Frequently Asked Questions
1: Very quickly Disconnect the DC plug of the power supply (pull the connector out)
2: Quickly turn the laptop on it's side (see picture) and remove the battery. The side where the spillage was should be at the bottom.
3: Keeping the laptop on it's side, place absorbent paper (e.g. Kitchen Towel) between the laptop and the desk to absorb all the liquid draining from the laptop
4: Under no circumstances should the laptop be powered on or the battery put back!!
5: When there is no more drainage, put two sheets of clean absorbent paper between the screen and keyboard and bring the laptop in so that the motherboard can be removed, cleaned and dried. Transport the laptop upside down (screen at the bottom) so that any other spilage can be trapped in the paper.
This will cost you £45 and there is a good chance that your laptop could have survived the spilage but there are no garuantees.
If the laptop does not work after the dis-assebly, clean and re-assembly, the charge will only be £20
Q: How to ensure that your laptop will be optimised when installing Windows 7 A: Windows 7 will bring new levels of functionality to your laptop and will be easier to use than previous Windows versions. The BIOS (Basic Input Output System) is the core systems software and the base that all other software - including Windows® - must build upon. Your current BIOS might have some compatibility issues with Windows 7 that could stop you from achieving top performance or it can cause loss of function. The BIOS is the first in a series of programs that your laptop must execute (the boot process) before it loads the OS (Operating System). This process must have a detailed understanding of the resident hardware and the configuration of such, and also be able to interact directly with your specific hardware. The OS (Windows, etc) however, needs to be able to run on any suitable machine regardless of the hardware installed. The BIOS therefore serves as an interpreter to the OS to ensure that the hardware and OS work together efficiently. Your existing BIOS may not be completely compatible with Windows 7 and you could find that some of the core functionality on your machine does not work properly (i.e. Screen brightness, Sound controls, etc). Updating your BIOS to one that is compatible with Windows 7 will allow efficient interaction with your hardware and boost performance across nearly all programmes. Since the BIOS is slightly different on every machine, there is no way for the OS installation software to know if your BIOS also needs an update. This is something you have to check for yourself. Use our [Driver Download] page to find your machine's manufacturer website and look for an updated BIOS and also any updated drivers that might be required to optimize your machine for Windows 7. This could mean the difference between poor and excellent performance after your upgrade to Windows 7. |
A: To be able to run Vista, you probably need a newer laptop with the higher spec that is required to run Vista. These requirements are; Memory: Required 512MB of RAM or more, Hard Disk: Required 20 GB hard disk drive with at least 15 GB of available space, Display: Required Support for Super VGA graphics, Video Card: Required Support for DirectX 9 graphics and 32 MB of video memory.
You can then see that the higher spec offered by the new generation of laptops is actually required to be able to run Vista and not to give you a better laptop necessarily.
A: Unless you have a laptop from before year 2000, or you are running specialist software for which you need certain hardware, the answer is NO, you probably don't have to replace just for the sake of it. Most older laptops will perform very well with Windows XP and doing a "cleanup", updating the BIOS, drivers and RAM will have your laptop performing like new again.
A: Unless you are planning to spend a lot of money on a good brand of laptop, you are better off repairing the old one, if it is of a good spec. There are lots of problems with the newer generation of "Lower Priced" laptops that could prove expensive to repair in 13 months time when your warrantee runs out.