Safely Moving Your Tech Hardware

With many of us now owning tech items such as laptops, desktops, and printers, we look at the best ways to prepare tech hardware for a safe journey to a new home.

Tech Owners

An Aviva survey from 2020 showed that the average UK home now has 10.3 internet-enabled devices (286 million in UK homes) and that having children in the home increases the average number of devices.  For example, a UK home with 3 children can now typically hosts 15.4 internet-enabled items.

Add to these statistics the fact that the number of people working from home in the UK almost doubled during the pandemic (ONS figures) to 25.9%, and it’s clear that our tech devices, such as laptops and PCs, have a value and importance well beyond their physical price tag as work tools, vital communications and home research tools, and entertainment gateways.

When it comes to moving home, therefore, it is especially important to ensure that these items are protected and that they can quickly resume their function safely at their new destination.

Preparation of Tech For The Removals Journey

Good preparation begins with good IT practice and extends to preparing for any possible risks to your tech items. Key preparation activities should be:

– Backing Up. Having a reliable, secure, cloud-based backup service for your work and vital data should be standard work practice anyway to preserve business continuity and to preserve valuable memories (photos and videos). Before moving, however, backing up PCs and laptops can ensure that in the event of any physical damage to an item, your data has been saved.

– Connection. Making sure in advance, where possible, that where you’re moving to has enough sockets, phone points, and likely a decent likely broadband provision (check with your provider if in doubt) can enable a fast tech setup at the other end.

– Security. Make sure that prior to removal, devices have password protection in place so that only you access them, and that any sensitive data is not stored on the device itself (which should be part of normal backup procedures).

– Careful disassembly. It is easier for your removals company, and safer (for the device) to ensure that everything has been disassembled in an organised way (e.g. peripherals, leads, power adapters, your router, monitors, and computers). Arranging the items so that each device and its cables and adapters go in the same box can speed up re-assembly at the other end.

Packing Tech Devices For Removals

Tech devices and peripherals are high value and contain small components that can be easily damaged by knocks and bumps.  Also, some devices are rarely disassembled after their original assembly in the home, so users can be unfamiliar with which lead goes where, and belongs to which device.  With these concerns in mind, when preparing for your home removals:

– Ensure that you have boxes, bubble wrap, packing paper, tape, and enough soft materials to pack them with similar protection to when they were first shipped.

– Record what goes where. Taking a photo on your phone of where cables are plugged in, and or using labelling (round cables) or colour-coded tape can help you to re-assemble your tech hardware quickly at its new home.

– Take portable storage devices with you.  If you still use storage devices such as USBs, or even external hard drives, you may decide that its better and safer to take these with you (e.g. in a bag/box in your car) so that you can minimise the chance of losing them or forgetting which box you put them in.  Cloud back-up storage can be a much safer way of keeping your personal data safe.

– Label your boxes.  Clearly labelling your tech device boxes will help you to quickly find and re-assemble them at the other end.

– Trust your removals company. Your removals company has experience in safely transporting tech devices and high-value, delicate home and office hardware. Their fully trained, trustworthy staff are able to assess your situation from the quote to the move itself. Your removals company should also be able to give advice wherever it’s needed.