Though the popularity and usage of notebooks has grown with consumers and pro-sumers alike, maintaining one's laptop to keep it running smoothly is another matter.

Human beings may be masters of their environment -- computing and computers in general speak well to that fact -- but keeping laptops clean and humming is either a cumbersome task or one that is greatly misunderstood.

Like any mechanical device in your home or office (or both), there are a few things a user can do to keep it from being sent to the repair shop frequently.

For beginners, don't touch and apply pressure to the notebook's LCD screen with bare hands or fingertips. Oil or grease on your hands stain or smudge on the glass panel that may be difficult to remove. In order to clean the screen off from dust and/or stains, Toshiba Canada service specialist Gil Vidar suggested using only a soft, non-abrasive cloth mildly soaked in water to wipe it clean.

"Try to avoid using detergents or cleansers on your LCD screen," Vidar advised. "In the event you have a stain that simply won't come out by just using water, then there are foam-type glass cleaners available. Buy one of those, spray it onto the cloth you're using and not the screen directly, and then wipe it clean." Be wary of which cleanser is used, he added, since certain types of glass cleaners can do more harm than good to an LCD screen by leaving either a haze or glare.

Another handy tip: regularly clean out your notebook's fans or ventilation system. Use a vacuum cleaner first to remove as much dust and debris from the laptop's exhaust vents. Avoid using a compressed air canister to clean the vents without vacuuming first, so you don’t spread the dust deeper into the notebook. If you use a compressed air canister, aim at the notebook's in-take air vents and spray in the direction of the normal airflow. Do not insert the nozzle tip too deep inside the notebook, as the fan could spin freely beyond its rated rpm, or you could bend the cooling fins with the nozzle.

"First off, avoid dust and hair accumulation from impacting your notebook by keeping your environment clean. For instance, don't put your notebook on a carpet or near pets," he said.

Vacuum the keyboard regularly with a brush-tipped nozzle, and use a canister of compressed air to blow dust off of and away from the keyboard. Be gentle on the key caps when cleaning. Avoid eating near a laptop lest crumbs and dirty hands leave food deposits and/or stains on the keys, which in turn can slip down into the computer and affect its circuitry.

In the event of a catastrophic coffee or beverage spill on top of a keyboard, immediately shut the laptop off and towel it dry as quickly as possible. However, if heavy spillage occurs, have the notebook checked by an authorized service provider as soon as possible.

Another common faux pas -- particularly with students -- be wary of how you pack and transport a notebook. Many times people will toss their notebooks into a knapsack or handbag before completely shutting the system down, which in turn may cause your notebook to overheat and crash, added Toshiba system engineer Dan Senechal.

And avoid jerking the notebook about when the hard drive is being accessed, Senechal advised. Moreover, pack the device tightly into a proper carrying case.

"Wait until your notebook is fully shut down and the LED light is off before transporting it," he said. "Be sure to pack it into a snug carrying case to ensure it's secured and not rolling around inside a knapsack, but do not over-pack either. Avoid leaning on the machine or sitting on top of it while it's in your bag, and do not throw the bag around."

Vidar recommends when transporting a system, avoid wrapping the power adaptor cords around the AC Adaptor, as doing so will eventually fray the AC Adaptor cords. Also, disconnect the AC Adaptor, mouse, and other cables from the notebook before putting them in the carrying case.

On the software side, Senechal said it is prudent to regularly (daily or at a minimum, weekly) scan and remove spyware, adware, and other malware from the system. Even the top anti-virus and scanning software can miss a few things so it is recommended to scan the system with more than one anti-adware or anti-spyware software solution.

"Too much spyware or adware on your system can lead to hard drive failure," Senechal said. "And clean out your system's temporary folders and/or Internet temporary folders or that too could cause computing degradation."

Regularly conduct disk defragmentation on the system to maximize its computing space within the hard drive. And, Senechal also adds, users should "clean up your start up tab".

"Check off useless applications that launch themselves from start up," he said. "Ensure you regularly keep up with all Windows updates if you're running the Microsoft Windows operating system. A lot of people are afraid to do that because they're not certain what it is that they're downloading, but security updates are essential and you need to do them as much as possible to protect your system from malware."
Senechal added a solid anti-virus solution is essential.