Travel can be very tough on your laptop – you must exercise care when you are traveling with this delicate piece of equipment. If you are not well versed in how to ensure the safety of your computer while on the road, read on for some useful tips on keeping your machine safe.
1) Keep your laptop away from any potentially harmful items in your hotel room; for example, the magnets inside of television sets and radios.
2) Always take your laptop as a carry on item. Checking your laptop is exceptionally unwise – luggage is sometimes lost and rarely treated gently. If you can’t take your laptop as a carry-on, leave it at home.
3) On transoceanic flights, you may want to be seated near the emergency exits if possible – in a Boeing 747. There will be an outlet by these doors where you can plug in your laptop and get some work done during your flight.
4) You should take the receipt for the purchase of your laptop with you if you were receiving your laptop overseas. If you are searched or questioned on the way in or out of a foreign country, this may come in handy.
5) Keep in mind that electrical outlets vary from state to state – find an adapter for your computer’s power cord if needed. A travel agent or a colleague who has been to the country where you will be going before can tell you what sort of adapter if any will be needed.
6) Charge your laptop’s battery before you leave on a trip. It may take a little time to charge fully, but you will appreciate having taken this step before departure.
7) Make a complete backup of your data before leaving on a trip. A lot of people have discovered the hard way that the data contained on a computer can be far more valuable than computer hardware. Travel can put your data at risk, so always take this precaution before you travel. Windows 200 and later versions have built-in backup software – if your network cannot back up all of your files. Then use external drives, tape backups or CD/DVD-R media.
8) Off-line storage can be used to carry relevant documents. While backing up your data will help you recover once you return from your trip, this backup will do you little good while still on the road. However, you can make another backup on a portable drive which can fit right in your pocket for easy portability. This way, if something should happen to your computer while traveling, you can continue your work on any available network.
9) A lot of these portable devices also support security measures like password protection and encrypted files, so you can keep your data secure even if this disk is lost or stolen.
Traveling around the world safely with your laptop is possible. From the bright and sunny beaches to the long gorgeous mountain ranges, there are plenty of places that your laptop can go, and with a few precautions, you will be sure to take your laptop with no problems.
