Plastic Nev

Hi, I have found the complete manual for your computer and you can look it over or download from this link. http://www.manualowl.com/m/Acer Computers/Aspire-5749/Manual/257802 Now to your wireless! It states in the interfaces report the device is disconnected. This leaves us with two possibilities, either it is not turned on, (Go to page 1-21 in the manual) to check this, press the FN Key and the F3 key together. Or secondly, being a refurbished machine, the previous owner disconnected the hardware inside the laptop, they maybe didn't want wireless, or trust the encryption available for wireless operation, and either disconnected some wiring or had someone do it for them. Nev.

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help. Not too sure which you mean, is it Windows Live Mail itself that is refusing to open, or a file within an E Mail? If it is Windows Live Mail itself, it may have become corrupted. In which case you may have to remove, and then reinstall it. Nev.

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help. As Durks asked, we could do with a little more information as to what is the reason for changing hard drives? If it is to increase the storage by fitting a larger drive but the old drive still works OK, I can recommend creating a system image to transfer to the new drive, which although similar to a new install in one sense, it will also transfer everything on to the new drive in one go. Please let us know a bit more as to why you are changing and we can help further. Nev.

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help. Odd and annoying noises can be a pain to isolate when not glaringly obvious, as you say it could be anything mechanically based, however it could also be the mains transformer inside the power supply. A way to isolate the fans out of the equation is to disconnect the fan wire from the socket momentarily, if the noise stops, but starts when the fan is plugged back in, that will be the cause and a new fan is needed. Do not disconnect the hard drive itself while power is on though, you could really damage it. Only disconnect fans, and only for a very short time, just long enough to see if it is that one. If it turns out to be the power supply transformer, you may be lucky enough to feel the buzzing vibration on the metal case of the power supply, same for the hard drive if it is that, though hard drives seldom make anything more than clicks and clunks when starting to fail. Nev.

Hi, just seen this as I am running late, for now, see how it goes if it is now OK, and I will get back to you tomorrow in any case. It just might have needed the cable plug contacts sorting by the disconnection and reconnection, it sometimes is all it takes, the same applies to lots of other connections, not just a monitor. if needed I will run through how to remove and clean contacts on your Graphics card when I get back. Nev.

First thing to say is I don't think there is anything wrong with the GPU, as you said much earlier the laptop works OK through an external monitor, if that is true of all functions after full boot up, it must be OK as the external monitor would show the same problems. As far as something that can be done at home to double check the GPU, I am afraid the only way is with a different and known to be working screen of the same type or at least correct type for that machine, this is only something Dell can tell you from the ticket or service tag number for it. Repair specialists may have the fancy but expensive test equipment, but of course may charge a fee for doing so. If it does turn out to be the GPU, on laptops it is a part of the main or mother board and would require a new mother board. Not worth doing on an older laptop as the costs wouldn't be far off that for a new laptop, but as I say I doubt it is the GPU anyway. I would take the advice in Synapse's last post, number 27, have a serious look at whether it is worth buying a new screen, or perhaps adding the extra and buy a new laptop, but do get in touch with Dell, and find out which screen model it should be before going further. Nev.

Hi, let us know if the screen is OK on the other computer, also if worried about removing the graphics card, let us know also, and we can describe how to do it in detail if needed. Nev.

Well, apart from the camera that took this picture, which was bought in June, nothing much computer related at all, though the latest purchase as such, was cat food for the guy on the left. http://i38.servimg.com/u/f38/14/68/69/96/p1000110.jpg The camera though is something else, it is a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ18. Only a pocket camera? well performance wise, not just a pocket camera, and quite pleased with results so far. Nev.

OK, thanks for the information regarding the graphics card. If the screen is OK on another computer, the graphics card is the next suspect. As Vr5fx suggested try the connections first, then with the computer fully off and power disconnected, remove the graphics card, clean the contacts where it connects to the motherboard, best is the blue end of a pencil eraser, wipe off any residue with a soft cloth and try it again. If still no good, then before it was fitted, were you using the on board graphics or a different older card? If it was the on board, remove, and also uninstall drivers for the NVidia card, and re enable the on board graphics, hopefully the on board graphics will be OK. If they are OK the card itself is the problem. Nev.

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help. The first thing to try if possible is to see how the screen performs on a different computer, a friends perhaps if nothing else available. Do you have a graphics card installed or is it just the on board graphics? Nev.

Hi, although there is an external fan, the insides could be clogged with dust. Even though laptops can and quite often run a little hotter than a desktop, the 91 degrees shown is too high for the processor, ask it to do any work and it will go into shut down. I think that your laptop is now at the stage where it needs to be stripped down and cleaned. Not something we recommend with laptops unless to extremely competent people, so bearing that in mind unless you have experience of dismantling technical equipment, I suggest taking it to a repair shop with laptop expertise. Nev.

That's correct, you have had your years allocation of holiday's already Ken :cool: Joking aside though, providing you treat the laptop and both printers with care, and no sudden movement that might result in the equipment suffering a hard knock or jolt, then reconnection once you are where your going all should be OK. Nev.

Hi, original memory modules can sometimes be removed, on older laptops maybe not, but in most cases they can be added to as there is usually extra memory slots available. Can you tell us please the make and model of your laptop, we can then hopefully find enough information about whether existing memory can be removed and how, also how much extra can be added. Also if you are not sure about the amount and type of RAM Memory you have now, there is a useful free program that can find that information for you, and therefore us too. It is called Speccy, from and made by Piriform, and can be downloaded from here= http://www.piriform.com/speccy Install it, open it, and it will list everything of your hardware, and also the temperatures. Please let us know what it finds regarding how much RAM memory you already have, and also quite importantly, the temperatures shown, especially after the laptop has been running for a while. Nev.

From my own experience with my present Packard Bell Windows7 machine I think the power still on to other parts of circuitry is within the power supply itself. This could be common to more modern power supplies or just certain makes, I am not sure. However, even though the system is shut down, there still has to be some power on from the power supply in order for the normal system start button on the front of the case to work. That button momentarily makes a connection that turns the power supply fully on with all the different voltages coming on that are required to run the computer. On my older XP machine, there seems to be no other power coming out other than the needed start system voltage, however this Windows 7 machine is similar to yours with power lighting things on the keyboard as well as still power to USB ports. I have a multi socket surge extension lead that has a power switch on it, that gets turned off once the system has shut down. Surprisingly, since I started doing so, that has reduced my electricity bill by a substantial amount too. Nev.

For what it costs, why not buy a bigger power supply? They aren't too expensive and one of around 500 watts will give you all you need plus a bit spare should it be needed. Let us know if you decide on that and we can help further in selecting one appropriate, and explain how to remove the old and fit the new if needed. Nev.

I can only echo exactly what Vr5fx has said as sequencer software can be a hog if handling a lot of individual tracks at once, so you need the fast processor and RAM to cut latency down as much as possible. Not used Cubase myself so can't say, but once installed see if there is an option to get at and reduce the buffers where possible too, nothing worse than hitting a key, say a C sharp, and then waiting a part second for the sound. Nev.

As far as I can see, we have good news and unfortunately bad news, the good news is that the graphics control is fine as it shows on the TV screen as perfectly OK. Have you tried the laptop screen with both of those options? If neither of them sorted the problem, then the lines shown on the laptop screen are not resolution problems as far as I can tell, it looks like a faulty screen may have been fitted, though Synapse may know a little more on that score and may be the frame rate, which should I think be 60HZ. Though if that were wrong I would expect to see problems on the TV screen. Nev.

Hi Rosman, thanks for considering a donation to us, you don't actually need to have a paypal account to donate, just click the donate button on the top of the index page, this takes you to the donation page where you can select how much, then click the "Proceed to Paypal.com" button, on the secure page that opens then, it tells you there that you can donate as a paypal guest using a credit or debit card. Hope that helps. Nev.

Just an idea, and not being an I Tunes user myself it is all it can be, but obtain a new tune and put that into the folder, is it recognised and can be played? If so, it may mean using Windows explorer to copy each existing tune to a new folder specially created for the purpose, delete the old and then send the copy back into the folder. Try that with just one tune first, does it work? Nev.

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help. There are basically two questions you are asking, firstly the screen on your laptop, it may be a simple problem and not too expensive to cure. With the laptop turned on and hopefully the operating system fully booted, try looking from the side or sideways on at the screen, can you see a vague outline of what should be showing? If so it is either the backlight lamp or the lamp inverter unit gone. These can be replaced fairly cheaply. Secondly you ask about retrieving the data. If the laptop has died completely and the screen cannot be repaired, the hard drive needs to be removed. You then connect that via an adapter to the USB socket of a known to be good computer, all your data can be copied over to that computer from the original hard drive. The original hard drive will show up on the working computer as an external drive in the same way a flash or pen drive does. Nev.

Hi, yes providing you have the right cables to go between the two. Any problem in that area let us know the socket or ports available on the TV and those on the back of the laptop. You may also need to set the laptop to work on an external monitor, which may be possible with the present scattered pixels screen you do have. Let us know how you get on with that. Nev.

Thanks for the info and link DSTM, it does get a little confusing as there are now so many to choose from. Comodo have used the Chrome engine but in their blurbs promise better privacy. I have looked at it, but not impressed as I also wasn't with Chrome. Like you, I like the looks of the Flash Peak slim, but being an offspring of Internet Explorer and in its looks too, I am naturally wary of it, though they have released a newer version since I last opened it earlier this month.

There are several browsers that have been released since this thread was started, most based on original engines that the three main ones work with which are Internet explorer, Firefox, and Chrome. the offshoots are many with at least one based on a slimmed down version of IE which is Flash Peak. Comodo released Comodo Dragon which uses the Chrome engine, Opera is I believe based loosely on Firefox, though not too sure of the technical stuff, though there are others including one called Iron which is one I have yet to try out, and not sure which engine that uses. Safari is the Apple Mac browser, though it works on Windows, it is supposedly the best for Mac and faster on them. Nev.

As Ken mentioned, write once only DVD disks can be an answer to prevent accidental deletion or alteration. Another but slightly lower form of protection is any SD card, as these do have a write protection switch on the side which when switched to the lock position they can only be read. It does of course mean having a card reader/writer, though most newer computers have them built in. A physical locking switch such as this is something USB flash drives could do with having, but a search hasn't turned one one up that does for me. High capacity SD cards are now widely available and don't cost too much either. Nev.

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help J. Perfectly possible providing the original hard drive is IDE, which is quite likely. It is to old for it to be SATA, though if old enough to be of an earlier standard than IDE you might be struggling to find something. You can obtain plain adapters or a complete caddy to connect an IDE drive to a USB port. Providing the drive itself wasn't damaged by the bang and presumed flash, it should show up in the same way any other drive such as a memory stick or thumb drive when plugged in. An adapter here at Maplin, though a search of Google for IDE to USB adapter might find one cheaper. http://www.maplin.co.uk/usb-2.0-to-ide-adaptor-35057 A complete caddy so it can be used as an external hard drive for future use, here on Amazon. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hard-Drive-Caddy-External-Enclosure/dp/B002K00G0W Hope that helps. Nev.