KenB

Hi, If you are spending £379 on a laptop no matter which one you select you are not going to get a high-end gaming machine. Found this for your Intel HD3000 click here Nvidia click here Many newer games require DirectX 11 compatability and if you are expecting to keep this for 5 years DirectX 10 will soon become dated.

The only area that needs to be perfectly clean is the metal flat surface of the chip itself. This is where the heatsink makes contact. The green area is a coating - an insulation coat if you like. You have done no harm by cleaning this but the metal surface of the chip is the important area. I would try a small screwdriver - just be gentle. You don't want to lift the green coating off.

I can understand if you have no hair left :) Start with the PSU - select the "best". Run this check on the voltages ( this is the only way to confirm that it is OK ...........and this isn't under load ! ) http://kenspchelp.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=10 Once you have the PSU checked over check the CMOS battery on the chosen m/board. It should read 3.0v If it is down below 2.8v replace it. Now you know that the PSU and CMOS battery are OK connect the 20 (4) way connector. Check for POST beeps. ( without any cards or other connections ) You should get some - IF the internal speaker is working. Note: If the tested voltages are down by more than 5% ( 12v reading 11.4v for instance ) then the PSU is not functioning correctly.

That has been a right botched job ! You need a completely flat clean surface to sit the heatsink on. If the bottom corner is raised ( which it looks ) then the heatsink is not going to do its job and the chip will overheat. That blob looks as if it will move if you got a small screwdriver behind it and persuaded it that it was time to go. You have made a nice job of the rest of it :) Once you have got rid of that - how are you going to attach the heatsink ? Are you going to take the m/board out and see if you can remove the broken plastic ........... Or are you going to use thermal glue ? Personally I would try to get the plastic out and put in the correct heatsink and fan.

Let us know how you get on :)

Hi and welcome to ExTS In addition to Nev's questions ........ You are not trying to install a 64bit version on a 32 bit machine are you ?

I found a thread that suggested that the Adobe PhotoDeluxe Business Edition 1.1. software came bundled with ( in this case ) the software for a HP scanjet printer. If you have any old printer CDs take a look at those - you may get lucky.

Depends when the upgrade was done. If it was recent - and it has been noisy since you got it back - they should look at it for free. They should put it right.

You are going to have to go back to basics with this one and strip off everything as in post #4 Unscrew the m/board and sit it on a piece of card or newspaper to insulate it from the case. Switch on. Do you get any POST beeps? ( This is assuming that you have an internal speaker )

When you moved the CPU and heatsink over to the new board - did you clean off the old thermal paste with rubbing alcohol and replace with new thermal paste ?

A clicking hard drive is an indication that the drive is dying. With all cards and connections off the m/board and the 20 ( 4 ) way connection from the PSU providing power if you are still not getting POST then it looks as if your initial diagnosis is correct. I am still suspicious re. the hard drive clicking. If it is then this is not good - it will not last too much longer ......if it boots up at all.

As Nev says - contact the people who did the upgrade. If you do buy a new case - and spend more money getting your hardware transferred - there is no guarantee that the noise will stop. You may simply be transferring the problem from one case to the next.

Hi, The adapter you bought - is it mains powered or USB ? If USB - does it have the option of 2 USB connections for power ? You should see the disk as "Disk 1" with the total size in GB below. It should also show the partition(s) to the right of this saying something like "NTFS" - "Healthy" When you say the volume is zero - are you referring to the disk size in GB ? If this is the case information from the disk cannot be read and the disk may have a corrupt file structure. I don't think it is anything to do with the User Account on your laptop. ================= You could try booting from a Linux DVD / CD to see if you can access the files from there. Linux Mint is a free - disk-based operating system ( totally different from Windows ) You will need to download either the DVD or CD ( cut-down) version to your desktop then click on the ISO file to burn it to DVD / CD ( select 32 or 64 bit depending on what is on your laptop ) Once the disk is burnt simply install it into the drive and shut the machine down. Start up and the DVD / CD should start Linux. Use the Default "Start Linux Mint" and the OS will be ready to use in a few minutes. It is NOT installed at this stage - NOTE ........you do not want to install it. Once it is up-and-running take a look around and see if you can locate the files on the external hard drive. It is available here http://www.linuxmint.com/download.php There is also a User Guide ( the first part is confusing and can be ignored ) I would refer to page 21 onwards - if you need to.

Not at all. Free software moves on and there are, in our opinion, better options out there than Spybot and AVG. But - if you are happy with them, and they work for you, then that is entirely your choice. :)

Hi I don't like the sound of this ( if you will pardon the pun :) ) Disconnect the power and data connections from the hard drive and switch on. Is the system stable ? Do you get POST beeps ?

Hi and welcome to ExTS Firstly - we do not recommend the use of Registry Cleaners / Optimisers of any description ( bought or free ) They can do more harm than good if they delete the wrong registry keys. You could find that, at some point, your system may not boot up at all. I would not trust this important, sensitive area of my system to a piece of software. My advice - stop using registry cleaners. I don't think it is a "threat" as such. A registry cleaner is not a malware removal tool. It removes unnecessary entries and keys that have "errors". If this only occurs when you run Regdoctor then there is nothing to worry about. If you want a tool to check for malware then Malwarebytes is the one that we use. click here There is a free version if you click on Products.

Hi and welcome to ExTS Can I ask why you think you need another motherboard ? If you do need another m/board if you don't get hold of exactly the same one that you have then you will need to re-install the Operating System. (Unless you have XP - then you can do a repair install) Give us a bit more background please. Further info: Your present board is a MS-7525 Boston click here Can you confirm that this is your board please ?

Look forward to hearing their response :)

I asked earlier if you could test the problem machine near the router and you said "no". It could be as simple as the router wireless signal not reaching the wireless adapter in the pc due to a weak signal.

Look forward to hearing the good news :)

The test is to do the following: Switch off at the wall but leave the plug in to maintain the earth ( ground ) connection. Disconnect all external hardware ( printer / monitor etc ) Strip all cards ( RAM / Video etc ) off the m/board. Disconnect the power connections to the hard drive and DVD drive Disconnect the data cables for these drives from the m/board end. Leave only the 20 ( 4 ) way connection from the PSU connected to the m/board Switch on. You should get POST beeps. If you don't get POST at this stage it is either the PSU or m/board at fault. This may help: http://kenspchelp.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=172 There is a voltage check for the PSU that I can give you a link to if you wish.

If the drive is replaced the Operating System will need to be installed on the new drive. To do this they will need the case - unless they build all of their systems using the same hardware and motherboard.

You are very welcome :) Not sure why doing what you did should solve the problem - but it doesn't matter - you got it sorted ........well done.

Hi Andy and welcome to ExTS If the m/board is exactly the same then there should be no problem swapping them over. How do you know that the m/board is at fault ?

Nothing to lose. How could you take it back straight away - it only fell off recently exposing the botched job and from your photographs it is obvious what has happened. Let me know how you get on :)