Traveling With Your Laptop

Computers don't always make the best traveling companions. They can get cranky when mishandled, their batteries seem to die at the worst possible times, and sometimes they refuse to perform basic tasks like connecting to a wireless network or sending e-mail.

Traveling computers are also prone to becoming victims of the digital version of Montezuma's Revenge, picking up strange viruses and other virtual bugs. And if digital diseases don't get them, there are plenty of hackers and thieves who are eager to steal your computer or poke around in your personal data. The sad truth is that computers immediately become more vulnerable to theft, hack attacks, and viruses when you're working with them in public spaces or are connected to public networks in hotels, coffee shops, and airports.

Happily all of these problems have a solution. Here's how to keep your computer and other digital gear happy and healthy whether you're traveling for work or pleasure.

Please Do Not Disturb (The Computer): Pack your computer in a padded case to shield it from the physical traumas of travel. If you're traveling by air, avoid placing your laptop in the overhead bin where someone will undoubtedly dump a heavy object on top of it. And when the flight attendants push the drinks cart near your seat, close your laptop. A bit of turbulence or just plain klutziness can result in a spill, and a doused laptop is almost always a dead laptop.

What to Pack: Bring along the system restore disk that came with your computer (or the operating system disk) in case some tech trauma occurs while you're away; a backup disk containing any essential files; a power adaptor if you're traveling out of the country (check with your laptop manufacturer for these, and remember to get adaptors for all the electronic gear you're bringing); and perhaps a short extension cord so you can work anywhere in your room instead of right up next to the room's only power outlet.

Power Up: To get the longest life possible from your laptop's battery, go to Start>Control Panel>Power Options, and on the "Power Schemes" pull-down menu choose "Max Battery." Windows will now conserve your battery power by shutting off your screen and spinning down the hard drive when you aren't actively using the computer. (Mac users: go to System Preferences>Energy Saver>Settings for Battery and Optimization>Better Battery Life.) Also, to save the life of your battery, decrease the screen's brightness -- look for the key on your keyboard with the little sun icon on it and press it and the function key simultaneously. (No such key? Check your computer's manual.)

Thwart Thieves: Put your laptop in your room safe or the hotel safe when not in your room (not under the bed or in the drawers underneath your undies -- too many people hide things there, so it's the first place a thief will look). If the hotel safe seems dicey, or you need to bring your laptop to a conference room or onto a convention floor, most laptops have a security slot (Kensington lock). Get a locking device with an attached cable (available at any well-stocked computer supply store), wrap the cable around a heavy, stationery object, and insert the lock into the security slot.

Travel Tummy, The Tech Version: Computer viruses and worms can run rampant on the wide-open public wireless services offered by hotels, coffee shops, bookstores, and libraries. Protect your computer from other people's computer germs by making sure your operating system's firewall is active. (Instructions on how to activate the Windows firewall are here, Mac users click here. Firewalls block most incoming threats. Also make sure that you're running an up-to-date copy of an antivirus program.)

Stop Snoops: Public wireless service is open to any and all, which means that any data you have stored on your computer is accessible to all other users on the network. So in other words, any data you transmit over the Internet is about as private as a message written on the back of a postcard. The best way to ward off snoops is to disable your wireless card's Ad-Hoc (peer-to-peer) mode. This helps to prevent anyone else from connecting to your computer. The software for your wireless modem will allow you to disable Ad-Hoc with a single click. And again, make sure you're running a firewall on your computer.

Get Connected: No wireless service in your hotel? Check here and here for exhaustive listings of public wireless networks around the world.

E-mail Mystery: Once you're connected to a public wireless service you'll be able to receive mail through an e-mail program like Outlook, but you probably won't be able to send out e-mail. That's because most Internet Service Providers block e-mail sent through their network via any other ISP, including wireless ones (as a spam fighting measure). To send e-mail, use your ISP's web mail service or set up a web mail account with a free service like Google's Gmail, Yahoo, or Hotmail.

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