What would you do without your laptop? Your phone?
Published on 26 April 12
Even if you have insurance against theft and damage, losing technology you use every day is a huge blow, particularly during important study periods.
A quick check around the Main Library last week, and no less than 19 unattended laptops were spotted in just fifteen minutes.
If you leave your belongings unattended, even for just a moment, you risk losing them. If you step away from your laptop to take a phone call, to go to the toilet or buy a quick coffee – it could get stolen. It could also get broken, knocked off a desk or a drink spilled on it. Either way, you weren't there to look after it and it’s gone.
It may take an extra two minutes to pack up your belongings and take them with you, but it can take months for insurance claims to clear, and a lot longer to save up if you aren’t insured.
And remember: the University does not accept theft, loss or general failure of a computer as a valid reason for not handing in assignments or coursework.
Never leave your laptop unattended. Even if you have hidden it in your bag, or under a coat or books and think no one saw it. Even if you have asked a stranger to keep an eye on it – it’s not their laptop, it’s yours. Keep it that way.
Keep phones, wallets and purses with you. Keep them in zipped pockets and at the bottom of your bag.
You don’t have to be paranoid, you just need to take care. With an extra few seconds thought you can avoid having to call the bank and order new cards, sitting on hold waiting to freeze your phone sim, visiting the police station to report a theft, and you can even avoid making the dreaded Facebook group: “Lost my phone – numbers please.”
Be prepared should the worst happen.
- Back up all your work, make sure it is secure and up to date. Lots of students use zip drives, pen drives, or external hard drives – make sure you store them in a separate location than your laptop or PC.
Your University IT account offers you a safe online storage system known as the P drive. You access it every time you log on to a campus computer, and you can also reach it from your My Manchester portal when you are off campus.
Within Outlook Live, there is also an additional cloud-based storage facility called SkyDrive. This is ideal for storing your personal files and less valuable academic work.
- Register your items for free at immobilise.com, it helps speed up insurance claims, reporting theft to the police, and also aids in the recovery of stolen items.
- BUY INSURANCE. You can insure a decent laptop and a smartphone for less than a tenner a month. That's the same price as your average cinema ticket.