How to avoid buying a new $229 hard drive and paying a tech $80/hour to save your data:

Don’t move your laptop in sleep mode. While in sleep, the reading arm of the hard drive is actually on the hard drive. If you bonk the computer, you can wipe out a part of the drive.

Shut down the computer every night, right after you back up everything.

Keep virus protection on even if you feel it’s slowing up Counterstrike.

When your laptop travels, your system restore disks travel with.

A great vacation hack is to take none of these precautions. That way your hard drive physically crashes and you’re forced to actually relax while it’s in for repairs.

What laptop money-saving tips do you use while vacationing?

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