How To Prepare Your Laptop For Travel
There is a good chance that when you travel for work, you take a laptop with you. Here are a few things you want to do to make sure your laptop will run well and securely while on the journey.
- If you typically work on a desktop computer and only use a laptop for traveling, you need to turn it on with a network connection a few days before you leave. Not only will this confirm that it is in working order, but it will also give it a chance to get any security or other important updates before you leave. You want to give it enough time to update and confirm that the updates completed successfully. Letting it get fully updated before you leave will minimize the chance that you will have to contend with it updating while you are traveling.
- Make sure you have access to all of the accounts and application that you will need on the trip. Your office security settings may require you to provide passwords and (hopefully) multi-factor authentication if you are logging in from a device you don’t use as often. Logging in ahead of time not only ensures you know the credentials you need, but can also prevent authentication issues that might need to be addressed if you haven’t used that device in a long time. It is also a good check that all of the applications you need are installed and working properly.
- Finally, you want to make sure that you do not use any public Wi-Fi networks, including your hotel, without VPN protection on your laptop. You should always understand that any data transmitted on a public Wi-Fi network is completely exposed to anyone else on that network.
