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In order to change a laptop video card, start by removing the power supply from the system and removing the installed batteries. Look for a video card underneath a laptop's keyboard with help from a laptop repair specialist in this free video on laptop computer video cards.
The first step in installing RAM on a laptop is removing any power from the machine. Find out how to pull an existing memory stick out of a laptop with help from a laptop repair specialist in this free video on installing RAM on laptop computers.
To replace laptop keys, purchase new keys from the manufacturer. Remove old keys with a small screwdriver with help from an IT specialist in this free video on laptop computers.
Laptop computers typically offer limited expansion capacity, particularly when compared to their desktop brethren. One common expansion available to a laptop owner is to add more memory to the system. Computer memory is available in a dizzying array of formats and system vendors often place limitations on the size and type of expansion available. The only way to definitively know what the expansion limitations are on your laptop's RAM is to consult the manufacturer.
Any number of conditions can cause a laptop or a desktop PC not to display a full screen image. The screen display is a result of several different components working simultaneously to bring an image to the face of the monitor. Screen resolution settings can be a factor or the condition of the screen itself may be a cause of the problem. The Sony VAIO laptop line accompanied with the Windows operating system provides a few methods to analyze this condition.
Even if your computer is portable, you may use it at one or two regular locations, such as at a certain desk at your home or office. Using a laptop docking station allows you to quickly plug your computer into a variety of peripherals such as an external monitor where you use it most often. If problems arise connecting or disconnecting your laptop from its docking station, apply standard troubleshooting techniques.
Hewlett-Packard created a series of business-class notebook computers designed to be the ideal mobile office tools. Docking stations were among the main accessories for these notebooks and afforded a series of additional ports and connections to make your business laptop compatible with nearly every office location. The 120W and 230W Advanced Docking Stations are both high-end models and have more similarities than differences.
Sometimes upgrading the amount of RAM in your laptop isn't an option; however, you can always get the most out of your Windows installation. There is no fundamental difference in the way Windows 7 runs on a laptop or a desktop -- in both cases, things such as the Aero effect and programs that load in the background on startup use memory. The problem is that a laptop tends to have less memory than a desktop, and thus has more need for memory optimization, which you can accomplish by managing your processes, startup utilities and services.
The iPhone is not above suffering a problem that can happen to any tablet display device. The phone components are similar to those found in an iPad. Light leakage in the corner of these products indicates separation in the display. Understanding the design of the display will provide some insight on what you can do about light leakage in the corner of your iPhone.
The NVIDIA video chip in your HP laptop is responsible for producing the image that displays on the monitor. When the video chip overheats, the computer may shut off or malfunction – for example, random lines may appear or the screen may go blank. The overheating issue is likely caused by weak solder joints on certain NVIDIA chips that were commonly installed in laptop computers. You can fix the faulty chip using a reflow technique to repair the solder joints.
Laptops come with a set of special functions that perform integrated tasks. Many of these tasks, such as changing the appearance of the built in laptop screen, are specific to laptops. Like any other system hardware, laptop function keys require driver software that tells the computer what to do when you activate your function keys. ATK Hotkey Utilities are a set of system drivers that control such functions on some laptop models.
The Sharp LCC5277UN is a 52-inch LCD television with a contrast ratio of 10,000-to-1. The television can auto-adjust the contrast on the fly for optimum picture quality, or you can set it to a specific contrast that's best suited for your viewing environment.
USB docking stations allow you to turn your laptop into a desktop PC by connecting one cable and gaining additional functionality. Docking stations commonly feature a variety of different ports, allowing you to connect other USB devices as well as video displays or keyboards. Sometimes, however, your laptop may not recognize these ports when connected, preventing you from using this additional functionality.
The HTC Artemis, also knows ans the P3300, is a Pocket PC phone that run the well-known Windows Mobile 5 mobile operating system. All HTC Artemis devices come with their own splash screen, known as the Artemis splash screen. Changing it can prove difficult because you must first unlock the SPL using an update. However, once the SPL is unlocked, you can use the only app available to quickly change the splash screen and flash a new one on your HTC Artemis.
Comodo develops a variety of security applications for Windows, including antivirus, anti-malware and firewall products, and suites of programs released under a single title, such as Comodo Internet Security. While the scanning facilities employed by Comodo's antivirus and anti-malware applications can take up a significant amount of CPU time and memory, if a particular scan is locking up the computer entirely, this points to a more serious issue.
Don't count your dropped laptop as dead just yet -- external damage doesn't mean that your laptop won't run, and not running isn't necessarily a symptom that the laptop is broken forever. If your processor or motherboard gets damaged, you're better off getting a new laptop, but you can usually replace a damaged hard drive or RAM, fill in cracks in the case, replace the keyboard and even install a new screen.
"Nearly every PC includes some sort of default speakers, but they're invariably not very good," an October 2011 CNET article observes. The same goes for laptops, whose built-in speakers usually lack power unless designed specifically for multimedia use. Among three main types of external laptop speaker systems -- mobile, desktop and high-end audiophile quality -- the best kind for you depends upon your needs.
Liquid crystal display televisions, or LCD TVs, use a series of red, green and blue bulbs to illuminate the visual data sent to the television from the receiver. Locating the backlight lamp, formally referred to as full-array LED backlighting, on an Insignia LCD television requires a partial teardown of the device and minimal knowledge of television circuitry. The disassembling of the Insignia to locate the LED voids the company’s limited warranty of the device.
The screen of a mini laptop has a much lower resolution than that of a full notebook laptop. This compromise is necessary to keep the price of the computer low. Although the screen of your mini laptop is small, the display should never appear stretched or distorted. If you find its video quality unacceptable, you may resolve this by installing a software update or changing the computer's configuration.
Flickering laptop screen icons not only make it difficult to look at your desktop for any period of time, but they can also prevent proper selection and opening of the programs. In some cases, all the icons on your desktop may flicker, whereas other issues may only cause a few icons to exhibit the problem. In extreme cases, such as with intense virus infestations, your icons may not only flicker but also change positions and appearance.
Your laptop acts like a desktop when it's attached to a Dell docking station. When connected, your desired nearby scanners, other computers, and mobile devices are right at your fingertips. When your computer doesn't recognize the docking station, that convenience is just as quickly taken away. The varied Dell docking station types and computer models may not initially be compatible with one another. Albeit challenging, in most cases, docking station device recognition isn't impossible to fix in a reasonable amount of time.
Among its electronics products, Toshiba makes a number of laptop computers that come with a built-in webcam. While you can count on the webcam to perform standard tasks, including allowing video chat and taking still pictures, Toshiba's cameras also have a few features that may not appear on webcams you've seen on other computers.
A Gateway docking station provides additional connection ports for your Gateway model laptop. Once your laptop is connected, you can add an external mouse, second monitor and printer through the additional ports on the docking station. Various factors will cause display issues when you connect an external monitor to any docking station, and many of these will mirror those that occur when connecting a monitor directly to the laptop itself. These issues and troubleshooting procedures are not unique to Gateway products.
One accessory for the Panasonic CF-19 is the Ledco Docking Station. With the docking station, you have a constant power source for your laptop. You can also lock your laptop into the docking station, which deters theft. Installation only takes a few minutes. The hardest part of the installation is deciding where you want to connect the station.
Dropping a laptop even a relatively short distance can cause damage to the various delicate components inside it, as well as to the LCD screen. Even if the laptop doesn't appear physically damaged, your monitor may suddenly appear blurry or offer strange colors and images on the screen. This is evidence of internal damage, which can range from a simple loose cable to a damaged LCD or internal circuit board. Before attempting any disassembly to your laptop, check to see if your warranty may cover any repairs needed. Taking apart your laptop may void your warranty.
If you lose or damage your laptop’s power adapter, you may choose to replace it with a universal laptop charger rather than buy a replacement from the manufacturer. Universal models can be cheaper than replacements from the factory, and they may be able to charge multiple devices you own. However, some dangers exist when you use an unauthorized laptop charger that you should consider them before choosing a third-party option.
The screen of your eMachines netbook is the most likely part of the netbook to become physically damaged. Because the screen is an LCD, repair is impossible. The only way to fix the problem is through a screen replacement. If your device is no longer under warranty, you may wish to do this repair yourself. Replacing the eMachines netbook screen will require that you disassemble part of the machine, but the screen is easily accessed and the replacement a fairly quick process.
Dropping your laptop can result in certain features of the laptop becoming unavailable, depending on the severity of the drop and the overall trauma to the computer. For example, you may be unable to use a webcam with your laptop, be it built-in or external, if your computer takes a tumble.
If your computer screen is reading top-to-bottom instead of left-to-right, you may have inadvertently switched to portrait mode. Some computer screens are capable of displaying in two different modes, which gives users maximum flexibility. By learning about these two modes, and about how to access your video card's settings, you can learn how to return your screen to normal.
Both Compact Flash and Secure Digital memory cards can be used as drives in laptop computers, offering differences in the speed, capacity and security of the flash memory types. Both types of cards can be used as external storage on a notebook computer, but with adapters, they can also replace an internal hard drive.
Trading in portability for extra functionality, an HP docking station immobilizes your laptop and lets it behave more like a traditional desktop system with additional ports. The docking station may not always immediately recognize the connected components from your laptop, such as the LCD screen. If you can't get an image to appear after connecting your laptop to the dock, the video problem is likely caused by an issue with your connected cables or the laptop's software.
The Dell Latitude D630 notebook has an optional dock called the D/Dock Expansion Station. The D/Dock is compatible with all notebooks in the Latitude D series and gives the notebook several additional input/output ports and hardware connections. It isn't, however, compatible with the Dell Latitude E6410 or any other E-series notebook.
Your laptop’s mobile broadband card allows connection to the wireless wide area network provided by a cell phone provider. If your broadband card has a PIN, the device locks automatically during certain power saving modes and whenever it is turned off. When you wish to resume the use of your broadband card, you must unlock it using the PIN number. In the event the PIN has been blocked, the device remains locked after entering the PIN. In this case, you will need to enter a PIN Unblock Key.
The Fn key on laptops is a special key used to access the functions of other keys. For instance, holding down Fn and pressing the J, K L U I or O keys on a Dell Inspiron 1150 laptop allows you to use these keys as a replacement number pad. While useful, the Fn key can also be a pesky annoyance, which is why the option to disable exists in some laptops, depending on their manufacturer and model.
Whether it was an errant cup of coffee or an unfortunate water cooler incident, a wet laptop is a serious problem. Although liquids can spell the end for a piece of electronic equipment, there is hope as long as you act quickly. There's no guarantee that your laptop will ever power up again, but take heart knowing that many laptop owners have brought their resilient machines back to life, even after a good soaking.
If you've never opened the volume mixer on your Windows machine, you may not have noticed that your speakers and your headphones use different volume sliders. Your computer actually offers several different sliders for different devices. Clicking the speaker icon and adjusting the volume modifies the volume for whichever device is considered dominant at the time. You can get more detail by clicking "Mixer" below the volume slider to view the various volume levels for your computer.
OTS files are spreadsheet templates based on the OpenDocument office document standard. OTS files stored in memory pose no threat to the security of your system, but may have outlived their purpose or are taking up too much space. Rather than manually search your laptop’s hard drive in an effort to discover and delete each OTS file individually, use the search tools available in Windows and OS X to quickly build a list of all OTS files stored in your laptop’s memory. From the list, you will be able clear all OTS memory from your computer.
The vast majority of laptop screens on the market use liquid crystal display, or LCD, technology. Problems with the liquid crystals themselves, as well as how they receive and process information sent by your laptop's CPU, can result in lines of varying size running across your screen.
The screen is one of the most important components on your laptop. But few computer users realize what goes on behind the scenes. An LCD screen is back-lit, which provides the illumination needed to make the images visible. If the screen suddenly turns black while open, the backlight has turned off prematurely. Failing hardware is often the cause, but it isn't true in every situation.
A laptop display can put significant strain on your eyes. The glare of reflected light on a laptop screen reduces the quality of the image by altering the contrast, brightness, sharpness and color. Manufacturers are addressing this problem by developing new technologies to minimize eye strain. Lenovo manufactures laptop displays that utilize high-definition light emitting diode technology to reduce glare.
Computer memory comes in many different forms, with each form either having a technological advantage over previous forms or being designed for a different type of computing. Since laptops require components be as small as possible, they generally use Small Outline Dual Inline Memory Modules, or SODIMMs.
Laptops usually come with left and right speakers for a balanced stereo output. However, if the sound is only one-sided, the issue is usually with the sound settings or the drivers that allow the sound processor to communicate with the computer's firmware. Microsoft provides solutions to solve audio speaker problems to maximize sound output.
Google Chat enables users to video and voice chat with one another from within Gmail. The associated plug-in installs to the Web browser, enabling the application to recognize the webcam, and send and receive audio and video feed. Google Chat should work without issue once the plug-in for the application is installed, but certain problems can prevent the Acer laptop webcam from interacting with the software.
Your laptop's screen shouldn't ever go fuzzy or "pixelated," regardless of whether the computer is plugged into a power source, such as a wall outlet. If you notice that the screen becomes pixelated after you plug the laptop into a power source, you can attempt to resolve the problem yourself before seeking professional repair services.
Laptop computers use an AC adapter to provide power when they're plugged in, with a battery for backup power when an outlet isn't available. Most laptops start easily, even if the battery is dead, as long as they have outlet power. Some even boot without the battery in place. However, some machines always require a partially charged battery to start up correctly.
Newer PC games run better on dual-core processors and at least 2GB of memory at the time of publication. In a few years, these requirements may double. Poor performance happens when the requirements of the game are not met. Many games post the minimum specifications in addition to the recommended specs, but if your computer only meets the minimum, choppy gameplay should be expected.
The LCD screen on your laptop gives you a window into the functionality and operation of your portable computer. However, when the screen itself suffers from technical difficulties, diagnosing and troubleshooting the problem is difficult. A faint image on the LCD screen typically occurs due to a small number of causes, most of which require a knowledgeable laptop repair technician to properly diagnose and correct.
When it comes time to purchase a laptop computer, or even a replacement battery for an existing laptop computer, you may face a choice between getting a 6-cell battery and a 12-cell battery. While the 12-cell battery promises extra capacity, it's important to know the differences between the two types of batteries so that you can judge whether or not the larger battery is worth the extra cost.
Your laptop screen should display properly regardless of its position. If you notice any oddities in your screen as you move it or touch it — oddities such as colors changing, dimensions skewing, pictures flickering or the screen blacking out — then something is wrong with your laptop, because that is not normal screen behavior. This type of error is always related to the screen’s hardware, or physical components, and whether a repair is worthwhile depends on the exact cause of the problem.
When your HP laptop's wireless card disappears and reappears, it can sabotage your ability to use the Internet with any consistency. When the card stops working for a period of time, it drops the Internet connection and forces the computer to reconnect. In the process, downloads stop, streaming video stalls and websites stop loading.
