Not to "derp" things up, but does this person ever, you know, shut it down?
I suppose the basic point I'm making is, make sure your first checklist is the basic basics, such as "Is it plugged in?", "Is it turned on?" "Have you blown the 'Cheetos' out of it?" etc., etc. etc.
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Not a bad idea to re-think the basics! I think I've covered all those, but I can't be absolutely sure, since there's still a problem. So maybe I've overlooked something basic. This laptop spends most of its time SHUT DOWN. But come to think of it, I'll have to find out HOW she shuts it down. This is a Windows 7 OS, so you're supposed to click on the blue circle in the bottom left corner (says "Start" when you hover the mouse over it) and select
Shut down. Then you have to wait while the operating system closes down normally which takes a minute or two. I knew a guy who is real impulsive like the owner of this computer is, and I had to watch him when he shut down his computer when I came over to help him when he was having problems with it. He had a tower HP desktop with an ON switch on top of the front face frame. I couldn't believe what I saw when he was turning off his computer he pressed the ON switch and held it down until the computer suddenly blinked off and the screen went dark. I asked him if he always turns it off that way, and he said, "Yeah."
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I explained to him that could be most of his problem right there. He had no idea what I was talking about. I said that the computer has a list of things it needs to do in order to shut down normally and you give it the chance to do those things by clicking on the "Shut down" option that appears on the screen. He admitted that he didn't like to wait for that, PLUS he is afraid to leave the computer on when he isn't right there in front of it because he thinks it might catch fire. So when he has to go to the kitchen or answer the door, he usually presses the ON button and holds it down like that to be sure the computer is OFF. I explained to him that every time he forces it to crash like that he does a little damage to the hard drive, so he's wearing out his drive a lot faster, plus it could be causing the system to run slowly because the drive has to jump over the damaged places and re-arrange all its disc information. He said, "Oh, I didn't know that; I thought I was just turning it off like a desk lamp or a radio."
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He drives a Mercedes Benz Diesel sedan, and when he starts the engine he NEVER waits for the glow plugs to warm up but sticks the key in the ignition switch and twists it letting the engine crank over until it starts. I told him he's wearing out his starter, his battery and his ignition switch like that. He didn't care. About two years later he had to spend $2,000 fixing the ignition switch and starter plus he wore out two batteries. The battery is HUGE, about 18 inches wide and costs about $180.
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You never know how someone uses a machine when nobody's watching.
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The laptop power is okay (battery fine, charger okay, plugged in, charged 100%, then unplug charger to avoid over-charging, don't let the battery go below 30% before charging again). Next step might be to open the cooling ports (remove screws on the bottom and remove the panel covering circuits and stuff) and remove any dust from the fan and heat sink area. I had a laptop that got clogged with cat hair in a corner pocket that wasn't obvious at first. When I used a pipe cleaner with a hook bend in the end I was able to drag out a clump of hair and that made the operating temperature improve a lot. But that wasn't this laptop.
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If this was an Apple laptop it would be a service call because they don't want owners to open up the notebooks. But I've known of guys who do it anyway. Basically it comes down to ruining the first computer in the process of learning how to open it up -- then you can use the experience to safely open the second computer.
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Topic: How to speed up a PC that's running slowly (Read 4724 times)