Procurement News Notice |
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| PNN | 10645 |
| Work Detail | Nobody wants a machine that reminds them of a slug. It’s the worst.What’s worse than dragging yourself through the mud? The world demands A LOT from us and our machines. Improving your machine speed is as easy as hitting up DuckDuckGo. Others? Well, they involve getting more storage. But, this, too, can backfire (especially if you’re a packrat like me). Speeding up your Macbook (or any laptop) is as easy as 1-2-3. Here are several things you can start (today) to be on your merry way towards a sailing-smooth machine. 1. Don’t Put Your MacBook on Your Lap If those things fry? It’s a quick trip to the repair shop. And you’re out another $100. I was guilty with my first laptop (an HP; I’ve fixed the error of my ways) of sitting it on the bed. On top of a silky-thick afghan. In the middle of summer. Not good. Not good at all. 2. Restore Once a Year MacbBooks and laptops (and desktops) will run their peak performance the first instance it’s running. The very first time you turn them on, they’re running the best they ever will. Backup your important files to an ex. HDD (you can buy a 1TB for $80 online) and restore your MacBook/laptop. Oh, and make sure you have a bootable USB install drive of your latest OS. You can usually find driver updates on the manufacturer’s website. 3. Cut Down on Browser Tabs One of my colleagues has over 14 tabs – and they’re pinned! This means 14 sites are all ready in his tabs. Imagine how many times your CPU takes a hit loading up those tabs which are always running. It is wise to close applications which are not being used to free some CPU (processor) & RAM (memory), so that it can power other applications being used during the time. You should also check applications that are running in the background. Press Win+R, type “msconfig” (without quotes) & hit enter. This will open up a small window. Check “services” and “startup” tabs to see if there are applications that are hiding behind the scene and consuming much of your PC’s energy. Un-tick these crooks, that hampers your work. Save & Restart! 4. Find Your Battery Cycle Count Each MacBook has a different cycle count (maximum). This count helps you figure out when your battery needs to be switched for a fresher, more “youthful” one that can handle what’s happening now. You can find your cycle count easily: Just hold down the Option key while clicking the Apple icon on your upper left-hand corner. Go to System Information > Power. Find your cycle count in Health Information. Once you see your current cycle count, find out your max count by heading over to Apple. 5. Update Your Software Manufacturers aren’t telling you to update all the dang time just to annoy you. Those nuisances serve a purpose: to keep you safe. Manufacturers continually upgrade (and improve) their programs/software to protect against aging, keeping up with the “we need it now” world… and not to mention the safety/protection upgrades. 6. Cool Down Keeping your baby cool a few degrees (anywhere between 2 to 7 degrees) can save you YEARS. The normal heat of a MacBook runs a steady 50 to 95 degrees F (10 degrees to 35 degrees C). That’s without gaming. Buy yourself a laptop fan or cooler – I bought one for $25 for my NEW laptop…and have had it for seven years. This coming after a series of laptops and Macbooks that crapped the bed after a few years. Bonus: If you don’t want to shell out for a full laptop cooler, you can make your own. 7. Plug-In That Silicone These handy dandy little plugs go into all the exposed ports – keeping dust particles and what-have-you out of them. Think about it: those wide open spaces where anything and everything that’s small enough… crawling through your hardware? Yeah, your machine is going to slow down because of all that build-up and poor ventilation. 8. Invest in a Lap Desk To put it simply: a lapdesk is rifled with ventilated holes – allowing your precious to breathe easily and smoothly. Laptop coolers have one or more fans (usually USB generated) that dissipate the heat. While you shouldn’t use a conventional laptop cooler directly on your lap (unless you grab one of those cool ergonomic ones)… since the dissipating heat needs to go somewhere… a lap desk sits your MacBook inches off your lap – allowing your baby to breathe freely. 9. Buy SSD – Fast. This day and age, you probably know all about SSDs and how hardcore they are, when compared to slow and sluggish (and outdated) HDDs. But, just in case you need a little reminder why millions of people have struck oil when they made the switch to SSD. Don’t take my word for it: as HowToGeek reports, you just have to look at the results. And take a look at one of the best-selling SSDs: The Samsung EVO. Over 10,000+ people (including me) can’t be wrong about something that costs around $100+. This (Samsung 850 EVO) came with all new desktop PC at my office and without surprise they are beating the hell out of HDD-desktops and Usain. 10. Regularly Run AVs And AMs Think trojan horses, backdoors, keyloggers, and spyware. They’re ALL “malware.” Technically. But thanks to the “worldwide virus scare” a couple years ago – a few marketing heads got together and thought selling protection programs called “Antivirus Programs” would sell big. And they did. AVG, Avira, Avast, Kaspersky. There’s a whole world of anti-virus programs out there, as you probably know. Whatever you choose, it’s a no-brainer that regularly updating the definition base of your antivirus program AND scanning (weekly)… is the number 1 safest way of protecting your baby from the evil, evil world. Anti-Malware programs? They’re just a matter of keeping your PC even safer in addition to AV programs. Regularly updating your AM program (I personally use Malwarebytes) on top of regularly updating your AV… and scanning weekly (not at the same time)… is like protecting your laptop/Macbook from school bullies. Everybody wants their machine to run faster, for longer, and handle more tasks efficiently. Especially in this rat race world. I hope you implement these tips so you can find yourself at the head of an almost-brand-new machine. |
| Country | United States , Northern America |
| Industry | Information Technology |
| Entry Date | 15 Oct 2016 |
| Source | http://tech.co/tips-speeding-up-macbook-2016-09 |
