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Everybody, it looks like, has a laptop today, and if you don’t have one, you most likely are thinking of buying one. As if it’s not difficult enough to choose from the many types and brands of laptops out there, you are also confronted with the many accessories that are available for one to. Of the overwhelmingly large amount of accessories out there, it can be certainly overwhelming to figure out what you really need for your laptop. Clearly, it is completely dependant upon your needs and plans with your computer, but there are five essentials you may want to consider to start with first.

Laptop Essential 1: If you are planning to use your laptop at home with any kind of regularity, you will want to consider getting an external keyboard and pointing device (mouse). Why? Well, believe me, if you have ever tried typing on a laptop for any more than an hour, then without a doubt you know that your neck, shoulders, and wrists can start to feel wiped out, to say the least. Well, the solution is to buy an external keyboard, which you can plug into the back of your laptop, as well as a mouse. And if you use your laptop in the office you can raise the screen up with books or risers of some sort to make looking at the screen a little more ergonomic. Of course you can also purchase accessory swivel stands for your laptop as well if you want them.

Laptop Essential 2: When your home you will most likely want to connect other peripheral devices to your laptop, like a printer, maybe a DVD player, or even a CD burner. This can create a lot of clutter with all the wires you need to plug in and unplug if you want to take your laptop out of the house or move room to room or even take it to the office. So to resolve this problem, you will absolutely love a docking station.

Now a docking station basically turns your laptop into a desktop computer when you’re home and when you’re ready to take it away, you simply slip it out of the station and off you go.

Another alternative along the same lines is a port replicator, which has computer ports. You connect your external devices to the replicator and then to your laptop. When you want to move your laptop, you simply detach the one port replicator, rather than each external device.

Laptop Essential 3: Now this isn’t as exciting as some of the other accessories, but I assure you, you will be thankful you have it, and that is an external hard drive. It’s certainly not going to make your day, and it certainly won’t throw any excitement in your life, but the morning you wake up and your laptop won’t start will be the day you are overjoyed that you decided to get that external hard drive.

Here’s a little tip to go along with your new external hard drive: never pack your backup drive and your laptop in the same case when going on a trip, keep them separated. If you happen to lose your bag with both the backup drive and the laptop in it, you’re going to have a really bad day!

Laptop Essential 4: This little device will allow you to hook up everything you need. So make sure you go out and get yourself an external USB hub. Desktop computers sometimes come with several USB ports, some with as many as 8 or 9. But, laptops since they are smaller, often only have a couple of USB ports. USB hubs will usually have four or more ports that will connect through one of your laptop’s USB port making them very easy to use to hook up multiple USB devices.

Laptop Essential 5: You need to think about the worst thing that can happen with your laptop. Now you probably bought your laptop so you can work out of the office, or your home, or wherever you need to, right? Well, since you will be out and about, you will definitely want to think about insurance for your laptop. The manufacturer’s warranty usually doesn’t cover anything beyond parts, and an extended warranty will certainly not cover theft, though it may cover you for breakage or fire.

Finally, there are literally thousands of different accessories available for your computer. Of course some you might need and others you won’t. It really depends on what your plans are for your laptop as well as where you plan on using it. Nevertheless, these five things are indispensable to making your laptop as functional to you as possible. While there may be some variation to what you need, most of these items will be valuable to anyone who owns a laptop, no matter how you expect to use your portable computer.

Garry Allen is a successful Webmaster and publisher of Best-Rated-Laptops-and-Computers.info. Providing you with more information on computer technology and answering the question what’s the best rated laptop that you can research in your bathrobe on his website.

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What to backup, and what to lose

The oldest “computer expression” is that there are two kinds of computer users, those that backup their data and those that will. Often, it takes a “data disaster” to compel otherwise responsible people to make a regular habit of backing up their data. Still, the majority of computer users do not back up their data.

According to Computer World, the annual cost to recover lost data per laptop is over $800.00 per year. This amounts to billions of dollars per year spent nationally to recover (or not recover) data that has been lost due to users not backing up their data. Critical data files are often stored on personal computers and laptops and often not subject to regular backup.

If backup is so important, then why don’t most people do it?

The truth is, backing up data from your computer to CDs, memory sticks, other computers, and network hard drives is inconvenient. It takes time out of a busy day. Most backup utilities require the users attention to start, monitor, and close the process. Backup takes time from the user that can be better spent doing something else. Backup is boring, since it may disable or tie up your computer while the backup is taking place.

So what data should I back up?

The simple answer is any file that you would miss if you did not have it. This includes documents, presentations, spreadsheets, accounting data, and other data files. Also include your Favorites folder, telephone directory, appointment calendar, and tasks. It may also include pictures, music, family video, and any other data that is significant, especially if lost.

Look at all of the programs that you use regularly. Find the data files that these programs and mark these for regular backup. Often these files are not behind your MY Documents folder.

For example, if you use Quicken or QuickBooks, the important data files are saved in a folder behind the Quicken or QuickBooks program. In Microsoft Windows XP, these files could be under Documents and Settings/user/Application Data. In addition, the Application Data file may also contain important information that aids in your ability to use many of your favorite programs. If you do not know how to get to these files, consult an expert to help you determine what files to choose for regular backup.

How often should I back up?

Think of this question another way - if my hard disk crashed, or I dropped my laptop, or it got stolen at the airport, how much time will it take me to re-create the active data that I just lost? What would it cost you to lose a day’s worth of data and to recreate it? How much time would it take to reconfigure your computer with the tools, configurations, short cuts, and links that you have spent years accumulating? Remember the Computer World data, the average cost per laptop for lost data is $800.00 per year. What is your billing rate? How much will it cost you to start over?

Some of us use our computers the entire day. That means that if we back up daily, then the most time that we would spend redoing the work would be less than a day’s worth of time. If you are an occasional user, then you may need to backup less frequently.

Once you have made your list, then you are ready to back up. Here is my partial list of backup files that would cause me great pain if they were not backed up:

What’s the Solution?

The solution is to find a backup solution that is invisible to the user and does not create a “backup event” that must be scheduled from a person’s busy day. So hold this thought for the moment.

Once you have determined which files to back up regularly, you must decide where to store this data. In the early days of computing, we used to back up to floppy disks. Now, our files are huge and often too large for floppy disks. CD ROMs are popular for backup and will now hold over 750 MB of data. DVDs can also be used for backup and how many times more data than CD ROMS.

At the beginning of this article, I said that backup is inconvenient and that is why most people don’t do it. Therefore lets find solutions that are convenient. Not just convenient, but invisible like an insurance policy that just works.

If you are a lone computer user and are not on a network, the best solution is to get an external hard drive that plugs into your USB port. These data storage devices are relatively cheap for the benefit that they provide. Follow this link for examples of these products: http://www.google.com/froogle?q=USB+Hard+drive. If you are using Windows XP, then you can use the Windows Synchronize utility found in XP. To use, copy all of your data to the external drive. Then install the Windows Synchronize utility to automatically keep your files up to date when you plug the external drive into your computer. When you travel with your laptop computer, leave the USB hard drive at home. Never carry it in your computer bag. If you are backing up your desktop, take the USB hard drive with you - or at least store it at a location separate from your desktop in case of fire or other disaster.

If you are on a network, such as a home or business network, set aside some backup space on a hard drive on the network or on another computer. Hard drives are cheap. If you need more space than is available, buy another hard drive and install it on another computer. Use Windows Synchronize utility to keep the data synced.

If you use a laptop or work in different locations, a new product called BeInSync automatically makes the connection over the Internet between your laptop and a designated target computer for syncing files. BeInSync updates, automatically and invisibly any and all files designated for syncing. It even allows you to sync files with friends and business associates. Since it works in the background, it does not require a backup event and impose itself on the user’s busy day.

Follow this link to get more information on BeInSync: http://www.beinsync.com/?rfrid=BIS-P-1038. One important note about BeInSync is that it will sync everything in the My Document folder. Move My Music, My Videos, and other large folders out of the My Documents before enabling BeInSync.

What’s the bottom line on backup?

The bottom line on backup is that it is absolutely necessary for everyone that has something to lose if his or her computer was lost, stolen, or simply failed from regular use. There is a wide variety of solutions in the marketplace to keep your data backed up. Spend the time to explore and implement your back up solution. If you are not technical, hire an expert to create a solution that works for you. It will be some of the best money that you will spend.

Eric Guth and Joel Gering are owners of http://www.ProtectMyLaptop.com and SecureTrieve and are experts in the areas of computer troubleshooting and creating and maintaining networks for small businesses and homes. They have over 25 years of hands on experience in data management, data security, and remote data recovery.

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