lifestyle

Protect and Defend

I recently experienced the terrifying event that every college student dreads.
My Macbook was rendered useless.  It had issues last year, but mainly easy-to-solve ones like old batteries and loud whirring.  This time, it was d-o-n-e.  Thankfully, the situation wasn’t as debilitating as it could have been.  Why?  Because I’ve been backing up my laptop religiously.
Are you protecting your laptop properly?
There is an easy, and painless, way to make sure you get the longest life possible from your computer while at school.  And, there is an easy, and painless, way to make sure you don’t lose all of your files if something does happen to your laptop.
Step 1: Back it up.
That tiny black rectangle houses all of the information on my Macbook.  I did not lose one file!  Everything is safe and I’ve restored everything to my new laptop.  Phew.
I use a Western Digital “My Passport” portable harddrive and Time Machine.  The harddrive is super small; I carry it with me to and from class, the library, etc.  Spend time researching harddrives to make sure you get the best one for the size and type of data you need to back up.
Step 2: Protect it.
On a daily basis, you should make sure you’re taking care of your laptop.  Don’t leave it on a table with drinks (or messy friends with drinks).  This is hardest for me when I’m in the library consuming coffee like it’s my job, but the more I drink, the shakier I get.  Coffee cup away from electronics!
Find a case that fits your personality.  You’re much more likely to use a cute case, than an industrial boring one.  Once you find one (or three in my case… no pun intended), USE IT!  Don’t throw laptops into backpacks without having the proper protection.  The right case will prevent scratches, and add cushion for less-than-graceful backpack placements.
Check out my cute laptop sleeve picks:

1) Kate Spade2) Kate Spade, this one has a great pocket!
3) Fossil4) Vera Bradley5) InCase6) Orla Kiely 

What are your laptop protection tips?
xoxo

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13 Comments

♡ BSA

Reminds me I need to back mine up! I am so nervous about losing all my pictures. I should really back up more often. My macbook has been getting hot lately.. did this happen to you?

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Taylor-Quinn

I always use a laptop case that has the zipper on the short end, that way I can leave it unzipped and don't have to take the whole case out of my backpack just to pull out my laptop!

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Evie

If I know that I'll be eating or drinking around my laptop (I munch like crazy when I'm writing papers, which is all the time), I use a keyboard protector to guard against crumbs and spills. I swear by it.

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Manda

I have lost my hard drive once and gotten my computer and portable hard drive stolen as well. I now keep them separated as much as possible when I'm not using them. Losing all of my things twice had made me a bit paranoid!

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The Preppy Princess

Eeep. If I admitted how bad I am about this you might think less of me, heh-heh. Actually, ours are backed up to a cloud, we have to because of business, but I hate to admit how horrible about it I was. For years!

Love the cases you picked, they are all darling.
tp

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katiemade

If you have a macbook without a solid state hard drive it's usually a good idea to turn it off before carrying it around in your bag. When the computer is on and moving around a bunch in a tote or a backpack it can make your hard drive more prone to crashing. I used to just put my laptop to sleep before running to my next class in college, but it really extends the life of your computer to take the time to shut it all the way down.

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