If you are worried about safely packing & moving your computer, laptop or tower to your new home, relax. Your fragile computer equipment will arrive intact without you having to bring it in your car. This is great news, especially if you are not able to take them on your person. Original packing material is the best way to move them. However, most of us don’t keep that, so follow these tips on safely packing your computers, laptops and towers.
- Backup all data on every device. If you are already enrolled in an online service like Mozy Online Backup or Carbonite that provides continuous backup via the Internet, only do this if you want to double-ensure data. Store a backup drive or disks with other valuables and papers.
- Remove any CDs from drive. Insert a blank or unimportant CD into the drive to stabilize it.
- Shut down computers, disconnect cables. Properly eject peripheral devices, and power down all computers, laptops, towers, modems, routers, etc. Be sure you’re done with all computing needs: this is it! As you unplug cables, label each one with masking tape, or indelible marker write on the cable itself to indicate which computer it’s paired to, and which socket it plugs into upon your arrival. Gently coil cables and secure with tape or zip ties, twisty ties work well also, this helps to prevent unraveling.
- Packing into the box. Bottom line: pack to prevent jarring. Assuming you no longer have the original box and stiff Styrofoam protectors, pack the computer into a very sturdy moving box larger than the computer. It should be large enough to accommodate plenty of packing paper but not so large that the computer swims around in it.
- Crumble up several sheets of paper and put on the bottom of the box. Crumbling the paper makes it fluffy. You can use popcorn but unless you’ve got a resource for this it can get expensive. Place the tower or monitor in the box. Crumble up more paper filling in the space between the computer and the box so the computer does not shift. Remember to put paper on the top of the computer as well for padding between the computer and the lid.
- Small items. Pack associated cables or small peripherals with their corresponding computer. If you do this, be sure to accurately label the contents of each box so that nothing gets thrown out in the packing paper.
- Box Weight Capacity and Taping. Choose a box that has a weight capacity higher than the weight of the electronics you are putting into them. Tape the boxes very securely, and label them all clearly. Keep in mind places like Home Depot sell boxes at a cheap price but they are very flimsy and cannot hold a lot of weight. Check out the weight and capacity of the box before purchasing.
At All Reasons Moving, we understand how vital your computer is to daily functioning. Following these guidelines, you will be up and running at your new home in no time.