Showing posts with label gateway laptop repair. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gateway laptop repair. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Desktop and Laptop Repair - A Comparison

Laptop RepairDue to the decrease in price and quality, laptops are turning out to be a good alternative over desktops. However you should always weigh the pros and cons before purchasing a new computer. If you need portability, a laptop is the only way to go. Laptops do have some serious drawbacks though. A comparable laptop will always cost more than a comparable desktop. In addition, laptops will never perform as well as an equally rated desktop. Lastly, laptop repairs always cost more than desktop repairs. It’s this last point I want to discuss with you today.

In general, laptops will always cost more than a desktop system when repairs become necessary. Most desktop systems, even the branded ones, use fairly universal parts. With a few modifications, an off the shelf ATX desktop motherboard can be fitted to practically any name brand computer. Laptop manufactures, however, never developed any kind of standard. In fact, it’s not unusual for even one particular laptop brand to have hundreds of different models with thousands of different parts. Due to this wide diversity, a replacement laptop motherboard can easily cost $400 while a comparable desktop board might not cost more than $100.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Laptop Troubleshooting is as important as Laptop Repair

When a laptop doesn't work and either you or your Laptop Repair expert or you're responsible for fixing it, you should generally approach the problem first as an investigator and discoverer, always being careful not to compound the problem through your own actions. If the problem seems difficult, see it as an opportunity to learn something new. Ask questions until you understand the source of the problem. Once you understand it, you're almost done, because most likely the solution will be evident. Take the attitude that you can understand the problem and solve it, no matter how deeply you have to dig, and you probably will. In this section, you'll learn some fundamental rules useful when laptop troubleshooting, and you'll also learn how to approach a troubleshooting problem, including how to interact with the user and how to handle an emergency.

Steps to solving a Laptop problem

Generally, when troubleshooting a laptop problem (or any problem for that matter), you begin by asking a question and finding its answer. Based on the answer, you then take appropriate action and evaluate the result. Always keep in mind that you don't want to make things worse, so you should use the least destructive solution. If you want to be an expert troubleshooter, there's one last, very important step: Document what you learned so you can carry it forward into the next troubleshooting situation.

When facing a problem with a laptop, follow this four-step process:

1. Interview the user. You need to know what happened, when the problem occurred, if valuable data is not backed up, and what you must do to reproduce the problem.

2. Take appropriate action to protect any valuable data on the computer that is not backed up.

3. Analyzing the problem:

Given what you've learned by interviewing the user, examining the computer, and duplicating the problem, consider what might be the source of the problem, which might or might not be obvious at this point. For example, if a user complains that his Word documents are getting corrupted, possible sources of the problem might be that the user does not know how to save documents properly, the software or the OS might be corrupted, the PC might have a virus, or the hard drive might be intermittently failing. Then, based on what you have initially discovered, decide if the problem is caused by software, hardware, or the user. Following this should be kept in mind during analyzing the problem:

  • Check Simple Things First
  • Beware of User Error
  • Divide and Conquer
  • Trade Known Good for Suspected Bad
  • Trade Suspected Bad for Known Good
  • Become a Researcher
  • Write Things Down
  • Keep Your Cool and Don't Rush
  • Don't Assume the Worst
  • Reboot and Start Over

4. If you think the problem is fixed, test the fix and the system. Make sure all is working before you stop. Then document activities, outcomes, and what you learned.

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