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Wednesday, March 26, 2008

3 ways to protect your laptop on the road

On The Road

The newest laptops are powerful, light, and thin enough to fit easily into the slenderest of carry-on baggage. This makes them a great accessory for flying or any other mode of travel, but also easier to lose or have stolen.

It pays to be extra vigilant at airport security checkpoints where thieves know people can be flustered.

You should also store your laptop in the seat in front of you, instead of in the overhead compartment when you fly.

But even if you're extra careful, it's still possible to lose your laptop. If you spend some time securing your laptop before you go on the road, you could help keep your personal or financial information from falling into the wrong hands.

Here are our top tips to help you secure the information on your laptop.

Step 1

Protect your information If you keep a lot of personal or financial information on your computer, invest in an operating system that includes file protection. Windows Vista and Windows XP Professional have the tools to protect your information through a process called encryption. To learn more, see Encrypt Your Data to Keep It Safe .


Step 2

Protect your laptop with a strong password If you travel with your laptop frequently, you should secure it with a strong password. Check your computer's Help and Support service to learn how to add or change your system password. To find out how to create passwords that are tough for hackers to crack, but easy for you to remember, see Strong passwords: How to create and use them.


Step 3

Back up before you go Always back up your information before you take your laptop on a trip. You can't always avoid the financial loss of your equipment, but you can avoid losing all your information in the process. To learn how to make copies of all of your information using Windows XP, see How to back up manually or by using the Windows XP Backup utility. For Windows Vista, see Windows Vista: Windows Backup. If you use Windows Live OneCare, see Windows Live OneCare Backup and Restore.



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