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247 Chapter 16: Troubleshooting Your Netbook number contacts for technical support. I provide a list of netbook manu- facturer Web sites in Chapter 22. If you e-mail or call a manufacturer, have your list of Step 1 evidence in front of you. The more information a support technician has about a problem, the better he or she will be able to diagnose what’s going on. Troubleshooting Tools When it comes to gathering troubleshooting information about your Windows netbook (as well as diagnosing and sometimes solving problems), I find that three system tools that come with Windows are indispensable: MSConfig, MSInfo32, and Windows Task Manager. These tools are available with XP and Vista and should also come with Windows 7 — Windows 7 has a slightly dif- ferent appearance but still generally works the same. Broken Windows If something goes wrong with your netbook, it’s either a software problem or a hardware prob- lem. If it’s a software problem (with a program or with Windows), that means there’s a bug, a setting was changed, a file got corrupted, or some malicious software like a virus is running amuck. Here are some general suggestions you’ll likely hear from a technical support line for dealing with a misbehaving netbook: ✓ Run antivirus software. A malicious pro- gram can cause your netbook to behave strangely. Check out Chapter 9, where I discuss virus protection software. ✓ Make sure you have the latest program or Windows updates. Software makers fre- quently release updates that include bug fixes — perhaps one that’s related to your problem. ✓ Exit the program and shut down the net- book. Sometimes a program has a bug that isn’t easily replicable. Try restarting your netbook and see whether the problem is still there. ✓ If you recently installed a new program and then started to encounter problems, uninstall the program. At times, programs can install files or change system settings that accidentally upset the apple cart, so to speak. ✓ Use an earlier Windows system restore point. Windows allows you to save a snap- shot of the system state and then restore it. This is handy since you can go back to an earlier version of the system before you started having troubles. Search the Windows online help for restore point to find out more. ✓ Do a complete system reinstall. This is a last resort that I discuss in Chapter 17. For more troubleshooting tips, visit http:// support.microsoft.com. 23 521236-ch16.indd 24723 521236-ch16.indd 247 9/18/09 10:55:31 PM9/18/09 10:55:31 PM 248 Part IV: Checking Underneath the Hood MSConfig MSConfig is the Windows System Configuration Utility — shown in Figure 16-1. It provides information about startup programs and processes and allows you to control them. This program is extremely useful for seeing what programs automatically run when your netbook starts up. To run MSConfig in Windows XP, follow these steps: 1. Choose Start➪Run. 2. Type msconfig and click OK. To find out how to use MSConfig, visit http://www.microsoft.com/ resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/ msconfig_usage.mspx?mfr=true. Figure 16-1: With MSConfig, you can see and control what programs are loaded when Windows starts up. MSInfo32 MSInfo32 (shown in Figure 16-2) provides system information about your net- book. This utility is essential for nosing around the insides of your netbook and finding out about hardware and software. Even if you don’t know what it all means, if someone is helping you with a problem and asks for specific information, this program provides it. In addition to system information, MSInfo32 has some diagnostic tools. To run MSInfo32 in Windows XP, follow these steps: 23 521236-ch16.indd 24823 521236-ch16.indd 248 9/18/09 10:55:31 PM9/18/09 10:55:31 PM 249 Chapter 16: Troubleshooting Your Netbook 1. Choose Start➪Run. 2. Type msinfo32 and click OK. To find out more about MSInfo32, go to http://support.microsoft.com/ kb/308549. Figure 16-2: MSInfo32 provides detailed information about your netbook’s hardware and software. Windows Task Manager Windows Task Manager (shown in Figure 16-3) provides information about your netbook’s performance — including running programs, memory use, processor use, and network activity. The Task Manager can also be used to end programs that are unresponsive. Be careful about terminating system processes. If you don’t know what you’re doing, you risk making Windows unstable. You can start Windows Task Manager in Windows XP three different ways: ✓ Press Ctrl+Alt+Del and click Task Manager. ✓ Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc. ✓ Right-click an empty area of the Windows taskbar and then click Task Manager. For instructions on using Task Manager, visit http://support.microsoft. com/kb/323527. 23 521236-ch16.indd 24923 521236-ch16.indd 249 9/18/09 10:55:32 PM9/18/09 10:55:32 PM 250 Part IV: Checking Underneath the Hood Figure 16-3: Windows Task Manager allows you to get information about your netbook’s performance plus view running programs and end them. Startup Problems When it comes to solving specific netbook issues, I logically start with startup problems. I assume your netbook shows some form of life like a startup screen, active LED status lights, and so on. If it doesn’t, be sure to read the “Dead as a Proverbial Doornail” section at the end of this chapter. If your netbook seems to be starting up slowly, there’s a very good chance you have too many programs running at startup time. You’d be amazed at all the utility programs various applications install — sometimes without your knowledge. On a low-memory computer like a netbook, these little startup programs not only cost start time, but also tax system memory and the pro- cessor. See the earlier “MSConfig” section to see what programs are running at startup. Many programs that appear in the Windows taskbar have a setting for option- ally running the program at Windows startup (or not). Click or right-click a program icon in the taskbar and then go to the program options. If your netbook starts up but never gets to the Windows desktop, there’s a problem with Windows. Fortunately, the operating system has a special Safe Boot mode that allows you to boot with minimal drivers and startup pro- grams loaded — press F8 after you turn on your netbook. When you get to the Windows desktop, you can try to diagnose the problem or at least make copies of important files. 23 521236-ch16.indd 25023 521236-ch16.indd 250 9/18/09 10:55:32 PM9/18/09 10:55:32 PM 251 Chapter 16: Troubleshooting Your Netbook To find out more about Safe Boot, go to http://support.microsoft. com/kb/316434. If you can’t start up Windows with Safe Boot, you can always bust out an advanced move by booting the netbook with Linux. I discuss operating sys- tems in Chapter 4 and provide information on booting with an alternative operating system. Forgotten Windows Login Password Say you set a Windows login password (which I recommend) and then you forgot it (which I don’t recommend). Don’t despair: There’s hope for using your netbook again. First, make sure Caps Lock isn’t on when you log in. (Psst. Don’t worry: It hap- pens to everyone.) If Caps Lock isn’t on and you’re running Windows XP, you have a number of ways to log in to the netbook without a password. Check this handy how-to for one simple method that involves booting into Safe Boot mode as Administrator: www.wikihow.com/Log-on-to-Windows-XP-if-You- Forget-Your-Password. When you’re logged in, change your account password to something more memorable and consider writing it down in case there’s a future memory failure — yours, not the netbook’s. If you set a BIOS password and forget it, this is going to make life a little more challenging. You need to remove the netbook’s BIOS battery — check an online forum for instructions. The BIOS battery is similar to the type used in watches and calculators. When it’s removed, it clears all the BIOS settings, resetting them to default values. Wait a few minutes, reinstall the battery, put your netbook back together, and turn it on. I tell you more about BIOS in Chapter 21. Getting in Touch with the Touchpad Some netbook touchpads seem to get moody, and for no apparent reason your cursor suddenly starts flying around the screen or maybe gets really, really slow. Another symptom of a touchy touchpad is when multiple copies of a program open when you double-click its icon. 23 521236-ch16.indd 25123 521236-ch16.indd 251 9/18/09 10:55:33 PM9/18/09 10:55:33 PM 252 Part IV: Checking Underneath the Hood If you’re having any unusual cursor and touchpad behavior problems, the touchpad settings need adjusting. Here’s how to do it in Windows XP: 1. Choose Start➪Control Panel. 2. Click Printers and Other Hardware. Depending on how your copy of Windows is configured, this step may not be necessary. 3. Click Mouse. A dialog box is displayed with various setting tabs. 4. Click a tab labeled touchpad (or similar) to access touchpad settings. Here you control mouse and touchpad options. 5. Change the touchpad sensitivity so the cursor behaves normally. This typically involves using a slider control to specify a lighter or heavier touch. If the cursor is flying around at the slightest touch, decrease the sensitivity. If you have to press hard to get the cursor to move, increase the sensitivity. Most netbooks come with touchpad tapping enabled. This setting allows you to use the touchpad surface for clicking or double-clicking in addition to the touch- pad buttons — for example, moving the cursor over a dialog box button and tapping the touchpad is equivalent to clicking the left touchpad/mouse button. If the tapping sensitivity is set too high, just about every time you brush the touch- pad with a finger will be considered a mouse click. The cursor and windows will zoom around, and programs will mysteriously open. If this bugs you (it sure would bug me), change the sensitivity or turn off the tapping feature. Webcam Issues Some users have troubles with their built-in webcam not working. They try Skype or some other program that supports the cam but get a blank screen. If this happens to you, try these fixes: ✓ Check whether the webcam is enabled in BIOS. Don’t ask me why, but sometimes a netbook BIOS setting gets changed, and the change dis- ables the camera. Read Chapter 21 for instructions on how to get to the BIOS settings and enable the cam. ✓ Install the latest driver. Check the manufacturer’s support Web site and see whether a new driver is available for the webcam. (I give you the full scoop on drivers in Chapter 20.) Even if you’re running the most current version, sometimes a file can get corrupted, so it’s worth it trying to reinstall the driver. 23 521236-ch16.indd 25223 521236-ch16.indd 252 9/18/09 10:55:33 PM9/18/09 10:55:33 PM 253 Chapter 16: Troubleshooting Your Netbook Most netbooks feature a LED light next to the camera lens — when the light is on, so is the camera. If the light is on but the camera’s not, you might have a hardware problem with the camera. However, my first guess would be that the camera hasn’t been configured properly in the program. Check various pro- gram options and settings to make sure. Dealing with Batteries If you’re not getting the amount of runtime out of your battery that you used to, there’s a very good chance it reached its prime and is now on the downhill slide. A netbook (or any laptop) battery has a limited lifespan: After a certain point, it begins to hold less and less of a charge, which means you get fewer and fewer minutes of running time when the device isn’t plugged in. If you use your netbook a lot, figure a year or two before it’s time for a new battery. If you have a couple of batteries and frequently swap them, visually check that the connection points are clean — grime and grunge on the connectors that may cause problems is clearly apparent. Dirty connectors may prevent a bat- tery from delivering a full charge. There’s more on batteries in Chapter 13. Repairing Wireless Connections Unfortunately, wireless problems can be both tricky and mysterious to resolve. Often the culprit is a setting that was inadvertently changed or a temporary glitch in the wireless card, router, or either’s interface software. You can try a variety of things in case you run into the following wireless difficulties: ✓ Is the wireless card enabled on your netbook? Is the LED status light on, or does the wireless icon in the Windows taskbar indicate wireless is enabled? If it isn’t, wireless is disabled. Press the appropriate function key (or click the taskbar icon) to enable wireless and then wait for a connection. ✓ Do you lose your wireless connection when the microwave oven is on? Or do you perhaps have a baby monitor, cordless phone, garage door opener, or fluorescent light fixture? You’re not hallucinating. These devices all run in the 2.4GHz radio frequency range and can inter- fere with Wi-Fi connections. Try moving your netbook away from the offending devices (or your wireless router) if possible to eliminate the problem. 23 521236-ch16.indd 25323 521236-ch16.indd 253 9/18/09 10:55:33 PM9/18/09 10:55:33 PM 254 Part IV: Checking Underneath the Hood ✓ Is your home or office wireless router/access point to blame? If you have another laptop, can you successfully get a Net connection? If not, reboot or turn the router off and on again. Wait about a minute until the router reconnects to the Internet and then try connecting again with your netbook. (Turn off your netbook and then restart it after the wire- less router’s status lights indicate there’s an Internet connection.) Check which version of firmware the wireless router is running. If it isn’t current, upgrade to the latest. Consult your router user manual or the manufacturer Web site for details. ✓ Does the router have any security settings (such as MAC address fil- tering, WEP, or WPA) turned on that may be preventing the netbook from connecting? If it does, make sure you’re using the right settings on your netbook to connect to the router. ✓ Are you having troubles connecting to just one access point? Try con- necting to a free public Wi-Fi network (at a library, coffee shop, or college). If you’re successful, you rule out the possibility that your wireless card is broken. The problem may be with a single connection — usually a security setting or perhaps incompatibility with an older router/access point. Try right-clicking the wireless icon in the Windows taskbar and selecting Repair. With this command, Windows disconnects from the wireless router, clears cached network settings, and then attempts to reconnect. If all else fails, check out this detailed wireless troubleshooting guide from Microsoft: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/870702. Running Slow If your netbook is running slow, there might not be anything wrong with it. Don’t expect as snappy of performance compared with a traditional laptop or desktop PC — a netbook is lacking in both the memory and the processor departments. I’ve found common culprits for poor, pokey performance include ✓ Running a processor-intensive program (such as a video player, a game with lots of 3-D animation, or a complex spreadsheet) ✓ Running multiple programs at once ✓ Opening a large number of files or windows ✓ Opening too many Web browser tabs ✓ Having lots of programs running in the background The solution is to recognize your netbook’s limitations and spend more time single-tasking than multitasking. Trust me, it’s possible. 23 521236-ch16.indd 25423 521236-ch16.indd 254 9/18/09 10:55:33 PM9/18/09 10:55:33 PM 255 Chapter 16: Troubleshooting Your Netbook Dead as a Proverbial Doornail I saved the absolute worst case scenario for last. You try to turn on the net- book and nothing happens. Or maybe some LED status lights come on, but the screen is black. Your netbook seems to be a goner. First, try pressing a key, wiggling your finger on the touchpad, or pressing the power button. Your netbook may just be in standby or hibernation mode (with a blank screen), and you just need to wake it up. If that doesn’t work, there’s a chance the netbook’s display is set only to appear on an external monitor or projector and not on the netbook’s screen. Check your user manual for the appropriate function key to press to toggle screen modes. Still no luck? Try plugging the netbook into an electrical outlet. It’s possible the battery has completely discharged, and there’s no power left. By the way, make sure it’s a known working electrical outlet — plug a lamp or appliance in if you have any doubts. And make sure all the connections are tight. Uh-oh, I’m running out of the obvious cures. Next on my list is to read Chapter 17 for instructions on restoring your system — either from a DVD or the recovery hard drive partition. No luck with that? Not good. I’d be suspicious that it’s probably a hardware or BIOS problem. If it’s a failed motherboard or power supply, there’s not much you can do. Reset If your netbook stops working (hangs) while a program is running, press Ctrl+Alt+Del to run the Windows Task Manager. You can then shut down the netbook with Task Manager or try closing the offending program — select the program in the Applications tab and click End Task. If you haven’t saved what you’ve been working on in the program, any changes you made are lost. If it’s a serious system crash where Ctrl+Alt+Del doesn’t even work (such as an infamous Blue Screen of Death crash), press and hold the power button for 5 to 10 seconds. This forces the netbook to shut down. It’s a last-resort option because Windows doesn’t do a clean exit. You will definitely lose everything you’ve been working on, and there’s a good chance the netbook will boot up slower when you power it on again as Windows picks itself up, shakes the dust off, and tries to figure out what happened. 23 521236-ch16.indd 25523 521236-ch16.indd 255 9/18/09 10:55:33 PM9/18/09 10:55:33 PM 256 Part IV: Checking Underneath the Hood If the BIOS has somehow become corrupted (say you tried to upgrade it, but something happened), you have one last-resort option. Read Chapter 21 where I discuss installing a new copy of the BIOS. Failing that, here’s hoping your netbook is still under warranty. If so, contact the manufacturer, who will likely replace your netbook with a new one rather than repair it. If your netbook is out of warranty, look on the bright side: All of your data is backed up just as I describe in Chapter 17 (right?), and you were looking for an excuse to get a new model with the latest features. The glass is always either half empty or half full. 23 521236-ch16.indd 25623 521236-ch16.indd 256 9/18/09 10:55:34 PM9/18/09 10:55:34 PM [...]... secures it in place (shown in Figure 18- 7), or the drive may be screwed directly to the circuit board (shown with a caseless SSD in Figure 18- 8) Remove the screws and put them someplace memorable Figure 18- 7: Remove your netbook’s drive access panel 25 521236-ch 18. indd 281 9/ 18/ 09 10:56: 58 PM 282 Part IV: Checking Underneath the Hood Retaining screw Drive Figure 18- 8: Remove the retaining screws on the... the power button to ground the system board 25 521236-ch 18. indd 280 9/ 18/ 09 10:56: 58 PM Chapter 18: Upgrading Storage and Memory 281 3 Get to where the hard drive is located Turn the netbook over so the bottom is facing up Your netbook has a removable panel for accessing the hard drive (shown in Figure 18- 7) — some models use the same access panel for memory and drives; others have separate panels If... available Just remember there’s not a lot of space inside a netbook, so the adapter needs to fit 25 521236-ch 18. indd 2 78 9/ 18/ 09 10:56: 58 PM Chapter 18: Upgrading Storage and Memory 279 Do you need a bigger drive? If you have a netbook with a relatively shrimpy sized drive, should you swap it out for a bigger drive? It depends First, can your netbook drive be upgraded? Some manufacturers make it easy to... to SSDs is they aren’t cheap — at least the high-capacity models For example a 160GB SSD is currently priced around $900 — ouch, compare that with a hard disk drive the same size, which costs well under $200 SSD SATA 5000 2.5” Figure 18- 5: Solid state drives use memory to store data 25 521236-ch 18. indd 277 32GB 9/ 18/ 09 10:56: 58 PM 2 78 Part IV: Checking Underneath the Hood Hard disk drives Most computers... platters Traditional laptops use 2.5-inch drives, but in an effort to save space, netbook manufacturers tend to use smaller, 1 .8- inch drives — shown in Figure 18- 6 Currently, the largest capacity 1 .8- inch drive offers 250GB of storage However, most netbooks are sold with hard drives that range from 60 to 160GB in size Figure 18- 6: Inside a 1 .8- inch hard disk drive (HDD) typically found in a netbook Like... can get a recovery disc When you get the disc, if you don’t already have a USB DVD drive, you’ll need to purchase one 24 521236-ch17.indd 267 9/ 18/ 09 10:56:16 PM 2 68 Part IV: Checking Underneath the Hood 24 521236-ch17.indd 2 68 9/ 18/ 09 10:56:16 PM Chapter 18 Upgrading Storage and Memory In This Chapter ▶ Muddling through memory ▶ Upgrading RAM ▶ Understanding internal drives ▶ Swapping drives O ur society... usually possible to exchange a hard disk drive for an SSD or an SSD for a hard drive The critical issue is the connector on the motherboard For example, if the netbook uses a SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) connector and comes with a SATA hard drive, you should be able to swap the hard drive for an SSD (See the nearby sidebar, “Drive lingo,” for more about SATA.) Things get more complicated... is whether your netbook’s RAM can be upgraded Turn to your user manual for the answer — or the manufacturer’s support Web site If the user manual doesn’t say or is vague, head over to Google and search for the name of your netbook and memory upgrade Other owners no doubt have had 25 521236-ch 18. indd 270 9/ 18/ 09 10:56:57 PM Chapter 18: Upgrading Storage and Memory 271 the same question, and you’ll quickly... breathing room for even a minimal collection of programs and files Companies such as RunCore (www.runcore.com) and others are starting to offer reasonably priced, upgrade SSDs For example, RunCore has 16, 32, 64, and 128GB SSDs that are priced between $69 and $ 389 Be smart about upgrading an SSD, because at the present you might be able to buy a brand new netbook with lots of enhanced features for the price... everything that’s involved in a drive swap 25 521236-ch 18. indd 279 9/ 18/ 09 10:56: 58 PM 280 Part IV: Checking Underneath the Hood Drive lingo When you start looking at storage drives, you need to work through some of the jargon Here’s a short glossary to help you out: ✓ PATA: Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment An older interface standard for connecting storage devices (hard drives) to computer . www. microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=c26efa36-98e0- 4ee9-a7c5-98d0592d8c52&displaylang=en. Figure 17-1: SyncToy makes backing up and syn- chronizing files easy. 24 521236-ch17.indd 2 582 4 521236-ch17.indd 2 58 9/ 18/ 09 10:56:14. tools. To run MSInfo32 in Windows XP, follow these steps: 23 521236-ch16.indd 2 482 3 521236-ch16.indd 2 48 9/ 18/ 09 10:55:31 PM9/ 18/ 09 10:55:31 PM 249 Chapter 16: Troubleshooting Your Netbook 1. Choose. discuss in Chapter 17. For more troubleshooting tips, visit http:// support.microsoft.com. 23 521236-ch16.indd 24723 521236-ch16.indd 247 9/ 18/ 09 10:55:31 PM9/ 18/ 09 10:55:31 PM 2 48 Part IV: Checking