Base on experience as a user and a laptop technician,I'll be listing out the steps to take in other maintain your laptop and let it serve you well.

1. DON'T OVER CHARGE IT.
It's no news that some laptop users do over charge their laptop,some will keep it connected even when it fully charge at 100%.
Overcharging can damage the laptop battery cells,over time it will cause the battery to swell up,reduce it backup time or even damage it outrightly.
The best thing to do is charge your laptop till 100%,then unplug the charger,use it to let's say 40-50% before connecting your charger for it to charge.

2. ALWAYS MAKE A BACKUP.
If you're the type that keeps important information on your laptop, I'll advise you get a flash drive or an external hard drive to backup your important files, hard disk do crash or your laptop could be attack by a ransomware virus, with your backup in another place,it will be very easy to get back your files.

3. ALWAYS USE THE ORIGINAL CHARGER.
There are different types of laptop charger in the market, some users do go for the cheap ones due financial constraints which can also cause a lot of damages on the laptop motherboard.
If you're getting a UK/US use laptop, some sellers do sell with cheap charges because some of these laptops don't come with their original charger,and getting the cheap ones will reduce the total cost and maximize their profit.
However,it's advisable you request for a follow come charger whenever you're buying a laptop, a cheap charger will likely damage your laptop motherboard if there is a surge in power supply ,and in some cases make your laptop motherboard unrepairable.

4. TAKE IT FOR SERVICE.
You might think your laptop doesn't need to be service but I'll tell you it is very important for you to do so.
Just like your car ,you change the air filter,oil and all that to keep working fine, since you use your laptop regularly you also need to service it too especially if you stay or work in a place that is very dusty.

Your laptop CPU generate heat , the fan helps to cool it down ,and also take out the heat through the vent at the side of your laptop,if the vent is clug ,it reduces the air that keep the CPU cool and thereby stressing it out which will reduce the performance of the laptop.
In some laptop generation of laptop, with Soc architecture especially the 7th gen above,the CPU is very fragile most especially on dell laptop,if the cool paste is dried up, and the CPU get heated up, the thermal shutdown is activated and the laptop shutdown.
I've seen cases whereby a laptop is brought in for repair with no power on case,all I have to do is just clean off the old cooling paste and apply a new one and laptop is back to life.
It is very important you always take your laptop for servicing, probably 2 or 3 times in a year to keep it up and running effectively.

5. A LITTLE SPILL AFFECT.
A little spill on your laptop can get it damage over time, most users tend to have a little refreshment while working on their laptops ,in this process liquid can pour on the laptop ,in some cases it will be a little spill which one might think won't affect the functionality of the laptop but I must tell you that if it doesn't affect it now it will later.
19v from the charger /(12v-15v ) from the battery your laptop goes to a particular section of the laptop motherboard, when you press the power button within a milisecond some other voltage will start to generate.
We all know what happens when you pour water on electric,it can cause an electrical damage on the circuit of the board and if you're lucky to see that your laptop is working fine after that,just know that there are IC's with tiny legs (pins) on the laptop motherboard,the liquid will likely stay on this pins,get dried up and begin to get it corroded.
It will eat up the legs and make it lose contact with the board, when this happens,the particular voltage going through that pin will stop and depending on the section which the IC is located,you will either get a dead motherboard or no display laptop.

The best thing to do when there's a spill on your laptop is to remove the charger and shut it down immediately,take out the battery if it removable, then take it to your laptop technician for servicing.

5. DIY CAREFULLY.
As a chip level laptop technician,i've seen and heard cases like " I only try to fix the keyboard and laptop refuse to turn on" I only try to fix the screen, change the RAM or fix the hard drive etc.
This type of fault tend to happen due to negligence, and sometimes the person was just unlucky due to the fact that electronic can act funny sometimes.

I understand there are some DIY laptop users who tend to do some little fix on their laptop,it's advisable you always take out the battery whenever you're attempting to fix anything on your laptop motherboard.
No matter the type of laptop you're using, whether removable battery or inbuilt battery , unscrew it and take out the battery connector from the motherboard, hold the power button for some seconds for it to discharge before attempting any fix.
Prevention is better than cure.

6. PROTECT YOUR LAPTOP.
Your laptop is also part of your valuable properties while it is important to protect it from physical threats it is also important to protect it from online threats too.
The operating system comes with antivirus to protect your laptop from online threats, and there are also free antivirus softwares too,I'm fraid this free softwares will do little or nothing to protect your laptop from real threats.
It's important you invest in paid antivirus software to fully protect your laptop from online threats,you can get a single user for as low as #1500 to #2000 depending on the brand.

7. VERIFY BEFORE INSTALLING.
From time to time you will get updates on your operating system,these updates will help enhance the performance of your laptop and fix some bugs.
However,it is important you check online for reviews before installing it,some update comes with bugs that will likely slow the performance of your laptop.
It's important you check online with the version of update for reviews before installing.
Again, some users are not always patient while installing the updates,due to the fact that it takes too long, and one might think the laptop is stuck and proceed to shutdown the laptop, well this often end badly , resulting to a case of dead laptop or power on with no display.

It's advisable you always install update with your charger connected to the power supply and always be patient,it might take time but it will definitely install.

8. DO NOT HIBERNATE.
Some will say it is bad and some will say it has no effect on the laptop but base on my personal experience as a chip level laptop technician, I've seen cases of dead laptop due to hibernation.
I'll advise you hibernate if it won't take much time before returning to your laptop,if it's going to take hours or days,it's better your save your work and shutdown properly to avoid issues.

Thanks bro. That's a good one from you

For some days now I've been fixing some liquid damage boards,all I just have to do is wash it with thinner ,use the rework station to dry it probably and it's back to live.

Most users believe that as long as it is still working, then there's no need to fix it, when liquid get spill on your laptop,it might not cause any problem immediately but will definitely cause a lot of damage to the motherboard.

I was working on one recently,after taking out the motherboard,I noticed almost all the ICs were damage,pins connected to the motherboard from the ic were damage as well.
The motherboard was irredeemable,the user had to get another motherboard.



Another one is a shorted board, some engrs or user will come to you and say he was only trying to fix the keyboard or screen and the laptop refuse to power on after that, most times this usually happens in laptop with inbuilt battery.

The thought of loosing the screws and removing the battery before fixing the screen or keyboard always seem tedious,well most times it always end in tears.

The funny thing is , unlike old models that always end with the SIO getting short to ground,the newer models with Soc chipset always get short instead,where you have the CPU and PCH on one chip, when the PCH is short,you will end up replacing the whole chip.

Well only a few engrs own a BGA rework station because it is very expensive,the only option you will get it to replace the motherboard.

So always make sure you take out the battery before anything.