Is Your Laptop Actually a Brick?

Got a call from a friend. Actually she Facebooked me first. Seems her laptop computer was pretending to be a brick. It would make the start-up sound, black screen and then phhht. Nothing, nada, zilch.

Before taking a machine acting like this to the shop, you should check to make sure the problem is not the battery. This is easy to do, by removing the battery and plugging the laptop into the wall with the power adapter. If the laptop works, the battery is dead.

You may be able to charge the battery by putting it back into the laptop and leaving the power adapter plugged in. It may be that the battery will not hold a charge.

Replacing a dead battery is cheaper than replacing the laptop and is usually cheaper than paying the diagnostic fee as well. It wouldn't hurt to try to revive the battery, as shown in the video below. Be advised that this procedure, while not difficult, takes several days and does not return the battery to it's original capacity.


Revive A Dead Laptop Battery

If your brave you can hack the battery to make it like new.


Laptop Battery Hack!

Exploding Laptop Batteries?

Yes, they exist, laptop batteries that explode! The videos that you find online are mostly fakes, but it is documented, that a battery can catch fire. It is not unreasonable that this can happen, as a laptop that is sitting on your lap or furniture does get very hot. This why you can find at least five different kinds of cooling pads at Walmart.


Here is a help request from a former student of mine. Emily, living in Brooklyn, NY, writes;

"hey there andy, i truly appreciate your offer to take a look at my laptop, but i (unfortunately) am no longer in Blacksburg. i moved to new york city after graduation! arranging a pickup would be quite a task. hah! ive been trying to schedule a time to go visit the 'genius bar' with my troubled mac but, being NYC and all, the stores here are very busy. what do you know about the exploding mac book pro batteries, and how do they affect the computer? mine exploded one night (not horribly, but enough to bow the casing) and now the computer will not turn on pass the grey screen/apple. where it would typically make the apple noise/boot leopard, it the screen just goes black! oy. the worst part is i didnt have enough sense to purchase apple care when i got the computer 18 months ago."

I would contact Apple support, either online or by phone. There was recall, and that should still stand, whether you have apple care or not. I have found that going to apple support online or by phone to be easier, and more satisfying (meaning, they don't hassle you with un-needed questions or try to get out of fixing the problem)although there may be some wait time when you call, or for an email response. I do know that Apple and Sony have settled suits pertaining to battery fires.

Check the following Links for recall information;

https://support.apple.com/macbookpro15/batteryexchange/
http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html

Here is the link to Online Support for Macbook batteries;

http://www.apple.com/support/macbook_macbookpro/batteryupdate/

Phone support may cost, but here is the 800 number to get support;

U.S. iPod and Mac technical support: 1-800-APL-CARE (1-800-275-2273)

3 Ways To Revive A Laptop Screen

This question comes from Daniel at New River CC, he writes;

Hey Andy, I have a apple Powerbook 17 inch laptop and the screen has stopped working. If I connect my old 15-inch Dell monitor to it, I get a picture and can operate the laptop. Is this a lost cause or is there a way to fix it?

Well, if the video problem is physical , then it is very difficult to perform the repair. Usually the problem is either the LCD Inverter or the back-light. Both require the disassembly of the LCD in order to repair. But there is a chance, albiet small, that the problem is software related. Perform the following three sets of instructions to attempt to fix the problem. If these don't work, having the lcd panel replaced/repaired is around $400, and the current price for buying this laptop, used, is also around $400. You make the call.

Please note that these directions are for the 17 inch Apple Powerbook. Exact directions for other computers may be different. You should go the support pages of your computer's manufacturer, to get the correct directions for your computer.

1. Restore from disc.
A. Start the computer from the restore disc. This disc came with your computer and is labeled Software Install and Restore Disc.
B. Find the Install or Restore disc that came with the computer. Insert the Software Install and Restore disc into your CD/DVD drive.
C. Once it's off, hold down the C key on the keyboard and start up your computer. This will start up the computer from the Software Install and Restore disc instead of your hard drive.
D. If you see video when started up from disc, you may have corrupted software. You can use the Archive and Install feature of the Mac OS X installer to reinstall. This kind of installation gives you a fresh version of Mac OS X, but you don't lose any data from the computer as your old information is all archived.

2. Reset the PRAM, which stands for parameter ram. PRAM stores system information and device settings so that they are easily accessible to the computer's operating system. Your computer's PRAM will be reset to the default values. You will probably have to reset your time and date after this operation.

A. Shut down the computer.
B. Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step D.
C. Turn on the computer.
D. Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
E. Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
F. Release the keys.

3. If resetting PRAM does not resolve an issue, resetting the PMU is the next (third) step. PMU stands for Power Management Unit, which is a computer chip, and controls backlighting, hard disk spin down, sleep and wake, some charging aspects, trackpad control, and some input/output as it relates to the computer sleeping. Apple warns to only perform a PMU reset on the computer if all else fails. To reset the PMU;

A. If the computer is on, turn it off.
B. Reset the power manager by simultaneously pressing and then releasing Shift-Control Option-Power on the keyboard. Do not press the fn (Function) key while using this combination of keystrokes.
C. Wait 5 seconds.
D. Press the Power button to restart the computer.

- Andy

Help! My Hard Drive Has Fallen and It Will Not Start Up!

Leigh from Richmond asks the following;

"Hey Andy, I have a 1 TB Seagate FreeAgent external Desk hard drive that was knocked over pulling the usb connector from the computer and the drive and hitting the floor from about 3 ft. off the table. I have over 50 hours of scanned photo’s on the drive and need to know if there is anything I can do to save the images off the drive?? "

The first thing to think about is the cost of the drive vs. the cost of the information. If the drive is still under warranty, opening the case will void it, and you may not have a drive or the saved information. If it is not under warranty, you can open the case and try to recover the data (This case is extremely difficult to open without damaging the case), and still can be left with neither. So let’s concentrate on what we can do without voiding the warranty to retrieve the information it contains.

1. First question is will the drive power on? Check this by plugging the external drive into an electrical outlet while disconnected from the computer. If the drive will not power up, does the drive power indicator light come on? If the drive is not spinning up, and the power light does not turn on, go to #5.

2. If the drive will power up, Does it sound normal or does it make clicking noises or metal on metal sounds? If there is any unusual sounds coming from the drive, SHUT IT OFF IMMEDIATELY.

3. Are any of the connections of the USB cable bent or broken? If so, replace the cable.

4. If the cable is fine (you tested cable with another device to conclude this) make sure the usb connections on the drive and the computer are still straight? IF they are bent, they need to be straightened by taking a firm but soft instrument( I have used the eraser end of a pencil) and gently repositioning in the correct direction to allow the cable to plug in properly.

5. If the drive willl not power up, but everything else seeems normal, try putting the hard drive in a zip lock bag or a vacuum seal type bag. Pull all the air out of the bag, seal it and place in the freezer for about 24 hours (this is done so that the metal connections will contract with the cold. Then attempt to connect the drive to your computer. If it is recognised, copy alll of your files off the drive as sooon as possilbe, as the drive may stop as sooon as the parts start to expand due to heat.

6. If the drive is not recognized by the computer you must weigh your options.
a. If this option is still available, return it under warranty* and get another drive.
b. Send the drive to an information retrieval service.**
c. Open the case and remove the physical drive from the case and attempt to run it with another external case or your own computer.* (see this Video for an example)

To see how data is recovered from a dropped, or liquid soaked external hard drive, CLICK HERE.

Resurrecting a failed drive is shown HERE. Although the disk shown is internal, it works just as well with an external drive as well.

What is your backup plan? Not to make light of the issue, but it could be worse. See this funny video on BACKING UP.



* See your drive’s warranty information to confirm. Opening the drive enclosure usually voids the warranty.

**There are so many different retreival services, that I could not do them justice on this blog, however, It never hurts to go back to the company that sold you the drive and see what their options include.

Is Your Computer Running Slow?

This request comes from a long-time friend that I haven't seen in years. He asks;

Hey Andy...

(I just had to say that.)

...I'm using a Compaq Presario desktop box with Windows XP Pro. It's a few years old now and wasn't a hot-rocks system when we bought it. It's got an AMD Athlon XP2000+ processor good for 1.67 GHz and 512 meg of RAM. It uses an NVidia GeForce 6200 graphics card, my one splurge when we were computer shopping. It has a 30-Gig C: drive, an extra 12-Gig hard drive I salvaged from an older machine, and is otherwise a very normal office-type desktop machine.

Given my system's limited resources I have tried to be vigilant about malware. I use ZoneAlarm and Free AVG, both current installs, and I periodically run CCleaner (to avoid having Explorer temp files take over my hard drive). I also use Glary Utilities, Spybot Search and Destroy, and Ad-Aware SE to keep the system as clean as I can. I limit the startup menu to only those things that are necessary for our daily operations. We keep up with the Windows updates to the XP Pro system software. We defrag the hard drives from time to time, and about once a year I open the case and clear out dust from the hardware components with a damp cloth.

Yet I find that, after all that we've done, the system still is slower than it used to be. It's slow to boot, slow to respond to keyboard and mouse inputs, and especially slow to start new programs.

I am wondering if my system might still have malware on it that has got through our defenses. Task Manager processes show nothing abnormal. Do you have any advice for me?

-Aaron

Hey Aaron,

Thanks for the question. I can only make a pseudo-educated guess on this one, without being there to try different options. But, I think that you need to pick a program to provide anti-virus, and the same or another one to provide your firewall protection. You are doing just about everything that you would ever need to do. I suggest turning off the "Zone Alarm" and see if that increases your speed. Zone Alarm is probably checking every program request and connection you make. This will significantly slow even a powerhouse computer to it's knees.

Another thing that you could do is use a registry cleaner. Sometimes the registry does not fully reflect the software that is currently on your computer. Sometimes the slowness can be too many programs or processes running at the same time.

It could be that your computer is well over due for a ram upgrade. Aren't we all? Having insufficient random access memory (RAM) will definitely slow a computer down. Take into account that the hardware was developed well before most of the software you are running came into being. Newer software requires more memory, as it isn't written as streamlined as earlier revisions. This is because the minimum base of RAM sold on computers today is more than 1GB, and earlier versions had to run on much less memory.

Those are my suggestions.

Getting Name Brand Local Support for Your Brand Name Computer.

This email question comes from Theresa, a Virginia Tech student, but the answer may apply almost anywhere.

On Dec 9, 2008, at 10:39 AM,Theresa wrote:

"Hey Andy, ... I have a dell computer and I broke the screen. I was wondering if there was a dell service center or some place near or on campus i could take my computer to get that fixed without shipping it away. I have a full 3 year warranty, so the replacement should be covered. Thanks for your assistance."

Many people buy name brand computers over local because they want the security of knowing that the brand will be there if and when their computer has problems. This is especially true for college students. The drawback is that if the computer should need a major repair say, a laptop screen(?). It may have to be sent back to the company. Or so it would seem.

Theresa has a resource that most higher education students have, and this may also provide you an answer as well. This answer is the local college or university bookstore.

{Please note: The general public may also be able to take advantage of some of the services offered as well.}

Most college and university bookstores sell computers to their students. In order to make these computers more desirable, they typically offer full support for the brands that they sell. More of the big brand names are working with these outlets and this means that many times you can take that Dell, HP, IBM, Apple, etc. to them, even if you didn’t buy the computer from them.

Sounds great, eh? Even better is the fact that if the repair is expected to take more than a day or two, they many times have a loaner that you may use, until your computer is returned. This can be a true lifesaver, especially at the end of the semester. To truly be the lifesaver you want and need, make sure you ask for help in transferring the most important files you were working on, to another resource, before you let go of the computer. In this case, you can get these files for yourself by connecting the laptop to an external monitor for long enough to back it up.

Before you send your name brand computer back to the company for repairs, check with your local college or university bookstore. Even if they don’t service your brand name, they in all likelihood, can tell you where to find the closest authorized service center.

The hidden lesson above is that you should always back up your work. Enough said, but I know I have said ... and will say it a million times.

The One Thing Your Computer Repair Man Doesn’t Want You To Know.

Unexpected computer problems are certainly a nightmare but, not all problems require expensive repair costs! There is a tool that has been in my utility belt for many years. It has saved countless hours and money in computer repairs, and no, it is not a hammer.

Even though there are times, every day, when you want to use the hammer on your computer, we all know that tool will only make you feel better for a few minutes. There are many times in my professional career in which I was unsure which tool to pull out of my belt first. So, I have adopted the following mantra;

When in doubt, reboot.

When you are working in a program (Ex. AutoCAD, Photoshop, Microsoft Word) and are able to run the program for some amount of time ... and suddenly the program crashes! Yes, the first question is always, “when was the last time you saved your work?”. After the concern over any lost work;

The first tool out of your utility belt should be the motto; when in doubt, reboot. As with any kind of repair in our lives, the first tool doesn’t always take care of the problem, but this one does the job in a surprising number of situations.

Rebooting (restarting) your computer allows the system to run diagnostics that clean up problems. All computers run diagnostics when they start and when they shut down. Restarting your computer can solve some software glitches. Programs borrow memory from the system while they are being used and sometimes do not give it back when done. This causes memory buffer problems and can cause any program running, to crash unexpectedly. I always shut down, unplug the computer for a few minutes, plug it back in and turn the computer back on. Of course there can be other reasons for software problems, but I always use this tool first.

Another Example; You are trying to print and suddenly your computer cannot find the printer. You know it is plugged in, and turned on (hint), but now you can’t print. When in doubt, reboot. Communication problems can occur between the computer and the printer for no apparent reason. Turning your printer off and then back on, and then restarting your computer, in that order may solve the problem. Obviously, this will not solve printer driver issues or fix any mechanical problems with either the computer or the printer, but it can save a lot of time rummaging for a fix.

Mechanical issues will never be corrected using this tool. If the equipment is mechanically malfunctioning the first tool out of the belt is usually the screwdriver. Or the phone, if you don’t feel confident in doing the repairs yourself. This tool can save a lot of unneeded agony in fixing connections to external devices such as printers, scanners, cameras, external hard drives or flash drives. It can also help to alleviate an untold number of software and operating system problems. Before you take drastic measures. Before you reinstall software. Before you reformat your computer or hard drive. Before you take your computer to a professional, remember to pull the first tool out of your tool belt;

When in doubt, reboot!