Laptop Wont Turn On

• Scenario: Laptop went into standby or hibernation mode and now won’t turn back on.
• Symptoms:  Laptop power led is lit, indicating it is getting power from the AC adapter, but the laptop appears dead or there will be fan noise, but the display is blank and the system will not respond to the usual action of opening the lid or pressing the power button to turn it on.
• One Solution: You need to do a hard reset.  Try GENTLY pressing the power button and holding it down for 10-20 seconds.  You may hear the fan turn off or the hard drive shutdown.  If the system doesn’t respond to the hard reset, try removing the battery, wait a few seconds, and then reinstall it. Count to 30 and then press and release the power button. 
• If this doesn’t work, please consider calling us to discuss onsite service in the Charleston area.

Avoid The Mobile-Pre USB Latency Issue

I own a Mobile-Pre USB, this is a great little box that connects to your computer and provides the following inputs: 2x XLR(with phantom power), 2x 1/4″, 1/8″ Stereo Mic. You also have 2x 1/4″ out and a 1/8″ Stereo out (for monitoring) . The sample rate can go up to 48khz (better than CD quality). All while running off a USB cable with no other power required.

One of the issues that I encountered was a significant latency between speaking into the mic and what I heard in the headphones. If you search Google, this is apparently a pretty common problem.

My first attempt at using the Mobile-Pre USB box was with an older laptop running XP. The initial results were dissapointing. I had the latency issue so I couldn’t monitor my levels live, I had to record and then play back. I also was unable to use Audacity, it simply didn’t see the mic I had hooked up. I found if I installed the ASIO4All driver and then used the version of Ableton Live 6 that came with the Pre USB I got pretty good results.

Recently, I was installing XP into a partition on one of my desktops. I thought I would try an experiment. After installing XP and only the most basic drivers it needs, ethernet, video card etc, I installed the Mobile-Pre USB driver and then Audacity. Audacity worked right off the bat, and the results were fantastic. NO LATENCY AND NO DISTORTION!

I would advise anyone who has one of these devices that they are capable of very good sound.  Due to the fact the Mobile-Pre runs off  USB completely, it’s great for laptops.  It can operate with no latency without special drivers. Issues to consider are the amount of ram in your system and CPU, more and faster are always better. I believe that the issue I was encountering with my laptop is the typical Windows issue that over time there is a general slowdown in performance that can really only be alleviated by a fresh install of the OS.

BTW, when I say No Latency, I really should say no detectable latency. Technically there may be a few millisconds, but subjectively I am not hearing it.

Windows XP running slow even in safe mode

I ran into a computer the other day that had suddenly started running extremely slow.  One of the clues to the problem was that the slow performance happened even when the system was booted in safe mode, this mode was specifically created to allow a system to be booted in a minimal configuration so modifications could be made to the setup. This pointed the problem in the direction of being a hardware issue. It turned out the BIOS had a setting for a CPU Compatibility Mode. This is a mode that turns off some of the CPU functions for compatibility with certain older software. Setting it to the factory default of “off” and rebooting immediately fixed the problem.

Dead Emachine

I had a client whose Emachine died unexpectedly. Four years old, 1.3ghz Celeron, 512mb dram and a dead power supply. I advised them that it was probably not cost effective to put a lot of time/money into resucitating it. I removed the hard drive and installed it in a external enclosure. Luckily it powered up and I was able to get the data they wanted off of it and burn a DVD. They’re going to get a new box and use their existing monitor with it. Lesson – Backup your data! 

Random XP Shutdowns

Recently a client called because their system was randomly rebooting while they were using it. If a problem happens every time you perform a certain act, like run a program, open a file, turn on a piece of hardware, etc, it can be reproduced. This allows you to eliminate possible causes. But if a problem just randomly occurs with no apparent cause, this is typically harder to fix.

This was a Celeron system with 256mb of DDR in the form of 1 Dimm. This is a really low amount of memory for a Windows XP system. XP needs at least 512mb to run reliably and more like 1gb to starting running well (more than this will only lead to minor performance enhancement unless running memory hungry applications).  The initial recomendation was to install a 1gb Dimm. This improved performance by reducing the computer’s reliance on virtual memory.

The client contacted us la few days later and told us that while the computer was faster, it was still randomly rebooting. We returned and decided that the system could be suffering from overheating issues. The CPU fan was removed and a considerable amount of dust was blown out. The existing heatsink grease was wiped away, replaced with fresh grease, and the heatsink was reinstalled. The rebooting issues seem to have been resolved.

Acer Aspire One

These are very cute laptops. they’re in the category of Netbooks..small, lightweight, cheap. The one I used was blue, they’re also available in white, black, red, brown and pink(!). Typical configuration is 1gb of ram and a 80-120gb hard drive. No optical disc built in but, ask yourself..do you need to carry one with you all the time? Remember, this is meant to be a second computer, so your primary machine would normally have a DVD/CD reader/burner. The Aspire One also has multiple USB ports, a multimedia slot for memory cards, Wifi (802.11G).

For approximately $349.00 you’ve got a great computer for the Web,  listening to music, watching videos and email.

Windows XP Dual Monitors

Did you know that your laptop running Windows may support dual displays? Most laptops have a VGA connector which allows them to be hooked up to an external display (like an overhead projector for example).

1. Right-click your desktop.
2. Click “properties” toward the bottom of the list that appears.
3. Choose the “settings” tab on the “display properties” window that appears.
4. You should see two windows, one with a “1″ and a second with a “2″.

You can set the resolutions independently for each display. You can also decide on whether the displays mirror each other (show the same thing) or that the Windows desktop is extended onto the additional monitor. If you extend the desktop, You will need to tell Windows how the monitors are arranged (so that when dragging a window from one desktop to another makes sense).

Dual monitors can be extremely useful for productivity. For example, you might have one desktop displaying a website while you work on a document in another. Some applications can take advantage of multiple desktops, Adobe Photoshop can have menus displayed on one monitor while the image is displayed on another.

Charleston Computer Repair

Digital Blade of Charleston, SC has a 3 step process to repair your computer and get you back to work.

1. Evaluate the problem. This is a combination of discussing the symptoms with you and observing the system. For example, if the computer is freezing or locking up, can it be reproduced or is it completely random? Are certain error messages being displayed? Is the system performing substantially slower than in the past?
2. Diagnose the problem. After the initial evaluation, we narrow down the potential causes through a process of elimination. Computers are complicated ecosystems consisting of the hardware, the bios (the basic computer settings), the operating system, the patches and upgrades that have been applied to the operating system, hardware drivers, utilities, applications, and application plugins. This complex interaction can make diagnosing a problem difficult. What appears to be a problem with an application may in fact be an issue with low memory that was caused by the recent installation of a new unrelated utility.
3. Repair/Correct the problem. Having narrowed down the cause, we repair the computer. This might involve upgrading the memory or replacing old memory modules, removing a utility that is conflicting with other software, upgrading a hardware driver, or changing some of the computer’s settings, among other things.

A properly maintained computer can provide many years of service which counts toward your bottom line. Don’t put it off another day, if your computer isn’t working for you, call us to set an appointment for an evaluation. We service Charleston, North Charleston, Mount Pleasant, and surrounding areas.

Surge Protection Basics

With all the late afternoon thunderstorms in the Charleston area lately, I thought it would be beneficial to discuss surge protectors. Basically..unless you like having to spend money and time on replacing electronics..you need them.

photo credit: El Garza

First, evaluate your needs. How many devices do you need to protect? A typical desktop system might include:

• The system box
• Monitor
• Cable or DSL Modem
• Router
• Printer
• Amplified Speaker system
• External hard drive

As you can see, it’s not uncommon to have 7 or more devices. Remember, any device you connect to the computer needs protection or it might conduct a surge through a connection like a USB, telephone or coax cable.

A good surge protector will provide enough outlets for all your devices. You will also need a cable in/out if you have a cable modem and/or a telephone in/out if you have DSL.

Be careful about the orientation and spacing of the outlets…DC converter boxes may block adjacent outlets on surge protectors that have the outlets crowded together.

Well designed surge protectors will have lights that indicate the protector is working (for example, it hasn’t been damaged by a surge). Many can also indicate if the outlet they are plugged into is properly wired.

One of the differences between surge protectors is how many joules of energy they can absorb. This may be a number like 1750 joules or 2500. Higher is generally better. Think of this as the capacity of a tank that can hold excess energy that comes through and protect your equipment.

The time to consider buying a surge protector is before you need it, don’t wait until you lose an expensive component to buy one.

iPhone 2.0

Steve Jobs announced a new iPhone today. Sleeker, faster and cheaper than the prior version. One of the biggest changes has nothing to do with the phone. Apple has changed its financial relationship with the carriers. They will not have to share their monthly revenue with Apple, this will allow them to subsidize the new phone for end users as they currently do for most of their other phones. Apple’s plan is that the iPhone will become a mass market item that will propel sales of their computers.

Other changes:

• It supports 3G networks – though it will cost you more to use it (EDGE is a bit pokey, but it’s cheap).
• GPS support – new apps take advantage of interactive maps.
• Longer battery life – This is an accomplishment considering that 3G uses more power.

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