Laptop Trouble Shooting Overview

Should you have any problems with your computer, getting in touch with us, you may want to try to solve the problem yourself. This page lists some common problems and their possible solutions.

This can't anticipate every problem, but you should check here before you panic. If you don't find the answer here, If all else fails, you should also make a record of what happened and what remedies you tried and get in touch.

If, after you've tried everything, and the system still won't cooperate, try turning it off for a few minutes and then rebooting. You will lose any unsaved data, but it may start working again.

Basic Hints & Tips

Many of the following may seem obvious but they are often the solution to a problem when your computer appears not to be working.

• Power - Is the computer actually plugged into a working electrical outlet? If plugged into a power strip, make sure it is actually working. Check the LED Power Indicators to see the computer's power status.
• Connections - Check all the cables to make sure that there are no loose connections anywhere.
• Brightness - Check the brightness of the screen by adjusting the brightness
• Power Savings - Make sure that the system is not in Hibernate or Standby mode by pressing the key combination for your laptop or by pressing the power button, to wake-up the system.
• Display Choice - make sure the system is not set to "external only" display
• Boot Drive - Make sure there are no floppy disks in the drive when you start up your machine (this is a common cause of the message "Invalid system disk - Replace the disk, and then press any key").

Power Problems

You turned on the power but it doesn't work.
Battery missing / incorrectly installed. Check the battery bay, make sure the battery is present and seated properly (the design of the battery only allows it to go in one way). Make sure there's nothing interfering with the battery contacts. Remove the power adapter, remove the battery, press the power button and wait 5 seconds. Replace the battery and plug in the power then try and power up the laptop

The Battery LED power indicator is blinking.
Low Battery. Plug in the AC power source. If the computer doesn't start up immediately turn it off then on again.

You are losing battery power too quickly.
The system is using too much power. If your OS has a Power Options scheme check its settings You may also be using a PC Card device that is drawing a lot of power.

The battery pack will not charge.
The battery pack is exposed to an excessively hot or cold environment. Place the battery in a suitable environment and after it returns to normal temperature try again. The battery maybe bad and may need to be replaced.

The notebook feels too hot.
Make sure the notebook is properly ventilated and the fan port is not blocked. If this doesn't cool it down, put the system into Hibernate mode or turn it off for an hour. Make sure the vents aren't blocked and the computer isn't sitting on a thermal surface Make sure you're using the correct adapter.

Battery time is shorter than expected.
The battery has not been fully discharged before being recharged. Power options have been disabled or a peripheral device is using too much power

Speed Problems

Are you running a Desktop antivirus system such as McAfee or Symantec Antivirus? If so we recommend deleting these and replacing with NOD32. This uses much less system resources and is ideally suited to laptops.

We also recommend that ANY laptop has at least 512MB of system memory(right click my computer and select properties to find this). If you are running 256MB we recommend a RAM upgrade.