How To Get Rid Of Screen Lines On a Laptop

You're working on your laptop one day when you when these strange lines appear across your screen? If you're thinking it's a ghost interfering with your screen, not to worry! It's not! The cause of those  spooky lines  is a result of a malfunction of the video cable connection to the LCD screen. This problem can be fixed but to do that we're gonna have to disassemble the display screen first. Let me show you how to get rid of screen lines on a laptop

Things You'll Need For This Exercise

• Just a flat-head screw driver.

First, Disassembly of the Laptop Screen

 Remove The Rubber Seals

First remove the rubber seals  covering the screws on the  screen's upper frame using a flathead screwdriver. Then remove the screws and slowly separate the frame from the screen with your fingers. You then  release the plastic latches holding the frame and then remove the frame.

 Remove The Screens Holding  The Support Brackets

Next, remove the screens holding  the support brackets. You should see the video cable attached to the back of the display screen. Now  unplug and re-plug the cable to ascertain whether the cable is seated properly....This should determine whether the  the video cable is the cause of the screen line problem.

Next Diagnosing  The Problem

Turn on The Laptop

First, turn on the laptop. Then move the video cable around a bit and check the screen to see whether the display image has changed at all. If there is a change, then  the problem is from the video cable. Next move the laptop screen around to check whether the display is also affected here as well. If it is affected , the video cable may be the culprit here as well .

Finally, move the laptop screen around to  check whether the screen is affecting the display. If so, the problem could be from the laptop  screen itself and may need replacing.  You then   go down to Amazon.com if you need a new laptop screen.

Well, that's a wrap on How To Fix  Laptop Screen Lines"." Hopefully this post would have you diagnose your LCD problems. Next time we'll touch on how to replace a laptop screen.

Till then take care

If you are here and you want to learn how to fix laptops as a career or past time, Download Laptop Repair Made Easy

How To Repair A Virus-Infected Laptop

You know, it 's quite fun browsing online..You get  to see the world at the click of a mouse . It's even more fun when you're browsing on your laptop as you can do that on the go... However,  the internet is also  full of those annoying bugs called viruses and other malicious malware.....These viruses are deadly programs written by bored hackers who have nothing else to do than wreak havoc on people's lives.  These viruses can  shut down your system, causing you to lose all your information. The good news is you can catch the virus on time and treat it at the same time. Here is how to repair a virus-infected laptop :

Things Needed For This Exercise

• Antivirus Software
• Internet Connectivity
• Firewall Software

Now onward:

Get Your Infected Laptop Off The Internet
Get your infected laptop off the internet network that you subscribe to.  This will help curb the spread of the virus and prevent others from being infected as well. If your laptop has a built in wireless feature, turn it off as well..If you have anti-virus software on your laptop run it get rid of the virus. Keep it running until your system reports that the laptop is clean

• If you don't have anti-virus I suggest you purchase either Bit Defender Antivirus Plus
   or AVG Anti-Virus.   You can  download the software on  another PC and then install it on your infected laptop.Once your system says your laptop is free of the virus, you can then reconnect to the internet and continue browsing. Make sure you regularly get  latest updates of the antivirus so as to make it more effective when you run it again.

Install Firewall Software

To prevent future infections, install firewall software such as ZoneAlarm Pro 5 Firewall   or Comodo Firewall .  If you have one installed  firewall software already installed on your laptop,   fair enough.

Well, that's a wrap on "How  To Repair A Virus-Infected Laptop." Hopefully this post will help ease your  virus problems..

Till then take care

If you are here and you want to learn how to fix laptops as a career or past time, Download Laptop Repair Made Easy

How To Test A Laptop's Hard Drive Health

There are times when you need to test  a laptop hard drive's health. After making the hard drive go full throttle for so long, it may start showing wear and tear. A laptop's hard drive is designed to run according to its manufacturer's specifications. There are several factors that determine a hard drive's health such as speed, drive size, bad blocks, seek time, error rates and so on. These factors are measured  by SMART or System Monitoring Analysis or Reporting Technology. And you can also use available  software utilities to access the laptop's smart data to regularly report the laptop's status and to allow you of imminent danger. Here is how to test a laptop's hard drive's health.

Install Diagnostic Utility

First  install Knoppix  (a highly recommended diagnostic utility on your hard disk). Start the utility, and  follow the instructions for running the test and save the results. Each test should compare the test results as against the manufacturer's specifications and indicate whether the results are within normal range or there is cause to worry. Let's say the test detects bad disk blocks or unusable sectors Knoppix marks the SMART data to prevent programs writing to the data.

Go Over Results
Go over the results again.  The report has a numeric rating ranging from 1 (low) to 253(high).  If the rating is high, the hard disk is in good shape. But if it's low, the disk needs help.  Keep note of ratings that are far out of range and pay special attention to ratings indicating imminent danger such as high temperature, high error rates, and large percentage of bad disk blocks. If the out of range indications are too many, it's time to back up the data and fix the hard disk.

Well. that's a wrap for "How To Test A Laptop's Hard Drive Health." This tutorial was short and sweet but shouldn't be too difficult to handle. 

Till then take care

If you are here and you want to learn how to fix laptops as a career or past time, Download Laptop Repair Made Easy

Fixing Your Laptop's Broken Power Jack

A broken laptop jack is a recipe for disaster. Not only does it render your laptop useless, but it makes it difficult for the laptop's battery to be recharged. You're probably asking"What causes the power jack to be broken? Well, the breakage takes place when you move your laptop without unplugging the power chord.  This puts excess pressure, causing the soldered connection to break. Instead dishing out a few hundred dollars to get ti fixed, how about I show you how to go about fixing your laptop's broken power jack.

Tools You Need

• Replacement Power Jack,
• Soldering iron and solder
• Desolder Pump

Now onward!

Attach Electrostatic Strap To Your Wrist

Attach an electrostatic strap to your wrist to avoid  static electricity damaging your laptop. Then connect the other end to a piece of metal.Now disassemble your laptop by removing the battery and power chord. After disassembling your laptop, lay it face down and remove any covers from the bottom of the laptop.

Remove Hard Drive

Next remove the hard drive, optical drive, and memory sticks from your laptop. The hard drive is located towards the front of the laptop. Next, remove all screws holding the hard drive and then slide it to one side to disconnect from to the motherboard. The optical drive is held by one screw, Having made that discovery, remove  the screw and slide the drive out of the laptop. Finally the memory sticks are held by two clips... With that in mind, spread the clips apart to cause the memory sticks to pop up. Grab them by the edges and slide them out of the holding area.
  Remove any other screws holding the bottom of the laptop. Pu them aside , and for those of you with memory problems, document them so you can replace them later.

Turn The Laptop's Right Side Up

Turn the laptop's right side up and pry the keyboard bezel along the top of the keyboard. Once removed, proceed to remove the keyboard itself. The keyboard is  connected to the motherboard by a data cable. Then remove the screws holding the keyboard and disconnect the data cable to remove the keyboard. Now disconnect and  the display panel, and remove any screws connecting the display panel to the laptop base.Remove any screws located along the top cover of your laptop.,and  then carefully pry the cover and remove the it from the base.  Next   remove any screws connecting the motherboard to the laptop base and any other components connected to the motherboard including the wireless adapter. After that, remove the motherboard from the laptop base.

Locate Power Jack

Locate the power jack which should be on the back corner of the motherboard, and heat up your soldering iron at this point. Now use your soldering iron to heat the solder holding the power jack and use the desolder pump to remove it as it melts. Dont  press too much on the solder or you damage the motherboard. Next remove the old power jack. Now place fresh solder around  the inputs of the motherboard for the power jack and slide the new power jack in place.(Purchase soldering  toolkit at Amazon.com)Finally reassemble your laptop and reconnect the power cable. After reassembling your laptop,  your new power jack should be raring to go. (Purchase new power jack at Amazon.com )

That's a wrap for "Fixing Your Laptop's Broken Power Jack". Hope this tutorial helps as you try to fix your power jack. Till next time, cheers!

Till then take care

If you are here and you want to learn how to fix laptops as a career or past time, Download Laptop Repair Made Easy

Replacing A Wireless Adapter.

One benefit of The wireless network adapter, or network card is that you can connect to your wireless network without utilizing network cables through your house.  For those who don't know, the wireless adapter is plugged into the motherboard with the wireless antennae receiving the wireless signal at the rear of your laptop. Unfortunately if your wireless card fails to pick up the wireless signal it means your wireless adapter is defective and needs to be replaced. Here is how to replace a wireless adapter.

Turn Off The Laptop

First Turn off the laptop and unplug the power cord. Then unplug or unscrew the wireless antennae Now remove two thumbscrews on the edge of the laptop side cover, and then  slide the panel towards the laptop's rear to disengage the tabs. After disengaging remove the tab. and   set the cover aside. You will then go on to remove the screw holding the network adapter bracket inside the rear wall of the laptop. Dont forget to set the screws aside.

Get a Hold of The Wireless Adapter

Now get a hold of the wireless adapter and pull it out of its slot - .gently of course. After pulling the card out, set the card aside. Next insert the new wireless card into that same slot from which you pulled the old wireless adapter. You then align the wireless adapter with the rear of the slot, and then push the card back in firmly but gently. Now align the tab on the wireless adapter bracket with the slot in the rear  wall of the laptop case.  Keep pushing the wireless card in the slot until it fits.

Reinstall the Side Cover

After fitting the wireless card reinstall the side cover.Next reinstall the screw  holding the wireless adapter bracket.You then install the antennae on the wireless card before  plugging it or screwing it in.Next plug in the power chord and then turn On your laptop. You will then see  a message saying "Found New Hardware". That's your queue to install new drivers

You then insert the CD that comes with  your new network card. Now select the option to install or update the driver from the CD menu, and  follow the prompts in the installation wizard  to complete the installation.  After that reboot the laptop...Your network card should work like a charm.

Looking for a wireless adapter for your laptop? buy it at Amazon.con

Till then take care

If you are here and you want to learn how to fix laptops as a career or past time, Download Laptop Repair Made Easy

Repairing A Video Card

The video card is one of the most important interior components. Not only does it send video signals  to the laptop monitor but it processes video information as well. Just like any other laptop component, the video card  does suffer from wear and tear as well. However there are some troubleshooting methods you could use to correct some of the system errors. Let me show you what to do when repairing a video card.

Use Clean Cloth to Clean the Vent 

Use clean cloth to clean the vent located on the bottom of the laptop..This is to prevent the vent from overheating and also it helps  bring in air..Then spray a few shots of  compressed air into the vents. This helps remove the dust stuck to the video card and also  allows the vents free access to air. Now check your monitor's cable connection to the video ports for possible looseness. If that's the case it could  be one of the reasons why the display is not reaching the monitor.

Install Newly  Updated Drivers

If the video card is not functioning properly, install newly updated drivers.To install the drivers first, go to your manufacturer's website. Click "Support" and "Downloads" and  then select the operating system on your laptopNow click the current laptop you are using and then select the video card driver option. This downloads the latest video card drivers onto your laptop.Then double click the driver to to to open the driver's 'Installation Wizard."  After opening the "Installation Wizard" follow the series of prompts to completely install the driver onto your laptop. After installing the drivers, restart the laptop. It should work like a charm.

That's a wrap for "Repairing A Video Card". Hopefully these suggestions will help you solve your video card woes. Cheers!

Till then take care

If you are here and you want to learn how to fix laptops as a career or past time, Download Laptop Repair Made Easy

Basic Tips On Diagnosing Laptop Problems

Let's face it! laptops have become part and parcel  of our lives. We do everything from  browsing to shopping online. Some of us run our businesses through our laptops through them. So if  for one minute your laptop  powers out, or even worse, crashes to the ground, you're as good as toast.  No need to panic! you can save all your work. Just follow these basic tips on diagnosing laptop problems.

Keep The  Problem In Isolation

You can keep the problem in isolation by asking questions such as:

• Is your laptop battery not charging?
• Has your laptop lost power?
• Is your screen flickering?

If the battery is not charging, try another adapter. If the problem persists, then the cause is either the DC-IN(where the plug of your laptop charger plugs in or your motherboard. Or if your screen is flickering, the inverter (a small board that controls the brightness of your screen) or the screen itself is faulty. You need to keep your detective hat on when investigating laptop-related problems.

Get The Right Tools

Now it's absolutely essential when doing  laptop problem diagnosis that you get the right tools. For instance using the wrong screw driver can tear delicate screws inside a component, causing you major headaches. On most laptops screwdrivers such as o and oo's work the best. You can also use a size 1 PHillips Head screwdriver for bigger screws.  When working  inside a laptop use  an electrostatic sischarge (ESD) mat and wrist strap tom prevent damage to the electricity to the circuity with the static electricity that builds on your body.

Take It Easy On The Plastic Components
When taking apart a laptop take easy on the plastic components. Using too much force will force them to crack or may be difficult to fit them back in after therepair.  If you feel something is notv coming loose, such as screws, make sure everything that might hold it down has been taking out.  If it's your first repair take absolute care as one mistake can be costly.

• Related Post:Tools You Need To Fix Your Laptop

That's a wrap on  "Basic Tips On  Diagnosing Laptop Problems." Hopefully you now get the drift as to what you need to do when diagnosing laptop prolems. Till then  it's cheers!

Till then take care

If you are here and you want to learn how to fix laptops as a career or past time, Download Laptop Repair Made Easy