Direct MP3 Download: Podnutz Daily #84 – Dirtiest Computer Of Them All
Question from Hamrad in the chat:
How do you tell if the back light in a laptop is bad?
Is it discolored?
The inverter and the bulb can
sometimes show the same symptoms.
Test it with a screen that has a known-good bulb.
Dirtiest computer we ever had
came into the shop today. Gross.
It was a smoker’s computer.
The dust in a smoker’s computer
globs and sticks to the parts.
We took the leaf blower to it
the highest setting
and it could not remove this sticky dust
from the processor.
It had to be peeled off by hand.
Disgusting.
Remember the lady who called and said her
ethernet card blew up?
It was actually her on board ethernet port.
(This can happen due to a power surge)
The ethernet port did not even show up
in device manager so we knew it was bad.
Installed a PCI ethernet port on the mother board.
Good to go.
Another symptom of bad RAM:
Windows XP running 256 MB
I did not have another 256 stick
so we installed a 128 stick to give it a boost.
Turned on computer. No video & no POST.
Just from this stick of RAM.
Tossed it in the trash.
Another Sony Vaio laptop
with no internet connection:
Ethernet port was visible in the device manager.
We tried:
A Windows network connection repair
We reset IE settings to default
Solution:
We ran WinSock XP Fix
Another laptop spill:
Defective Lipton Iced Tea bottle shattered
and tea got on the keyboard.
He powered off and took the battery out.
Turned it upside down.
Waited only a half hour and turned it back on.
Worked for a little while and then it stopped.
Again:
If you spill something on your laptop
take the battery out as fast as you can.
Do not power it on!
It is best to take it apart piece by piece
to dry and remove corrosion before you
add power to the laptop.
Either that or wait a week+ for it to dry.
If you cannot do that, take it to someone who can
because you are risking frying the motherboard if you
power it on while parts inside still have moisture.
Email from Rhino:
When taking apart laptops
where do you put all the screws
so that you do not lose them?
I am thinking about getting a magnetic parts tray.
I give Rhino my tips
on organizing screws as I take them out.
Rhino also reminds me of Acronis licensing policy.
Email from William:
Help for Grant who could not boot from an optical drive.
You CAN go straight from SP1 to SP3 for Windows XP.
For the fellow with graphics issues/strange colors
update the bios to get the most current
and/or older chipset drivers.
Email from Mitch:
PCHelpWare tips and
You need a static IP address.
Email from Ray:
Dual boot with two hard drives update
and he talks about how great Mojove is… what?
Live call from Nebben:
When are you going to give away the leafblower?
I need to think up some contest rules.
Looking for help & suggestions
Live call from Kevin:
HP Vista OEM reinstall questions.
