Upgrading & Fixing Laptops DUMmIES

BIOS within your laptop and replacing it with an updated version (or, rarely,

removing a corrupted version of the BIOS and replacing it with a clean copy).

This operation is very simple, but be very careful to follow the instructions of

the laptop maker or BIOS provider. If you go astray, you could end up in a sit-

uation where the BIOS is erased or corrupted and not getting far enough into

the system to load its replacement.

For most machines, the process involves downloading a new set of instruc-

tions and then copying them to a bootablefloppy disk drive. Then you shut

off the machine and boot from the floppy and install the new BIOS. In doing

so you run the machine at a very basic level, without Microsoft Windows or

other operating systems loaded. The fly in the ointment for many owners of

new laptops is that most no longer come equipped with a floppy disk drive.

Therefore, the process becomes a bit more complex. You may have to create

a bootableCD and include the BIOS update there, or you may be able boot

from an external device like a USB memory key.

I’m being purposely vague here because I want to make sure that you follow

the instructions for your particular machine and BIOS. Any author who claims

to tell you that there is one, single, all-purpose method to update the BIOS on

any laptop out in the field is... wrong.

Before you update any BIOS chips, make a copy of all of the entries on your

system’s CMOS Setup screen; in most cases, you have to resort to a pen and

notepad, although a handful of BIOS designs allow you to print their settings

or save them to a file.

Upgrading Motherboards and CPU............................................................

Tread carefully all ye who enter here. No law says you cannot upgrade a micro-

processor or even change the entire motherboard; if this were a book about

desktop computers, you would be ready right now to dive into a discussion of

opening the box, unscrewing hard drives and power supplies that are in the

way, and laying static-free hands on the motherboard or the microprocessor.

But... this book is about laptops. Though you can open the case, remove

drives, fans, and other components that are in the way, I don’t recommend

doing this yourself for several reasons:

Working within the close quarters of a laptop is a difficult task, requiring

above-average technical skills and at times the use of special tools.

Although laptops within a certain manufacturer’s family of devices may

use similar motherboards, there is no such thing as a generic laptop

board that fits into any case. You have to purchase an exact replacement

108 Part II: Explaining What Could Possibly Go Wrong