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Replacing a laptop system board is one of the most involved procedures you can perform. It requires careful planning, good organizational skills, and patience. Here are a few essential tips to keep in mind when replacing a laptop system board.

Safety

Always make sure the laptop is powered down and that all cables are removed, including the AC adapter, and remove the battery before beginning any repair. Wear an anti-static wrist strap for additional protection against damage caused by static. Handle the old and new system board with care, being careful to hold it by the edges to avoid too much contact with your hands.

Organization

Since replacing the system board is often complicated, make sure you have a service manual or very clear laptop repair instructions before beginning. Do a web search for your laptop’s make and model and the term “service manual” to see if one is available in PDF form. Make sure to keep careful track of all screws and parts, labeling them as you go if necessary. You may wish to attach all screws to pieces of masking tape to keep them from getting lost in the process.

CPU and Fan

Unlike most parts, the CPU and fan require a little extra attention when removed and replaced. Be sure to clean any dust and debris from laptop fans and vents with compressed air to keep the laptop running cool. Clean any excess thermal compound off the heatsink with a rag while it is removed and be sure to replace it with fresh thermal compound before attaching it to the CPU on the new system board. A thin layer is all that is needed, but lack of thermal compound could cause the CPU to overheat and fail.

Following these tips will help to ensure your repair goes smoothly. Be sure to visit our on-line store for system boards and other replacement parts you may need.

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The Ultra U12-40656 Carbon X7 Multi-Socket CPU Cooler carries on the legacy of providing a great balance of performance and noise level during high an

GHTime Code(s): nc 

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Ladies and gentlemen, please sit down because I am about to make a profound statement. Are you sitting down; are you ready? Here it is: stuff breaks. Additionally, mechanical things fail. Well, it is probably not that profound, but it is true. Even the most reliable companies will have problems with their products occasionally. However, it is comforting to know that reputable companies, like Apple, are willing to help their valued clients when failures arise.

The problem is that a small number of Seagate 1TB drives have failed. These drives were in iMacs sold between May and July of 2011. Not all of the drives have failed, just a few. Apple announced that it will replace the affected drives, which were used in 21.5 and 27-inch iMacs sold during that period. If you registered your machine with a valid e-mail address, they will contact you with the details. You may also go to the Apple support site to get more information. If your drive is on the list, you can contact your local Genius Bar or other authorized Apple service provider for instructions.

There is a limitation, though. Apple will not back up the contents of the drive. That is your responsibility. This is fine, unless your drive has already failed. However, we have you covered. The data recovery experts at The Data Rescue Center of Livermore, California, can recover the data on your failed drive. We specialize in failed disk file recovery on Macs, Windows PCs, servers and more. The Data Rescue Center is here to help you with all of your emergency data recovery needs.

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Source: What Does the Computer Term Default Mean in Plain English
from Worth Godwin’s Computer Training

In this audio computer training lesson I answer a question from Vasilis who writes wanting to know just what the computer term “default” means.  Click the triangle play button below to listen to this computer question and my Plain English answer:

As I explain in the audio lesson, the computer term “default” is one that confuses a lot of people.  Basically, it means “what the computer is set to do until you tell it to do otherwise”.

So for example, you might get a brand new computer and have a certain picture set as the wallpaper (background image on the desktop) when you first turn it on. This is the default background image.

If you change that default image to a new one, it’s no longer using the default picture.

Another example would be the “default browser” on your computer.  Windows PCs come with Internet Explorer (the blue “E” icon) as the default browser, just as Apple includes their own Safari browser as the default on their Mac computers.

You can always install a different browser (highly recommended for Windows users) such as Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.  When you install a new browser, it typically asks you if you’d like to make it the default.  If you do, any time you do something which should take you to a web page (like clicking a link in an email for example) it will then open whatever browser you have “set as the default” to display that web page.

But that doesn’t prevent you from opening that same web page in a different browser if you prefer — you’re just not opening it with the default.

So it’s kind of like what the computer “assumes” (so to speak) unless you tell it otherwise.

Hope that makes sense.

Audio and video lessons also available via computer training podcast.

Basic Computer Training, Tips & More in Plain English by Worth Godwin

The Xerox Phaser 3250 combines the best of both worlds, providing the solid speeds and output quality of a high-end expensive printer with the low price and compact size of a small office model. Two models are available for extra buying flexibility, and its network support and duplexing are very well-implemented.

The Phaser 3250 can print at speeds up to 30 pages per minute, and has a first page out time as fast as 8.5 seconds. This is partly due to the design of the Xerox printer fusers, which require less warm up time than previous models. The improvements made to the Xerox printer belts and rollers mean fewer paper jams and other feeding issues as well.

The printer is available in two models, giving buyers more choice in the balance between features and price. The 3250/D is the base model which includes automatic duplexing, or two-sided printing. Duplexing is a nice feature which can significantly reduce paper costs when enabled as a default option. The second model is the 3250/DN, which adds ethernet networking support right out of the box. Even buyers who do not plan to use the machine as a shared printer may want to consider this model, as there is very little difference in price between the two. Paper capacity for both models is 250 sheets, with a single-sheet multipurpose tray included for additional paper types.

When it comes to maintenance, all of the replaceable Xerox printer parts are included in the Xerox printer maintenance kits, with the exception of toner cartridges. This makes it very easy to maintain the printer with very little hassle.

For home or small office environments, it is hard to go wrong with the Phaser 3250. Home users will love the low price and excellent performance, while small office users will appreciate the built-in networking option.

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It is an unpleasant fact. No matter how reliable a piece of technology is, there is still the possibility of failure. Sometimes the result of the failure is catastrophic. When the failure is your computer’s hard drive, the potential loss of data affects your bottom line, both personally and professionally. The business professional faces the possibility of financial loss when a company computer fails. Many documents may have to be re-created, resulting in lost time and money. Some data, however, cannot be re-created or replaced.

Solid state drives, called SSDs, are supposed to be the fastest and most reliable drive technology available. Data is stored in flash memory; therefore, there are no mechanical parts to wear out and fail. It appears, however, that failures can and do affect SSD. Intel recently announced that there was a possible bug in their Intel SSD 320 drives on July 25, 2011. The bug, named the “Bad Context 13x Error,” can reportedly lose drive data after experiencing an unexpected power loss. The error causes the BIOS to misreport the drive’s size as 8 megabytes. A firmware upgrade fix is being developed for the error.

The Data Rescue Center, a data recovery company in Livermore, California, recommends that you take action before trouble strikes. Even if your drive is not currently affected, a firmware upgrade can cause problems occasionally on working drives. A routine backup minimizes data loss impact and enhances the chance for success of harddrive recovery. Perform a maintenance scan and backup before upgrading to minimize the impact of laptop hard drive data recovery.

The Data Rescue Center

Flash Player for iPhone … we’re almost there! It now seems that the "clash" between Apple and Adobe has come to an end. In fact, the declaration of Kevin Lynch, CTO of the company, suggests that Adobe is working on an improvement of its Flash Player for iPhone, interacting with the Cocoa libraries made available [...]
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The IBM-Lenovo ThinkCentre M75e is a desktop built for business use, designed for solid performance at a very affordable price. While most of its specifications are fairly straightforward, the M75e still packs a few surprises, such as the ability to power multiple displays, a feature not very common on business machines.

The ThinkCentre M75e can be purchased either in a tower configuration or in a small form factor design. The smaller form factor utilizes smaller IBM-Lenovo computer parts to provide the same fast speeds but take up less space. IT professionals will like the portability of the smaller form factor, but the tower configuration provides more room to work when it comes to replacing an IBM-Lenovo system board or making other repairs.

The system includes an integrated ATI Radeon HD 3000 graphics processor, which is quite an upgrade from the IBM-Lenovo video cards included in most business models. The video card is equipped with both a DVI and VGA port, which can be used simultaneously, allowing for dual displays right out of the box.

The ThinkCentre M75e has an AMD processor and up to 6 GB of RAM, depending on the configuration. Multiple hard drive capacities are available, up to 500 GB, and there is room for expansion in the tower model.

Lenovo has designed the ThinkCentre M75e for low power consumption. The IBM-Lenovo computer power supply and other components are all Energy Star 5.0 certified to help save money on energy usage. It utilizes many energy-saving features of the operating system as well, such as standby, to use minimal power when not in use.

The Lenovo ThinkCentre M75e is a typical business machine in that it is designed for straightforward use in an office environment. Extras such as dual-display support and low energy usage help it to stand out from the crowd, however, making it a good value for the price.
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Source: Video: How to Make a Bootable Lion Install DVD or USB Drive
from Worth Godwin’s Computer Training

If you’re upgrading your Mac to OS X Tiger it’s a good idea to make a bootable USB drive or DVD install disc to keep you covered in case of  problems, and to save time downloading when upgrading multiple Macs. Click the image below to watch the video lesson where I show you exact steps for how to make a bootable Tiger disk. More advanced users can read a summary of the steps below the video:

The full video above is intended to be easily understood by more basic Apple Mac users.

If you’re impatient you can skip the introduction by going to 1:07.

Instructions on how to make a bootable DVD begin at 2:45.

The steps if you want to make a bootable USB flash drive (I suggest 8GB or larger) or any USB or Firewire external hard drive begin at 4:03

More advanced users might find this quick summary of the steps helpful:

1. Download Mac OS X 10.7 “Lion” in the Apple App Store
2. Once downloaded, before you install, double-click the Macintosh HD icon (or click the Finder face icon on your Dock) then double-click your Applications folder.
3. Locate “Install Mac OS X Lion” & right-click (Control click) the icon.
4. Click the “Show Package Contents” menu item
5. Double-click the Contents folder in the new window, followed by the SharedSupport folder
6. You should see file called  – this is the disk image you’ll make the boot disk from
7. Open Disk Utility (using the Spotlight search box in the upper right corner of the screen is the quickest way to do this)
8. Drag the InstallESD.dmg file into the column on the left side of the Disk Utility window

scroll down for either the bootable Tiger DVD instructions, or the bootable USB/external drive instructions…

To make a bootable Tiger DVD disc after completing numbered steps above:

• In the Disk Utility window, right-click (Control click) on where it says “InstallESD.dmg” and then click “BurnInstallESD.dmg”
• Put in a blank DVD when the new window drops down and click the blue Burn button
• Wait a few minutes and you’re done

To make a bootable Lion disk using a USB flash drive, or an external drive (USB, Firewire, etc.)

• In the Disk Utility window, right-click (Control click) on where it says “InstallESD.dmg” and then click Restore
• A new window will open. From the column on the left in Disk Utility, drag InstallESD.dmg into the top “source” box in the new window
• From your desktop, drag the icon for the external drive you want to back up to (drive recommended to have 4.7GB free at a minimum)
• Click the Restore button, followed by the Erase button (do NOT use a drive with important files or you will lose them at this point!)
• The drive icon will vanish from your desktop and then reappear once the process is completed. May take a few minutes or longer.

 

By making a bootable Mac OS X Lion disk, you’re protecting yourself and making your life easier.  Please comment below, and feel free to share this video lesson on Facebook, Twitter, and other sites.

 

 

Audio and video lessons also available via computer training podcast.

Basic Computer Training, Tips & More in Plain English by Worth Godwin

Apple laptop under $ 600 Apple laptops are the most expensive on the market, especially if you mention your new MacBook series. It is difficult for a new Apple laptop to find under $ 600, we can say that it is quite impossible. You can, however, Apple iPhone, which is less than $ 600, but [...]
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