should you ever need them.  It doesn’t help you to have some recovery disks if you cannot find them.

So, make sure that you make your recovery disks BEFORE you hook up to the Internet.  Should your computer ever be infected by viruses to the point where it is un-fixable, at least you will have an option that is cheaper than calling in a professional - using your recovery disks.

I get a lot of questions as to whether or not you should leave you batter in your laptop when you have it plugged in.  If you remove the batter while the computer is plugged in, you get the following benefits:

1. Slow down the batter aging process

   The life of your lithium battery decreases with higher temperatures.  When you have the notebook plugged in, the battery heats up as some power is sent to it to keep it charged up.  By removing the battery, you extend the life of the battery by keeping it away from the heat experienced while installed in the laptop.

2. Preserves charge cycles

   Lithium ion batteries slowly discharge over time.  By leaving your battery in the notebook, the laptop will top-up the battery on a continuous basis, losing some of your charge cycles.  By removing the battery, you will save some of your charge cycles (typically a battery will have 300 to 800 charge cycles during its’ lifetime).

Along with the benefits, there are some negatives to having your battery out of your laptop.  Examples are:

1. Lose battery backup

   The battery in the laptop serves as a UPS (uninterruptible power supply.)  When you remove the battery, you no longer get the benefits that it has to offer such as protection from power outages and voltage drops.

2. Data loss

   If the power does go out while you are using your laptop due to a power outage, you run the risk of lost or corrupt data.  You need to be certain to save your work often to reduce the chance of lost data.

3. Need a UPS for backup power

   To help avoid data loss with your battery removed, consider plugging the laptop into a UPS (uninterruptible power supply.)  A good quality UPS can cost $100 or more, whereas you can buy a laptop battery for $50+.

I had the honour of going to a client’s house to do some work on their website.  As you all know my laptop is a little old (about three years old) and I was demonstrating to the client how to upload their photos to their stock photography agency website. Needless to say, though my battery meter said I had over an hour remaining, my laptop battery decided to die.

Thinking about it, I had just read an article about laptop batteries and their expected lives. According to research a laptop battery should be good for about three hundred charges or so and you can expect the maximum battery life to decrease by 1 % per month. So in my case, I should expect only about 64% of the original charge (or roughly an hour or so).

Checking out the battery calibration utility, we can see that my 4400 mAh battery only has 2935 mAh capacity. Breaking out the trusty calculator, that leaves me at 66.7% of the original capacity.

Anyways, if I had just looked at the battery configuration utility, I would have known what to expect. We will look at battery calibration in a later article.
 

In my line of work, I get alot of questions on how to clean the LCD screen on their new laptop.  Unfortunately, most people either don’t know what to do or they do the wrong thing.

The most cost effective way to clean your screen is to use a damp cloth and then using a dry cloth to dry the screen off.  Be sure to be careful that you do not apply too much pressure to the screen as it may damage it.

There are also LCD cleaners available on the market.  These also work very well and they come either in a can (usually some type of foam) or they come in a package of wipes.  You can pick these up for about $5 and up at any computer store.

One last word of warning:  never use any amonia based cleaner on your LCD screen.  Not only will it not clean the screen very well, but will damage the screen in the process.