Laptop Insurance: Looking after your laptop – Some things are obvious – some are not …
You already know how much your laptop is worth. Unfortunately, there’s a fair chance that the laptop thieves as well …
Here are some tips on looking after your laptop, minimizing the likelihood of a loss, theft or damage and also shrinking the possible pain if it does happen.
First, make sure it doesn’t matter so much if you do lose your laptop:
Everything that is important on your laptop should be backed up. Buy an external hard-drive (usually about £50/US$90). Keep it connected to your laptop whenever possible. Then buy a software system that will automatically copy your essential files to the external hard-drive. “Second Copy” is a good option – www.secondcopy.com
Backup the backup – Copy the back-up files to another external hard-drive or computer. Your first may have broken or corrupted – and if you did not notice that until your laptop goes or goes wrong …
Make sure you have copies of the license keys for all software on your laptop – create a text file of the these. This makes it much easier to reinstall when you get a new laptop. For security you might want to lock this license key file away behind a password-protected system. RoboForm is handy – www.roboform.com
Don’t travel with your laptop unless absolutely necessary – obvious but true – o you really need to take it with you? Laptop theft peaks on Friday, when office workers take their laptop home with them.
Put it in a rucksack not the laptop bag. If you want to use the laptop bag eg because it has stronger edges to keep your laptop protected, put the laptop in the laptop bag, and then put the laptop bag in a rucksack. This stops it being visibly a laptop.
When your do travel with your laptop, mentally program yourself to keep hold of your laptop. On trains etc jeep it between your legs, so you can feel when it is not there immediately. There are many cases of items even being stolen from between legs at restaurants etc, so also put 1 foot through the strap.
Make sure you have got a good laptop insurance policy in place. Make sure you know exactly what is covered.
Avoid traveling on a Friday with your laptop – this is key theft-day, because many staff take their laptop home to use over the weekend. This means that Friday is key theft day.
Complete these simple steps and your laptop will be far safer – and should your laptop be lost, damaged or stolen, you will feel the pain far less.
