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home > Common Laptop
Problems
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Laptop
Trouble Shooting
Before getting in touch
with us, you may want to try to solve the problem yourself. This page lists
some common problems and their possible solutions. We can't anticipate every
problem, but you should check here before you panic.
First things first! make
a note of everything that happened and in what order, have you installed new
software, did it give an error message. Making a note of everything is good for
you to remember waht happened and good for us if we need to look at it for you.
Sometimes a simple reboot will fix the problem.
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.
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