Upgrading & Fixing Laptops DUMmIES

Part II Explaining What Could Possibly Go Wrong 07_589598 pt02.qxd 9/29/05 2:42 PM Page 25 ...

In this part... O h the things that can possibly go wrong within the svelte, sealed box that encases a laptop. Squeezed into an ...

Chapter 3 Things That Go Bump in the Night (or Day) In This Chapter
Classifying laptop problems
Dealing with a spill
Understa ...

laptop can come a cropper;that’s a great old English phrase that literally means to fall head-first from a horse but in today’s ...

instead of a “k”) holds digital bits of information recorded either as magnetic markings (on a hard disk or floppy disk) or as a ...

Is the charger properly connected? Some chargers use interchangeable power leads at the end that goes to the wall outlet; this a ...

Has the battery been recharged recently?Batteries — especially older ones — may not be able to hold on to their charge for an e ...

with your own AC adapter but not with your battery, and now it regains its will to live with a known-good battery, this is a pre ...

Here’s the drill for an emergency recovery from a spill: If your machine is plugged into wall current, turn off the power at th ...

If any liquid is on the battery or AC adapter, wipe them carefully and set them aside. If the AC adapter or the battery has bee ...

Leaving the display open, place the computer on a sturdy surface sup- ported by two books or small boxes. This allows air to ci ...

or the disc itself is warped, the drive won’t properly read it. Be gentle with the delicate CD tray. It isn’t intended to bear m ...

If you declare the drive DOA, it can be replaced — more or less easily, depend- ing on the laptop. Or it can be supplanted by an ...

Your programs can be replaced with new ones. Your laptop and its various components can be repaired or replaced. But if you have ...

Remove the hard drive from its bay. Consult the instructions for your laptop for specific instructions on unlatching the drive. ...

Closing the Operating Room ........................................................................ The machine’s lights and LCD ...

of the same information, plus gain access to clean-up and defragmenta- tion tools, by right-clicking the drive name and selectin ...

Adjust the volume (and in some cases the bass, treble, and balance settings) with advanced sound cards or audio chipsets that h ...

I Can’t See You in This Light ......................................................................... Can’t see text or graphi ...

see that you have not inadvertently directed the computer to ignore the LCD and instead output an image to an attached CRT (vide ...