My laptop overheated, I took it to get cleaned, now it's having Internet connectivity issues. I think the repair place may be at fault. What do I do now?
[more inside]
posted by Put the kettle on
on May 20, 2013 -
5 answers
I have two things that needs to be fixed, although it's not super urgent. first, the usb jack on my external hard drive came loose, and I can't access data inside. I'm fairly sure all I need is a re-soldering job.
I also want to get rid of my old laptop. It's an HP pavillion dv4, and it works mostly fine but occasionally blue screens. I was going to sell on craigslist, but I don't want all of my data in there when I sell. But every time I try to clear out everything, the computer blue screens on me.
Where in Toronto (downtown or Annex) can I get these two things done as cheaply as possible?
posted by atetrachordofthree
on Feb 24, 2013 -
4 answers
I dropped off my computer to be repaired because it kept powering off randomly, and often before windows could even start booting. They told me it was a faulty power supply, which they replaced.
I received a call about fifteen minutes after I got home from a tech there telling me that they forgot to plug my DVD drive into the power supply, and that I can bring it back and have them fix it.
When I ran it at home, I noticed google chrome was missing. Another one of my programs doesn't work now, telling me that "The feature you are trying to use is on a network resource that is unavailable." 3-4 other programs that I've picked at random and tried to run work fine.
[more inside]
posted by Modus Pwnens
on Jan 17, 2013 -
21 answers
Is there a place I can take my laptop to get crisis bios recovery done to it in person, instead of sending it to the manufacturer and waiting forever?
[more inside]
posted by chocolatemilkshakes
on Sep 30, 2011 -
2 answers
I may have accidentally vacuumed up part of my printer...
I was cleaning up around my computer with the vacuum cleaner and I started to vacuum around the printer. My cat likes to sit on top of it so lots of hair tends to get inside. Anyways I stuck the nozzle inside and it sucked up the foam pad that the printer head gets cleaned on.
So here's the two part question:
1. Is it possible to get a replacement foam pad? If not, is it worth cutting up the vacuum bag and retrieving it?
2. How can keep my cat from hanging out on my printer?
My printer is a Canon Pixma 9000 pro mk II.
posted by fzx101
on Sep 4, 2011 -
12 answers
Who in the Dallas, TX area (deliberately vague; I'm willing to drive) can repair my broken laptop AND answer my questions about it, especially how it got that way? Even just "this guy I know" would be perfectly fine; I've learned my lesson about the big-name places.
[more inside]
posted by jinjo
on May 18, 2011 -
1 answer
I did something dumb and really bent the corner on the bottom of the unibody of my MacBook Pro. Three questions under the fold.
[more inside]
posted by The Pantless Wonder
on Mar 11, 2011 -
10 answers
2nd generation iPod Touch isn't syncing properly. Is it worth fixing or should I just look into buying a refurbished one?
[more inside]
posted by reenum
on Feb 24, 2011 -
8 answers
why would my macbook decide to power on some days, but play dead with me on others?
[more inside]
posted by sammich
on Jan 14, 2011 -
5 answers
Computer repair from afar-filter: my sister's Dell desktop is infected with one (or more) viruses, and I'm not around to fix it for her.
deezil's profile is too detailed to mail to her or trying to walk her through, so I'm looking to get her to a fix-it shop in Ventura, CA, or recommendations on one of the fix-it shops in chain stores. Oh, and we don't know her admin password.
[more inside]
posted by filthy light thief
on Aug 31, 2010 -
4 answers
I own a Lenovo Ideapad Y550. About six months ago, four keys on the keyboard popped off and the “A” and “1” key’s require multiple pressings to type. The audio out port on the laptop also broke. It still works, I just have to either hold or tape my earphones inside or it just come right back out.
Should I just go to best buy or some computer place to have it fixed?
[more inside]
posted by seanmhobson1988
on Aug 25, 2010 -
5 answers
I'm returning to school and would like to have some sort of portable computer. I have a few options, but an not sure which is best in terms of budget and longer-term investment.
[more inside]
posted by bestillme
on Aug 11, 2010 -
22 answers
Soup attacked my Macbook and now it is on its way to fried-land. Lots of things still work fine, and it's less than 1 year old. Is there a way to get money from the parts?
[more inside]
posted by Lutoslawski
on Jul 14, 2010 -
10 answers
Is there any way to find files that were deleted during a Vista reinstall? (more inside)
[more inside]
posted by Raichle
on Mar 9, 2010 -
3 answers
The graphics card in my macbook pro failed, which happens at a
"higher than normal" rate. Apple agrees that's the problem. Still, they want me to leave my hard drive in the computer when I give it to them for repairs. How diligent are they about protecting your data from theft and ill-use? If data on your hard drive somehow gets set free while visiting apple-land, it doesn't violate the
Applecare terms of service (pdf). "[apple is not liable for...]
the failure to maintain the confidentiality of data" (section 4). In section 7f, "You agree that any information or data disclosed to Apple under this Plan is not confidential." My hard drive is backed up, but I don't want to risk someone having access to all my personal info. Should I put up a fight?
[more inside]
posted by manduca
on Nov 12, 2009 -
16 answers
Sometime around the beginning of this year, my Intuos2 Model 0608-U 6"x8" Wacom tablet driver stopped loading upon login and restart. I reinstall it every time I login/restart. All of the tips, tricks, workarounds suggested by both Wacom and Apple do not work. I am running Mac OS 10.5.7. Is there anything left to try?
[more inside]
posted by iamkimiam
on Jul 28, 2009 -
5 answers
Computer froze completely during a game, all subsequent downloads of various installer files were corrupt. BSODs galore. Now, when I turn on my computer, no video input is detected whatsoever. Next step?
[more inside]
posted by TimeTravelSpeed
on Jul 13, 2009 -
19 answers
If you were going to bring a USB drive to repair a bunch of workstations, what are some of the latest Windows XP/Vista repair utilities that you would put on it?
[more inside]
posted by purephase
on Jun 3, 2009 -
7 answers
Mac meltdown: my wife's Mac Mini seems to have bitten the dust. Before I take it in for repair, I want to query the hivemind for anything I might be overlooking. Details on symptoms and efforts so far within.
[more inside]
posted by adamrice
on Feb 1, 2009 -
6 answers
Computer Diagnostic Help and Interpretation, Please: My son inherited an 8-year-old Dell Dimension L933r from his grandpa. It had been upgraded to Windows XP and had an additional hard drive installed. It was working smoothly for us for almost a year, but recently it went into an infinite reboot loop (which we couldn't resolve ourselves) and we took it to an independent computer repair guy (details and questions inside).
[more inside]
posted by amyms
on Dec 13, 2008 -
16 answers
My computer has just shit the bed. I live in New York City. I have very little money. Can anyone recommend a cheap place where I can get it fixed?
[more inside]
posted by jason's_planet
on Sep 23, 2008 -
9 answers
How do I remedy the error message I'm getiting on my laptop about the windows\system32\config\system file being missing or corrupt?
[more inside]
posted by otherwordlyglow
on Jul 12, 2008 -
15 answers
Should I buy a new laptop or spend $400 to repair my 2004 Dell Inspiron 600m?
[more inside]
posted by Amizu
on Feb 2, 2008 -
14 answers
Should I attempt to clean up a "demo model" laptop running Windows Vista for a friend?
[more inside]
posted by parilous
on Jul 26, 2007 -
8 answers
Anybody know of a good computer repairman/shop in or near Pittsfield, Mass? My wife's Dell desktop has developed an alarming hum (sometimes loud, sometimes soft), and she'd like to have someone take a look at it, but it would be nice not to have to play throw-a-dart-at-the-Yellow-Pages.
posted by languagehat
on Jun 8, 2007 -
7 answers
Due to circumstances out of my control, I must find a local computer repair shop and receive a written estimate on the cost to repair my laptop.
[more inside]
posted by punishinglemur
on Jan 30, 2007 -
3 answers
Can this laptop be saved? eMachines M2105 bought refurbished from Tiger Direct outlet near Toronto two years ago (90 day warranty). Recently the power cord developed the "jiggle it to make it work" disease. Only it turns out that it wasn't the cord but the jack inside the computer that had the problem. Now the jack is completely loose from whatever it had been attached to and so the computer doesn't go. While online third-party parts dealers seem to have jacks for just about any other eMachines laptop, no-one seems to have this one. And the official eMachines parts supplier says I need to replace the mainboard (which costs about two-thirds of what I paid for the laptop for the part alone).
[more inside]
posted by winston
on Jan 5, 2007 -
15 answers
What's inside my computer that's causing little slices on my fingertips? The last two times I've opened up one of my computers, I've gotten long, shallow cuts on my fingertips that I didn't notice until I was closing everything up and saw blood on my hand.
[more inside]
posted by camcgee
on Sep 14, 2006 -
16 answers
So it looks like my iMac G5 hard drive died some time this afternoon while the computer was on and I was not in front of it. Great! I'm still covered by warranty, so there's that. BUT. When the hard drive died... I, err, may have been in the process of downloading porn through BitTorrent. (Nothing illegal, but y'know, it's porn.) Obviously I have to bring this computer in for repair, and will probably have to give the HD to some kind of data-recovery service, and so when some techno-wizard hopefully gets things going again, there that porn file will be, sitting right out on my desktop. This happens all the time, right? Are they going to be scandalized? (I am in NYC, so my guess is no, but...) What level of humiliation or other problems am I looking at here?
[more inside]
posted by anonymous
on Jul 23, 2006 -
16 answers
I'm dropping my laptop off for service--what do I need to do to protect myself?
[more inside]
posted by divka
on Jul 8, 2006 -
10 answers
One of the rubber "feet" on the bottom of my notebook computer came off and I can't seem to find it. Where can I purchase a replacement? I called technical support (Gateway), and they said they do not ship them nor can they repair it in their warehouse.
[more inside]
posted by beammeup4
on May 9, 2006 -
6 answers
The CDRW/DVD-ROM drive on my Dell 5160 laptop is dead. I have a replacement drive. But I don't know how to pull the old one. I've worked on desktops quite a bit, but I've never done any real service on a laptop, other than upgrading memory. My Google-Fu has failed me. Can you help?
posted by wheat
on Apr 10, 2006 -
5 answers