Laptop Repair: When To Tackle It Yourself
When your laptop goes on the fritz, it takes a little courage to decide
to fix it yourself. Laptop repair is not much different from
repairing a desktop computer. While it may seem daunting to open up a
laptop case, the construction of cases with multiple trays or trapdoors
in the case allow easy access to hard drives, CD-ROM and DVD drives,
memory chips, and wireless cards among others. And the parts you
will need are easily found on the Internet or ordered from your
laptop's manufacturer.
First you have to determine what is wrong with your laptop. Is it
a software problem or a hardware problem? more often than not,
problems with a computer are related to software problems. If
there is a virus, or spyware, taking over the computer, using a good
anti-virus or anti-spyware program can help clean it up. Windows
has a System Restore feature that you can use to try to restore your
computer to the state it was in prior to the spyware getting onto your
laptop, although this is not always successful.
You can also try to reformat the hard disk. This means wiping off
all applications and files stored on your PC, so backing up is
required, and is a big step. It's also possible that your
operating system needs repair. Usually you can insert the install disk
and choose a "repair" function, as with Windows XP.
How can you tell if the problem is hardware related? To make sure
you have a truly damaged piece of hardware and not jus a conflict wit
another component, you can run diagnosis software on you
computer. There are software applications available to help you
with this, and often such software comes preinstalled on your laptop.
Windows also has diagnosis software such as hard drive Disk
Defragmenter, and system tools to let you see if there re any conflicts
or any hardware components not working properly.
Making laptop repair much easier is the quantity and quality of parts
available online today. Vendors of laptop parts such as drives,
memory, wireless and networking cards also provide detailed
instructions for how to remove the old component and install the new
one. Some vendors even have video online showing you exactly how
to remove old and install new components. If you are still
feeling like you need more information, contact your laptop
manufacturer, they will often work with you over the phone to replace a
component.
Make sure that by handling laptop repair yourself that you are not
violating the terms of any warranty you still have. Sometimes opening
the case can void a warranty. If you still have an active
warranty in place, check first whether your warranty will cover repair
of your laptop.
If you feel comfortable repairing a desktop computer, laptop repair is
just as simple. With the products and instructions available from parts
vendors, you should be able to easily handle basic repair yourself.