Laptop Tutorial

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Basic Hints & Tips
Many of the following may
seem like the "bleeding
obvious" but they are often
the solution to a problem
when your computer appears
not to be working.
Power - Is the computer
actually plugged into a
working electrical outlet? If
plugged into a power strip,
make sure it is actually
working. Check the LED Power
Indicators to see the
computer's power status.
Connections - Check all the
cables to make sure that
there are no loose
connections anywhere.
Brightness - Check the
brightness of the screen by
adjusting the brightness
Power Savings - Make sure
that the system is not in
Hibernate or Standby mode by
pressing the key combination
for your laptop or by pressing
the power button, to wake-
up the system.
Display Choice - make sure the
system is not set to "external
only" display
Boot Drive - Make sure there
are no floppy disks in the
drive when you start up your
machine (this is a common
cause of the message "Invalid
system disk - Replace the
disk, and then press any key")
.
Laptop won't boot up
properly.
- There are many
things that can go wrong with
the operating system and
other software on laptops.
Many laptops have customised
software installed according
to a persons needs.
One easy trick is to try to go
into Safemode by pressing the
F8 key on your keyboard
during startup and try to
clean up your laptop using
antivirus. If the need arises to
reformat the laptop, reinstall
the operating system from
the CDs that were supplied
with the laptop. You will need
all the drivers CD's at the time
of installation.
One of my Drives is missing? -
If you turn on your computer
and cannot see the CD-ROM or
any other removable drives
like DVD-ROM drive in the
Computer window. This
problem is common for laptop
and notebook computers and
it may be caused by a failed
drive or by corrupted
software. If its a removable
drive try taking it out and
pluging it in again.
Failing that you may need to
reinstall the drivers. A quick
search on the internet and
you should be able to find the
latest ones.
Dropped Laptop! -
Unfortunately dropping a
laptop can cause numerous
problems, from cracking the
case to smashing the screen.
Many older laptops have
modular parts that can be
replaced, but now the newer
and smaller laptops have
almost everything integrated
on the motherboard itself,
and that makes them very
expensive to repair. In some
cases, depending on the
damage done and age of
laptop, it can be cheaper to
replace the whole laptop than
have it repaired.
Power Problems
You turned on the power but
it doesn't work.
- Battery
missing / incorrectly installed.
Check the battery bay, make
sure the battery is present
and seated properly (the
design of the battery only
allows it to go in one way).
Make sure there's nothing
interfering with the battery
contacts. Remove the power
adapter, remove the battery,
press the power button and
wait 5 seconds. Replace the
battery and plug in the power
then try and power up the
laptop.
The Battery LED power
indicator is blinking.
- Low
Battery. Plug in the AC power
source. If the computer
doesn't start up immediately
turn it off then on again.
You are losing battery power
too quickly.
- The system is
using too much power. If your
OS has a Power Options
scheme check its settings You
may also be using a PC Card
device that is drawing a lot of
power.
The battery pack will not
charge.
- The battery pack is
exposed to an excessively hot
or cold environment. Place the
battery in a suitable
environment and after it
returns to normal
temperature try again. The
battery maybe bad and may
need to be replaced.
The notebook feels too hot. -
Make sure the notebook is
properly ventilated and the
fan port is not blocked. If this
doesn't cool it down, put the
system into Hibernate mode
or turn it off for an hour.
Make sure the vents aren't
blocked and the computer
isn't sitting on a thermal
surface Make sure you're
using the correct adapter.
Battery time is shorter than
expected.
- The battery has
not been fully discharged
before being recharged.
Power options have been
disabled or a peripheral device
is using too much power.
Speed Problems - Are you
running a Desktop antivirus
system such as McAfee or
Symantec Antivirus? These
use a lot of system resources.
We recommend that ANY
laptop has at least 512MB of
system memory(right click my
computer and select
properties to find this). If you
are running 256MB we
recommend a RAM upgrade.