As more people – including Samsung employees – are being told to work from home whenever possible to help combat the spread of coronavirus, Samsung is offering tips on how to improve your productivity and the performance of your Windows-powered notebook, whether it's a Galaxy Book S, Book Ion, Book Flex, or one of the Notebook 9 models. Some of the suggestions provided by the company can help every notebook user, while others will yield better results on lower-performance machines.
Delete temporary files
Deleting temporary files, cache, and error reports on your Windows 10 notebook can improve performance, or at the very least, it can clear up some storage. Results will vary depending on your usage patterns.
Windows 10 has a built-in disk cleaning app that can be accessed by searching Disk Cleanup. Launch the app, select the files you want to delete and click OK.
Uninstall unused programs
Samsung advises you to uninstall apps/programs that you may have previously installed to fix specific issues but you are no longer using. Again, this can clear up storage.
Search for Apps & features, find the app you want to remove, click it, and hit Uninstall. You can also click Programs and features in the top-right corner to access a more detailed list of programs installed on your machine.
Prevent apps from running automatically (at startup)
It's highly advised to keep an eye on apps that run automatically in the background and launch at startup. This can improve performance and boot times. Right-click on the taskbar (or press CTRL+ALT+Delete on your keyboard) and go to Task Manager. Access the Startup tab, and look for third-party apps that have a high Startup impact. You may want to disable some of these. Note that you will still be able to run these apps, but they won't start automatically whenever you power on your laptop, thus improving boot-up times.
Try not to open too many internet browser tabs
Opening too many internet tabs in your browser can have a massive impact on your notebook's performance, especially if your machine is equipped with only 8GB of RAM. The hit on performance will also depend on the browser you're using, with Chrome being known to demand a lot of RAM. You can observe how much RAM your browsing habits require from the Task Manager (mentioned above). Use bookmarks if necessary, but try to use as few tabs as possible.
Adjust brightness to improve battery life
If you're stuck working from home, battery life is probably the least of your worries. But if you don't want to keep your notebook plugged in, or you want to work from your yard or away from a wall socket, you can improve battery life by lowering screen brightness, just like on a smartphone.
Open the Settings app, go to System, Display, and drag the Brightness slider to adjust it.
Use a secondary monitor to improve productivity
Your home office experience can improve tremendously if you have a secondary monitor laying around. If so, you should consider connecting it to your notebook for two reasons.
First, a dual-monitor setup can greatly improve your productivity. Second, if your notebook has a small display, you can get a lot more comfortable by switching to a larger monitor.
Bonus tips from a PC user working from home
You can also connect a keyboard and mouse to your notebook and use them instead of the built-in solutions. You'll feel less crowded, and your wrists will thank you if you're working long hours. After all, you don't have to carry these peripherals with you anywhere, so why not put them to good use?
Make sure you're using a comfortable chair, and, if you can help it, don't keep your elbows below your wrists when typing. Take a break once in a while and do some stretching. You're also going to strain your eyes, so take a short break every hour, look outside your window and focus on distant objects for a few minutes. This will protect your eyesight in the long run.
Do you own a Samsung notebook? Are you working from home, and do you have tips of your own that have helped you become more proficient in this environment? Feel free to leave a comment.
