Are these symptoms serious?

Forums › Laptops and mobile computers › Are these symptoms serious?

chrissie

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#62947 17-Jun-2010 18:08

I posted one of the problems in another topic, but nobody responded, so I thought I'd try again.

Apart from the rasping noise when I turn the computer on in the morning, there are a couple of other problems:

(1) The USB posts are "sticky" - sometimes they don't work. If I take out the connection and retry it, it's usually OK. For example, my attached keyboard or mouse will suddenly stop working and I have to disconnect and then reconnect it.

(2) The right hand speaker doesn't work.

I'm starting to wonder whether my Compaq nx8220 is about to die on me.

Any advice very welcome. :)

hairy1

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#342767 17-Jun-2010 19:45

Sounds like the motherboard is on the way out. The rasping may either be the CPU fan or the hard drive. If the hard drive is causing issues i can't see it being related to the USB issues or the speaker problem.

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chrissie

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#342768 17-Jun-2010 20:37

So should I be looking for another laptop at this point?

Regs

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Snowflake

#342769 17-Jun-2010 20:44

must be 3+ years old... almost dead. www.serviceplus.co.nz can check it out for you for a fee - but if repairs needed then prolly cheaper for new notebook given its age

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rscole86

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#342779 17-Jun-2010 21:12

chrissie: I posted one of the problems in another topic, but nobody responded, so I thought I'd try again.

Give people some time, not everyone can/does access geekzone during the day. If you feel people are taking too long to reply, then feel free to give your first topic a 'bumb' rather than creating a new one, that people it will reappear on the current discussions list on the home page.

Best of luck with your laptop

chrissie

156 posts

Master Geek

#342782 17-Jun-2010 21:20

I would have bumped the topic, but then I thought, since I hadn't mentioned the other problems, I should post a new topic, rather than adding to the original one. :)

If this laptop is in danger of dying on me, I need to get a move on and find a new one.

Incidentally, I've just remembered that a few weeks ago, the OS died and I had to have it reinstalled. That was a shock and caused me a heap of problems, because I lost everything (apart from what I'd backed up).

I don't want to risk that happening again.

chrissie

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#342791 17-Jun-2010 22:07

One more thing - I always turn off my laptop at night. Is it better to leave it running all the time, as advised for desktops?

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#342796 17-Jun-2010 22:23

It doesn't really matter - turning off wouldn't cause problems... But remember to create backups of your important stuff!

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Regs

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Snowflake

#342798 17-Jun-2010 22:29

i wouldnt tell anyone to run a desktop 24/7. no need for it these days. My laptop - a nc8230 has been switched off every day for the last 3.5 years with no prolems, and it has run XP, Vista and now Windows 7.

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ArcticSilver

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#342821 18-Jun-2010 00:21

chrissie:
Incidentally, I've just remembered that a few weeks ago, the OS died and I had to have it reinstalled. That was a shock and caused me a heap of problems, because I lost everything (apart from what I'd backed up).

Sounds very much like a faulty HDD, this could cause all of the problems above though it is quite possible there is more than one item at fault.

If your worried about losing data again, i would get a new laptop.

michaelmurfy

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#342829 18-Jun-2010 00:49

My laptop just stays on at all times, and gets to sleep in the car on the way to work:

michaelm@Al:~$ uptime
00:41:39 up 92 days, 27 min, 2 users, load average: 0.70, 0.57, 0.56

It's battery still lasts about 5 Hours on a single charge, I would recommend leaving laptops on but maybe that's just me, plus the heat is always good (My MacBook seems to get Cold, and I mean Cold during the night if it's left off, and builds a layer of condensation)

It's worth replacing your laptop, you got to think, the battery is possibly shot in it, the hard drive may be losing it's ability to store data etc etc. Laptop's are cheap now days and you can pick up a good one for about $1200.

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Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.