Fixing Common Laptop Problems

Liquid Spills on Laptop

I have repaired many Laptops exposed to accidental liquid spills. This is a recoverable condition in most cases. It is most important to respond to the cleaning up process as soon as possible (before corrosion or internal soakage occur)! Liquid intrusion can cause the following types of laptop damage:

• Short circuit due to conductive nature of wet liquid (problem may clear as liquid dries)
• Short circuit due to dried liquid residue
• Corrosion occurs (particularly volatile with some acidic soft drinks - Coke)
• Electronic components damaged by above short circuits

Immediately when a spill occurs, turn off the laptop, invert the laptop and leave the unit upside down (drainage) for at least 20-30 minutes. Then, remove any attached leads, remove the power unit and battery, and allow the unit to air-dry overnight.
To remove any liquid residual: Have someone remove the keyboard assembly and perform additional cleaning. It may help to use cotton buds and distilled water to remove any contamination. Where corrosive side effects may be suspected (with coke), gently rub any suspect areas with a cotton bud dampened with CRC or WD-40. Dry the treated areas so that only a light film of the WD-40 anti-corrosive solution remains. While the keyboard is removed, use a bright light and magnifying lens to inspect areas where the liquid made contact.

Laptop randomly turns off

This is often due to:

• AC power adaptor sensing an overload of power drain
• Overheating processor due to a build of internal dust (clogged fan)
• AC power adaptor not able to sustain normal power needs (faulty power adaptor)
• Battery overheating, due to internal battery fault, or charging levels
• Intermittent short circuit or open connection (check condition of power leads)

On older Laptops, the most common reason is poor cooling. Try going somewhere air-conditioned and see if that helps. Inspect the areas near the internal cooling fan; see if there is a build up of dust fibres. Easy way to check this; with the unit running, feel the flow of air from the cooling outlet(s) - is the airflow very low? If yes, and the unit is at normal operation temperature, this may indicate the internal cooling system is partially clogged.

Troubleshoot Laptop LCD Video Display problems

Here are some tips and tricks for troubleshooting and fixing laptop video problems. Video issues are very common within portable computers and with the following tips you should be able to detect and eliminate basic laptop video problems.

Laptop LCD screen has a faint image or is very dark

Look closely at the laptops LCD screen, and see if you can see a very faint image. If you can then it is possible that the Laptop's LCD lid close switch is stuck in the closed position. In this mode the backlight stays off, even with the LCD lid open. This is to conserve power when the laptop is ON with the LID closed. Check the LCD lid close switch. It is a small plastic pin located close to the back LCD hinges. Try tapping the lid switch a few times to see if you can turn on the screen backlight. If that does not help, then I would suggest to replace the FL inverter board.

Laptop LCD screen is solid white colour or garbled

Connect an external computer monitor to the laptop. If the external monitor display is fine, then you have a problem with the Laptop LCD screen or the LCD cable connection. If the external monitor image is the same as on the Laptop LCD, then it is likely to be a faulty integrated onboard video, this means replacing the motherboard of the Laptop.

A typical Laptop LCD display assembly

The above simplified block diagram illustrates the basic components that are involved on a Laptop LCD video display problem.

Connector Locations 1 - 2 - 3: Video data is sent from the motherboard through to the LCD screen at connector 2. The video cable also feeds voltage to the FL inverter board at connector 3.
FL inverter PCB Locations 3 -4: This section converts the low voltage DC source (connector 3) to high voltage AC (connector 4), as required to energise the backlight bulb. If the FL inverter PCB is faulty, the LCD screen will appear as a very dim image on the Laptop display screen.
CCFL (backlight bulb): When the backlight bulb is working, you can see the image on the LCD screen. With some Laptops, the backlight bulb is a part of the LCD screen assembly and needs to be replaced with a complete LCD screen assembly. It requires a specialized Laptop repair workshop to replace the backlight bulb.
Laptop Lid close switch: This switch is a small switch (mechanical or magnetic) that is located close to the rear display hinges. Most laptops will either hibernate or operate in standby mode when the LCD is closed. This is achieved by interfacing with the Laptop's BIOS power management software. In turn this is linked to the Windows operating system.

Laptop is slow and continually shows Internet popup's

The Laptop is very likely infected with spyware. Spyware is software that hides on your computer and attempts to collect information about your activity on the internet. Spyware is sometimes transferred to your computer when you download 'unknown' free software or when you link to free music Internet programs (KaZaA, Limewire, BearShare, etc). The best method to remove and further prevent spyware is to use Spybot.

Laptop is frozen, no response to keyboard or mouse, cannot Shutdown

With most Laptops I have seen that this will happen from time to time! The easy method to solve this problem is:

1. Disconnect the laptop power cord
2. Remove the battery from the laptop
3. Wait a short while (10 seconds)
4. Replace the Laptop battery into the unit
5. Reconnect the Laptop Power cord
6. Turn the Laptop on

The Laptop will start normally and be fully operational. If you were working on a Microsoft Word or Excel document at the time of the problem, then you may find that the data has been auto-recovered for you. In this case, you will be automatically prompted to view the last document you worked on when you open the Microsoft program.

Troubleshoot Laptop Hibernate and Standby problems

Power management options on laptops sometimes to cause problems. Hibernate and Standby modes are power saving modes of operations to battery powered laptops.
Hibernation is a procedure by which the working state (contents) of your work is stored to disk before the computer goes into hibernation or standby. When the Laptop is woken up, you are restored to the exact place you were before. Standby and Hibernation use a low power consumption mode, with enough power to preserve the content of such memory. This means that Laptop computer can wake up without a full restart and loss of work.

Laptop does not wake up from Standby or Hibernation

Here are my tested suggestions:

• Give it time - some older Laptops may take up to 30 seconds to wake up - fully
• Some Laptops have special keys or buttons for 'Wake Up' - read the manual
• Press and hold the Laptops power button for five seconds or more. Some Laptops are configured to Suspend or Hibernate with a press of the power button. Holding the power button for 5+ seconds will usually reset and reboot the Laptop
• As a last resort, remove the laptop battery and the power cord, wait 30 seconds, replace the batteries and reconnect the power cord

Now that the Laptop is operational, you should research the underlying problem. Typically, such problems arise from a disagreement either between the power management features of the Laptops BIOS and Windows.

A conflict with the Laptops BIOS power management and Windows power management is the most common cause of such wake-up failure. Try different settings in the BIOS to see if that might solve the problem. Look to see if the Laptops BIOS is configured to suspend the computer, and how it compares with the value configured in Windows. In most cases let Windows control the power management.

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What to Do When Laptop Screen Goes Black

Laptops are substantially complex systems compared to desktop computers because of the need for miniaturization and the complexity of the internal circuitry. Among the range of problems which may befall a laptop, screen problems can be the most irksome, to deal with. I often get queries from friends about what to do when laptop screen goes black suddenly. So for the record, in this Buzzle article, I shall identify the prime software and hardware issues that may lead to a situation where laptop screen goes black randomly. I shall only identify the prime causes here, that may lead to such a problem. Fixing laptop hardware problems is best left to service center experts. If it’s a software issue, you can easily fix it on your own.
What to Do When Laptop Screen Goes Black Suddenly?
Figuring out laptop problems and especially laptop screen problems is not an easy task. There are more than one reasons, which may lead to a laptop screen going black. There are several software and hardware issues which may do this. I shall identify the most likely ones, among them, for your perusal in the following lines. Here is what you need to do when you find the screen of your laptop going blank suddenly. We will start with software issues, followed by hardware related ones.
Check the Sleep/Hibernate Mode Timer
Your laptop computer can be programmed to go into sleep mode or hibernate on its own, if it’s let unattended for a period of time. There is a timer which you can set for the sleep mode or hibernate mode, which temporarily switches off the laptop, which leads to the screen going black. It may have happened that you may have set this sleep timer to have a very short duration of a few seconds, which is causing the blank screen condition. So check out the power and sleep mode settings of your laptop and lengthen the sleep mode interval if you find that to be the source of the problem.
Look Out For Driver Problems
Every one of the hardware parts of the computer, needs a software driver for its smooth operation. If the graphic driver of your laptop has been corrupted, it may lead to problems like the screen going black randomly. If this is the source of the problem, updating the graphics driver should take care of the issue.
Check Out For FL Inverter Problems
A hardware component which controls the back lighting of the laptop is the FL inverter. If you connect your laptop with an external monitor and it’s working smoothly, but your laptop screen stays blank, then you can isolate the FL inverter as the root cause of the problem. Ask your laptop manufacturer’s service center team to replace the part, to solve the problem.
Look out For a Bad Data Ribbon
There is another crucial part of the machinery which relays graphic data to the screen, in the form of the data ribbon, which may cause a problem. A bad data ribbon or loose connection of the ribbon may be causing the screen blackness. Get it checked with the service center. Sometimes, the problem may also be caused by overheating problems and a low battery. Letting your laptop cool down and ensuring sufficient charge on the battery may restore normal functionality.
Now that you know what to do when laptop screen goes black after startup, check out one possibility at a time, to narrow down to the right diagnosis. If you still find it difficult to figure out what’s wrong with your laptop screen, it’s best to hand over the job to an expert technician. Unless the warranty is void already, don’t attempt to repair the laptop on your own. The laptop warranty will cover all the repair expenses involved. Diagnose the problem if you can and send the machine to the laptop manufacturer’s service center for repair.  (Source)

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Replace Your Desktop With A Laptop

With the steady march of technology come lighter, more portable laptops with higher performance than ever before. Processors are advanced enough on almost any laptop to consider completely doing away with your desktop PC altogether.

For the gamers out there, laptops have always been too slow and too far behind the technological bandwagon to consider replacing your gaming computer with one. Now, however, laptops are being designed with the gamer in mind with faster processors, bigger screens, and high end graphics.
For the student going off to school, a small, lightweight laptop means that you can take your laptop to class with you to take notes as fast as you can type (which is often a lot faster than you can write), and be sure that they will always be legible. Additionally, laptops can have planner features to help you remember when that next assignment is due, and you will never lose your notes or keep them in a disorganized pile. Even if the rest of your life is a little hectic, keeping a laptop as your new PC can help your grades considerably.
If you decide that it is worth the investment to be able to bring your laptop to work and home with you, technology is allowing for easy set-up of your laptop with a docking station that makes time-consuming plugs a thing of the past.
There are so many benefits to consider to using a laptop as your new desktop computer. These include:
1) having your work with you at all times
2) creating far more desk and floor space now that your huge tower and monitor are gone
3) the ability to work from any location with a wireless network set up
With the only negative aspects being: if you feel the need to have the most modern technology available, you will find it difficult to upgrade many laptops, and laptops are more expensive than a desktop because of the size and convenience.
Laptops for the Businessperson:
• Dell Latitude D820
• Acer TravelMate 4650
• HP Compaq nx9420 (2.16GHz, 1GB RAM)
• Apple PowerBook G4 (17-inch)
The Dell laptop is an excellent business portable, and is priced around fifteen hundred dollars. It is one of the highest rated laptops for replacement of a PC, and the reviews call it perfect for the modern businessperson.
The Acer TravelMate is a great value for the price. It has a good battery life and nice processing power with all the features a home-office user will need. The Acer costs around twelve hundred dollars, making it the least expensive laptop on this list.
The third laptop, the HP Compaq, offers corporate caliber security according to the reviews, and has a nicely sized seventeen-inch screen for ease of use for those of us who stare at computer screens all day. This model is a lot more expensive, though, running between two thousand and twenty-two hundred dollars.
Last on our list, the Apple PowerBook delivers the features and power that most users require, but at two thousand dollars is more expensive than comparable Windows laptop. Still, it is a good option for replacing your bulky desktop PC.
Laptops for the Gamer:
• Dell XPS M1710
• Toshiba Satellite P105-S921
• Toshiba Qosmio G25-AV513
• HP Pavilion zd8000
Hard core gamers will appreciate the Dell XPS, which will play the newest games at the highest settings. Running at thirty-four hundred dollars, though, this laptop does not come cheap. With all the technology packed into this case, it will at least be a long time before you need an upgrade.
The Toshiba Satellite offers lots of features for an affordable price, but will not play the most intensive games at their highest performance levels. This is still a wonderful machine, and will cost about two thousand dollars.
The Toshiba Qosmio is designed to deliver the most high-quality multimedia experience available in a laptop. The Qosmio combines TV, DVR, stereo, DVD player, and high-performance PC in one big laptop. Replace your entire entertainment system (except maybe the speakers) for anywhere from fourteen hundred to twenty-four hundred. It seems like shopping around for this model might be well in your best interests.
The HP Pavilion's price is a relief at only twelve hundred dollars, is powerful and can play many of the newer games, if not quite the newest according to reviews.
Accessories to Consider
These laptops are all wonderful replacements for the bulky desktop computer sitting in your home office right now. There are just a few more things you need to make your laptop absolutely perfect for your office or game room.
When you go on the road all you need is your laptop and power cable, but when you bring your computer back home, you might feel more comfortable using an external keyboard, mouse, and monitor. The hook-ups for these can be painful if you have to do it frequently, but a docking port takes away the stress by mirroring all the ports, plugs, and slots on your laptop.
The first accessory that everyone should consider is a docking port. Especially wonderful for business users, these ports hook up to your printer, scanner, keyboard, monitor, mouse, network cables, power source, and any other gadgets you need them to. Instead of connecting a dozen or more wires and cables every time you move your laptop, push the laptop into the docking port and one little connection brings you back online with everything you need.
The rest of the accessories suggested here are just options, so we'll be brief. An external mouse, keyboard, and monitor might make you more comfortable at your desk, and a joystick or controller of another sort might be essential to the hardcore gamers.
No matter what you are considering your new laptop for, replacing your space-eating desktop PC is a move that you will never regret. Your new laptop will be portable, powerful, and just more fun because of all the things you can do with it. Save yourself some time and effort and consider replacing your PC with a laptop.

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4 Great Solutions To Your Slow Laptop Computer Problems

A large percentage of those who have a computer today make use of a laptop and that is because of the great speed, flexibility and portability a laptop computer provides. The problem however is that many people are starting to see the downsides of using a laptop computer due to the fact that their laptop is starting to respond slowly. A laptop computer might not be as robust as a desktop computer but there is definitely a lot that can be done to make your laptop fast and this article will be giving you 4 tips to help solve your slow laptop problems.

1. Free Up Your Hard Disk Space

The first step you should take whenever you start noticing that your laptop is misbehaving is to look into your hard disk to see if it is the problem. A lot of computer users install a lot of applications, download a lot of files and use a lot of multimedia. This alone is enough to consume a large percentage of their hard disk space and as result lead to their laptop becoming slow.
If you’re noticing your laptop is not as fast as it used to be then you might want to try freeing up your hard disk space. Most computers have a disk defragmenter that helps you with this, and you can also easily do that manually by uninstalling the applications you don’t really need.

2. Check If Your Operating System Is Corrupt

The next thing you need to look into if you notice your laptop isn’t as fast as it used to be is to check to see if your operating system is corrupt. In most cases we make the mistake of not shutting down our computer properly or of installing applications that are not in harmony with our laptop – this only result in corrupting your operating system and might as well lead to more problems in the future.
If you suspect your laptop might be slow due to your operating system being corrupt then you might want to take it to the nearest engineer to help you fix it.

3. Try Exposing Your Computer To More Fresh Air

Sometimes the reason for your laptop being very slow is because it is overheating, and this is a problem that can easily be prevented.
It is very important for you to ensure you don’t use your laptop in hot areas. You should do your best to make it faster by only using it in a cool dry area.
If possible you might also want to direct your fan to your laptop to see how it responds – if it responds better then the reason your laptop is becoming slow is due to overheating.

4. Do A Thorough Antivirus Scan to Reveal The Possibility Of A Virus

If none of the above tips seem to be of help to you then the problem with your laptop might be internal and one of the possibilities is that you have been infected by a virus.
Viruses can be very dangerous and they can make a great computer to be completely ineffective. Make sure you install the latest and up to date antivirus and then scan your laptop properly to remove the viruses that might be making it slow.

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