Are you reminiscing about the good old days when it only took three seconds for your laptop to start? Do you have to wait five to ten minutes just for your laptop to load every time you press the “Start” button? If you do, you’re not alone…but should be aware of the fact that there are certain measures you can take to help your laptop run quickly and efficiently for longer periods of time.
You may already know the basics on how to maintain the health of your laptop: Don’t leave it plugged in for too long and don’t run too many programs at once, but sometimes this can be difficult if you’re constantly on your laptop.
If you’re sick of waiting for your laptop to load every day, or buying a new laptop every two years is putting a damper on your bank account, then here are five of the most simplest and cost-effective ways that may not only save your laptop, but save your bank account balance as well.
1. Dim The Brightness Of Your Screen
The brighter your laptop screen is and the more you leave it plugged in all the time, the more your battery is going to suffer because of it. Try dimming your laptop screen if you can, and even unplug your laptop once your battery is fully charged. It may also be a good idea to adjust the power setting options on your laptop as well.
2. Force Your Laptop To Hibernate
Sure the standby mode is convenient and saves a lot of power, but believe it or not forcing your laptop into “hibernation” is actually more effective when it comes to conserving the life of your battery.
3. Don’t Auto-save
If you thought the auto-save functions on Microsoft Word and Excel were great then think again, because each time the program automatically saves a document for you it forces your hard drive to work much harder than it needs to, and it will also consume a lot of your laptop’s battery power as well.
4. Avoid Playing CDs and DVDs On Your Laptop
If you like to watch DVDs on your laptop or even listen to a CD while you’re surfing around on the Internet, it will actually drain the life out of your battery. If you’re going to use your laptop as a stereo then plug in a hard-drive or an iPod to play the files instead.
5. Defragment Your Laptop Every Week
Sure defragmenting can be time-consuming and sometimes a very complicating and frustrating process if you don’t do it very often, but defragmenting your laptop on a regular basis will help ease the amount of strain you put on both your hard drive and battery.
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