Tips for in sync return to office
Q: I have been using my office desktop computer at home during the pandemic. Over the last few months, I was getting hopeful that I’d be returning to the office, but that is looking less likely now. My manager suggested that I get a laptop to make it easier for me to move back and forth between the office and home. I find that laptops are too impractical to be used all day, what with the small screen, keyboard and trackpad. Is there any way to connect a full-sized monitor, mouse and keyboard to my laptop?
A: If you are planning to get a laptop and want to use it as a portable device and as a desktop substitute, you can pick up a docking station that will let you connect monitors and other peripherals such as a mouse and keyboard so that it will be more like using a desktop computer.
There are some inexpensive options available for more modern laptops that will connect a single box to the USB-C port of your computer and will provide the connections you need to hook everything up.
Basically, you’d have your laptop and you’d have a dock, mouse, keyboard and monitor at home and another set at the office. All of your files, applications and settings will be the same, no matter where you are.
Q: I’ve returned to my office after working from home for the last many months. I noticed that my office computer is performing poorly and isn’t downloading new email messages. I’ve tried resetting Outlook and rebooting. What can I do?
A: The issue is almost always that they changed their password while working from home and simply needed to update the password in their email application on their office computer so it would connect to the servers and download their messages. Another issue is that computers at the office have been neglected for so long and lack some very important updates.