Inge Coates

Experts suggest that the average lifespan of a laptop is three to five years , but these experts tend to be IT professionals who service businesses .

What Makes Sense for ARTA Members ?

To find out if you should replace your laptop , ask yourself : 1 . Does your laptop efficiently do what you want it to ?

2 . Does it easily update both the operating system and software to include the latest security features , especially if you bank online or do online shopping ? If you answered yes to both questions , you may not need to replace it yet .

Warning signs of an imminent breakdown include a noisy laptop fan , a machine that frequently overheats , or a laptop that is slow to start up or shut down . When working on several applications at the same time , it should easily switch between them . You should not be getting warnings that you have run out of memory .

Obviously , frequent crashes or corrupted data are serious . If security features are not regularly updated by the manufacturer , it may be because that laptop is significantly out of date .

If you think you need a new laptop , here are some considerations .

Backing Up the Information on Your Old Laptop

You can usually back up all of the information from an old computer to a new one . Support can be found online or from the person who sells you the new one . You can also back up to virtual storage such as iCloud or Google Drive . There is often a fee for this , but your information is encrypted and should be safe and reliably restored , as needed .

A USB flash drive with enough storage space or a separate external hard drive will also work . With a separate hard drive , it may even be possible to schedule automatic backups so that information is always current should your new laptop crash , become infected by malware , or be stolen .

Planning Your Old Laptop ’ s Retirement

If your old laptop is still functioning , you might consider selling it . However , if you used it for banking , you may not be able to erase that data as thoroughly as you hope , so be careful . Perhaps gifting it to a friend or family member would be a better option .

You could keep it as a backup , especially because it already has all your files on it . If you are keeping it as a backup , store it flat , in a dry , dust-free location . Fully charge the battery before removing it and keep the laptop and charger each wrapped separately but in the same general area .

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