Guest Author - Debbie Jacobsen

Most colleges and universities now require that students have a laptop computer, which creates an additional expense for parents. Laptop computers are not cheap, and even low end models can easily cost over $1000 USD. Due to the high cost associated with the purchase of a laptop computer, it’s in everyone’s best interest to make sure this investment is protected.

Following are some tips to help protect your laptop investment as well as your students privacy:

Use a computer security suite and purchase an annual subscription
Most new laptops come with preinstalled security software, but it is often “trial period” software only. Check to see that the “automatic updates” subscription is good for at least a year. If not, either renew it or uninstall and purchase new software.

If the student uses Peer to Peer (P2P) file sharing applications, P2P Doctor is a MUST!
P2P applications like Kazaa, Morpheus, BearShare, and Limewire are file sharing programs that will not run unless the user agrees to the installation of many advertising-based applications. These “extra” applications are known as Spyware, and can be very dangerous. If file sharing applications must be used, a program like P2P
Doctor is a must. This software removes file sharing add-on programs without causing the P2P program to stop functioning.

Purchase an extended warranty for the laptop
Most laptop computers come with a standard 12 month warranty, which will cover any system defects that arise during the first year. Although this is fine for a desktop computer, I have found that many laptop hard drives and displays actually break down during years 2 and 3. The cost of replacing a laptop hard drive is around $300, and the cost of replacing a display can easily be $800. Extended warranties don’t cost that much extra, and are a wise investment.

Utilize an online backup service
Laptop hard drives crash more often than PC hard drives. Your hard drive might last several years, or only several months – there’s no way to tell. Because a student’s hard drive often contains months of hard work, research, and projects, it is imperative that the data be backed up on a daily basis.
Carbonite Online Backup is the cheapest, most reliable way to protect the data on your laptop – costing only $5 a month. An excellent investment, and cheap price to pay for piece of mind.

Use Windows XP Professional, NTFS, and a regular user account
Windows XP Professional has a ton of security features, and is designed to provide a stable and secure operating environment for a networked computer. Make sure the hard drive is formatted with the NTFS file system, which will enable the strongest security. Create a “user” account, and a strong password (at least 6 characters, using a combination of upper and lower case + numbers). The user account does not have the power to install applications or make system registry changes, which gives you a lot of protection. Operate the laptop under the user account, and only log into the administrator account when you need to install new software. This ensures that “unknown” software is not installed without your knowledge.

Purchase a laptop with built in fingerprint reader
This is called “biometrics”, and can be set up to only allow access to the person/s who’s fingerprints match what’s on file in the laptop. Fingerprint readers are becoming quite popular with laptops, as it locks everything up tight. If you use fingerprint security, be sure to register at least two prints (on opposite hands) within the security software just in case you injure your main finger!