Troubleshooting A Laptop Battery That Won't Charge

You've been using your laptop for a few yrs now when a a lot of a sudden you discover that your laptop battery no longer is able to hold a  charge anymore.  When this happens it mean your laptop battery needs  changing. But to avoid wasting money on a new laptop battery how about troubleshooting the problem first?  It can help narrow down the problem and save you the trouble of splurging on a new laptop battery. So onward to troubleshooting a laptop battery that won't charge.

Things You Will Need:

Isopropyl alcohol

Cotton schwab

Now let's dig in:

Turn Off The Laptop
Turn the off the laptop and unplug all power sources. Next take out the battery from the bottom of the laptop. Then slide or unlock the locking mechanism to unlock the battery. After unlocking the locking mechanism you then  slide the battery out of the laptop.Now plug the adapter into an electrical outlet, and then insert the opposite end of the adapter into the charging outlet on the side of the laptop. Next turn the laptop's power on, and if  the power doesnt come on, it' likely the adapter is faulty and has to be replaced.You can get a new adapter at  Amazon.com. But  If the power does  come on, it means the coast is clear.

Clean Battery Vents

Your next task is to clean the battery vents . First, turn the power off and remove all power sources.  Next take the battery out of the compartment, and  dip a cotton schwab in isopropyl alcohol. Now  dip the dampened swab on the battery compartment and contacts to remove possible dust  buildup.After removing the dust you then slide the battery back into the battery compartment.

Finally

Charge And Test Battery
It's time to charge and test the battery. First plug the power adapter into the laptop, and charge the battery for six hours. Next r emove the power adapter, and turn  the laptop on for 30 minutes. If the laptop is able to stay on for 30 minutes, the coast is clear.If not, then the battery needs to be replaced. You can get a replacement at    Battery Edge  or Laptops For Less

Related:

How To Pump Some Life Into Your Old Laptop Battery



That's a wrap for "Troubleshooting A Laptop Battery That Won't Charge." 

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

The Downlow on Changing Your Laptop Processor

Ask most laptop experts and they’d   tell you that changing a laptop processor (or CPU) is a breeze once you take the laptop apart. The tricky part about working on laptops is dealing with the delicate and smallness of the laptop components. So tricky that you could end up placing the wrong component in the wrong place. Lucky for you, most laptop manuals have detailed diagrams showing you, step by step where each component fits. The laptops manuals   furnish you information on the type of processor you need for your laptop. You have all the information at your finger tips.  So here is the lowdown on changing your laptop processor.

Things You Need For The Exercise:

•          Laptop Manual
•          Assembly Guide
•         New Laptop processor
•     Thermal Compound
•         Small screwdriver

Onward:

•         Turn off the laptop and unplug it.
•       Remove the battery, CD/DVD drive and the hard drive. In case you don’t know the hard drive is located on one side of the laptop
•         Use your screw driver to remove the screw that holds the laptop cover, and then pull the           hard drive out.
•        Turn the laptop over and then use the screw driver to remove the screws holding the keyboard.
•          Flip the laptop over, open it and then remove the keyboard.
•          Unplug the keyboard connecting the keyboard to the motherboard.
•         Unplug the heat sink fan.
•         Unscrew and release the old mechanism holding the old processor and then remove it from the laptop.
•          Apply a small layer of  Thermal Compound  to the  the new processor.
•         Make sure the processor is tightly secured and aligned in the processor compartment and then replace the heat sink  fan.
•          Connect the keyboard to the motherboard  temporarily , restart it then, following your manual instructions, enter the system BIOS.  Hopefully, the new processor should be recognized by the processor.
•          Once the BIOS   recognizes the new processor, turn off the laptop, unplug it and remove the keyboard.
•       Reassemble the laptop. Just don’t tighten  the screws to hard while putting the laptop back together.

If you're looking for new processor(or CPU) for your laptop ,Amazon.com  will be a good place to get it from.

Well, that’s a wrap on “ The Downlow on Changing Your Processor.” The exercise is a bit challenging but so long as you take your time and get every component in the right place you should have no problem replacing your processor.

If you are a laptop owner looking to learn how to fix  your laptop including replacing your laptop processor try  te following laptop repair products:
,

• Laptop Repair Videos.
• Laptop Repair Made Easy
• The Laptop Repair Workbook: An Introduction to Troubleshooting and Repairing Laptop Computers.