Hardware Tips

You can plug a normal monitor, mouse,  and keyboard into a laptop.

It's a good idea to unplug the power cord from your laptop before traveling with it.  We fix many DC jacks that get broken that way.

Open and close laptop screen carefully.  The hinges are one of the weakest points on a laptop.  Lift from the top center of the screen.

Be careful not to block the air vents on the bottom of a laptop or it may overheat and shorten the life of the computer.

Note that there are buttons along the top row of most laptops that can turn off/on your wireless antenna, screen back-light, speakers, touchpad, and more.

Software Tips

When you get a new computer be sure to create recovery media.  Computers do not come with these disc anymore.

/Save all installers and keys for programs you have installed.

/Back up user files regularly

/AV is not effective these days

/Ctrl-Alt-Del /  reg cleaners - sys optimizers

/Be very careful what you click on

/Don't open email from people you don't know - curiosity kills           Watch for email links

/Microsoft wants you to have an account with them

/Windows 8 - Apps vs. Programs

/Cloud based storage

/Different ways of buying Office 2013