Schools — whether it’s a high school, trade school or four-year university — are one of the top five locations where laptops are stolen. Most students don’t think about the dangers of bringing their laptop and other electronic devices to school.

So how can you protect the $1,200 laptop you just bought? Here are 10 proven laptop security tips to protect your laptop:

1. Never leave your laptop unattended. This sounds like common sense, but with all the social action that takes place in dorm rooms and around campus it’s likely to happen at one time or another. If you’re studying at a coffee shop, have a friend monitor your laptop (never trust a stranger). Never leave your laptop out in the open in the library or a lecture hall.
2. Keep your laptop in a secure, hidden place. In your dorm room, cabinets and drawers are perfect places to store your laptop — even better if they have a lock. Most thieves are in and out in fewer than 60 seconds, so if they can’t find your laptop, odds are they won’t be able to steal it.
3. Lock doors and windows when you’re not in your room. Even if you’re just stepping down the hall, it only takes a few seconds for someone to swipe your laptop. Better safe than sorry.
4. Use a discrete laptop case. Go with a regular backpack or a tote instead of a laptop case. The conventional laptop case is a huge indicator to thieves that you’re carrying expensive merchandise.
5. Never leave your laptop in your vehicle. A thief won’t hesitate to break your vehicle’s window to steal your laptop. Take your laptop with you when you lock up your car. If you have to leave your laptop in the car, put it in the trunk or out of sight.
6. Buy a laptop cable lock. Even though they can be broken into, locking mechanisms force potential thieves to think twice before stealing your laptop. If they have to try too hard, they will pass your laptop up for an easier target.
7. Personalize your laptop’s looks.  A laptop that stands out in a crowd is less attractive to a thief, so use laptop skins or stickers to give your laptop a one-of-a-kind look. Doing this also makes it harder for the thief to resell your laptop, so most will pass it up. While you are personalizing, don’t forget to put some contact info on it in case it’s simply lost rather than stolen.
8. Write down your laptop’s serial number. If your laptop is ever stolen, you’ll be able to provide this information to the authorities to aid in their search.
9. Use secure passwords and update them regularly. The best passwords use a combination of letters, numbers and symbols. Avoid using common password types such as your name, birth date or something else a thief could easily guess. Secure passwords are extremely important because it’s not just the hardware and software costs that make your laptop valuable. Stored information like your social security number, credit card number and social networking profile information can make you a target for identity theft.
10. Purchase a Laptop Theft Recovery Solution. Just like insurance, you don’t think you need it until it happens to you — and by then it’s too late. Many students who’ve had their laptop stolen have used a laptop recover solution, such as Computrace® LoJack® for Laptops, to reunite them with their laptops. LoJack for Laptop’s Recovery Team works with local law enforcement to recover 3 out of 4 stolen laptops.

Follow the steps above and you’ll minimize the chances of laptop theft.