Lightspeeds Laptop Computer Repair of Augusta, GA
Affordable Computer Laptop Repair & PC Support Service For Augusta, GA
Laptop, notebook computers, are very delicate, sensitive pieces of equipment. They are convenient because our notebooks can be taken anywhere, on the run, very quickly. Due to there mobility, over a 
desktop system, they have a very high service repair rate.
Laptops can overheat very easily, dust accumulates on the fan, cooling vents and prevents internal heat sink from doing it's job. Overheating, not properly cooling your laptop, notebook can lead to hardware failure. One to many "bumps" or drops can lead to hardware failure - bad hardrive, cracked screen, broken hinges, damaged internal AC power jack just for example. Laptop keyboards also have a high failure rate.
Laptop Repair Services:
Laptop LCD screen repair, laptop DC Power Jack repair, laptop hardrive replacement, laptop keyboard replacement, hard drive data recovery, virus, spyware detection, removal and prevention.
Servicing most Laptop/Notebook models - HP, Compaq, Toshiba, Dell, Sony, Gateway, Acer notebooks.
PHONE# 706-495-8164
Free Computer Laptop Diagnostics Included With Full Repair
Desktop Diagnostic Repair "Only Estimate": $45
Laptop Diagnostic Repair "Only Estimate": $65
("Diagnostic Estimate Only", can be applied at a later time towards full repair)
Lightspeeds Laptop Repair Services:
- Laptop Repair / Troubleshooting
- Laptop Setup / Software Installation
- Laptop Keyboard Repair & Replacement
- Laptop LCD Screen Repair & Replacement
- Laptop Hardrive Repair & Replacement
- Laptop Hardrive Data Recovery
- System Security Testing
- Memory, Hard Drive Upgrades / Installation
- Software Upgrades / Installation
- Operating System Updates
- Anti-Virus Installation
- Spyware, Virus Detection, Removal & Prevention
- Laptop Motherboard Replacement
- Internal Laptop DC Power Jack Repair / Replacement
Laptop Power Jack Repair Replacement On Most Models
Due to the design on of laptops, the mobility of, and the delicate nature of laptops, notebooks and it's electronics,, this IS a very common problem, #1 repair on laptops. For it is a VERY common weakspot in laptops, and notebooks. Damaging the internal power supply on laptops can happen very easily.
Symptoms Of A Faulty, Bad Laptop Power Connection:
- Your notebook power cord feels very loose when plugged into the internal jack on notebook
- Does you notebook power cord when plugged in "wiggle" up, down, left and right?
- The laptop only runs when you keep the power cord in a certain direction.
- The laptop only runs on battery power.
- The laptop will not charge the battery
- The laptop switches from AC power to battery power intermittently.
- The unit suddenly shuts off.
- There are no power indicators, lights, or worse, your laptop "sparks" out the back on unit.
- Or all of the above
How Laptop Internal Power Jacks Break:
Some power jacks fail under normal operation of your computer. After a year or two of usage, parts just 'come loose' on certain models.
Sometimes the laptop gets dropped and the cord "yanks" the internal power jack loose.
People, pets and vaccum cleaners all trip over laptop power cords on a daily basis, pulling, loosening, damaging the internal connection.
The laptop is moved around a lot. After the jack is moved back and forth enough times, it comes loose.
An internal power jack on a laptop "unseats" from the solder joints, or the thin prongs snap away from the board causing the electric circuit to stop or be intermittent. Most repair shops will diagnose this as a bad motherboard which can be a $450-$700 estimate repair by them, replacing the motherboard. Manufactures charge $500 for power jack repair on laptops, once again by replcaing the entire motherboard. (mainboard)
In most cases, 95% of the time, the internal power jack on a laptop can be replaced, if completely broken, OR repaired. Sometimes, it can very well be a bad, faulty motherboard in the laptop. If the power connector within the laptop is completely broken, cracked, it could of "shorted" out, or power surged the motherboard. Causing damage to the motherboard (mainboard). Operating a laptop WITH a faulty power connector (if you move the power cord into the right position, it powers on, for example) can also eventually short, and damage the motherboard (mainboard).
Depending on your model laptop, the extent of damage of the internal power connector,
Laptops DC Power Jack Repair $125
(Includes part, labor, dis-assembly, complete internal cleaning including fans,
Artic Silver Thermal compound on CPU, re-assembly and a complete test of your laptop)
This Service Takes Approximately 1 Week
Laptop LCD Screen Replacement:
LCD Definition: Liquid Crystal Display, is the technology used for displays in notebook and other smaller computers. Like light-emitting diode (LED) and gas-plasma technologies, LCDs allow displays to be much thinner than cathode ray tube (CRT) technology.
LCD Definition at Wikipedia
There are 5 components to a laptop LCD screen, an inverter, backlight, inverter cable, motherboard, and screen. Common Laptop LCD screen problems, and repairs: cracked screen, backlight repair, distorted display, or completely black screen.
LCD Failures:
Hardware failure - LCD, inverter, cable or backlight
Symptoms:
The laptop appears to start as usual but the screen is black, if you move it, it turns on and works properly.
The laptop appears to start as usual but the screen is very dark, although it changes colour a little and you can see a very feint image. Failed inverter or cable.
Immediately after starting the screen has dark pink/red tint and turns dark after a few seconds. Failed backlight.
The screen flickers a few times but then turns dark, if you move it or tap it lightly on the sides, it flickers again. Failed cable or LCD.
Screen is either black or white (no picture) and external monitor works. Failed cable or LCD.
There are stripes on the screen (vertical or horizontal) that change when you move the screen or tap it lightly on the sides. Failed cable or LCD.
If the screen is black, look for the “lid closed” switch and try pushing it a few times. It’s usually a small switch near the hinges that is pressed when the lid(the screen) is closed. Sometimes these switches get stuck in the “lid closed” position that results in black screen(no backlight) or non-starting laptop. Also some laptops have a magnetic switch that doesn’t get stuck.
Along with your laptops LCD screen, the LCD hinges often become loose, or break do to mis-use, or normal operation over time. I have seen to many pick there laptop up with the LCD screen open by the screen itself. Laptop LCD hinges can be replaced also.
New LCD screen prices vary from manufacture, and model#, can quote a price once I know this information.
Installation of New Laptop LCD Screen = $69
Laptop Hardisk Failure:
Hard disk failures are the most common computer hardware problems. And laptop hard disks fail more often than desktop HDs. If you knock hard, or drop your laptop even a few inches while it’s working, you may damage the HD. Hardrive replacement involves reinstalling the operating system on the new hardisk. Your operating disk, or recovery disk is needed for this repair.
Symptoms:
The laptop starts as usual but when Windows starts to load it goes to blue screen with either “UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME”, “hal.dll is missing or corrupt” or “WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM” (or similar) is missing or corrupt. All these error messages indicate a filesystem problem. Sometimes it can be fixed by just scanning the HD for errors. However in over 50% of the cases these errors indicate that the HD is starting to go bad and is probably developing bad sectors.
The laptop starts as usual but Windows freezes on the initial “Windows XP” screen, although the blue bar continues to move, and you can hear faint but continuous clicking. Run diagnostics tests, replace hardisk.
Overheating:
Frequent overheating WILL damage the motherboard!
Symptoms - The laptop starts beeping, freezes, restarts by itself or shuts down after it has been on for some time, typically 10-15 minutes or more. If you start it again, it does the same thing after just a few minutes.
Most laptops overheat because the fan intake is blocked either from placing the laptop on a soft surface (your lap or bed) or by dust. Sometimes overheating is caused by a fan malfunction. If the fan is completely stuck, the laptop will show an error message immediately after starting. Internal dust will block the heatsink cooling vents also inside of a laptop, or as mentioned above, block the internal cooling fan. DO NOT use your laptop directly on your bed, for the bed or comforter will block the intake air vents, causing an overheat, and shorten internal hardware life.
I do recommend purchasing a laptop cooling pad. It's a small stand/pad that sits under the laptop, that usually has 1 or 2 small fans built in that blow cool air onto the bottom of laptop. This laptop cooling pad below is made by Belkin products, fan is powered by your USB port on laptop. You can see in the picture on right, airspace is created for good airflow and cooling.
This one below is approx $25-$35, and IS a definite good investment for your laptop.
Some laptops are designed very poorly when it comes to cooling, either with NO intake cooling vents, or the vents are very small. I have modded a few laptops using a dremel tool to cut out an intake cooling vent on the bottom casing. I don't recommend this service if your laptop is still under warrenty.
Fan replacement depending on make, and model laptop ranges from $35-$75 for a new internal replacement fan.
(Laptop must be completely dis-assembled, re-assembled)
This cleaning service alone, with no other service is $75
This cleaning service is automatically performed when ever your laptop is dis-assembled for ANY hardware repair or replacment by Lightspeeds, at No Charge!
Artic Silver Thermal compound is widely used on computers through out the computer gaming industry, and by computer overclocking enthusiasts. Artic Silver is known for it's cooling, heat transfer properties on the processor, and is highly rated around the internet, and custom computer gaming forums. What is installed by desktop and laptop manufactures is a generic thermal compound, or thermal pad between the processor and heatsink fan, which does not cool quite as well. The average temperature drop when using Artic Silver thermal compound is approx. 8-12 degrees on a desktop system.
Laptop Keyboard Replacement:
All the laptops available in the market are not standardized. Each manufacturer has different sizes of laptops to offer and sometimes the size of the parts differ. This fact is not a problem, at least not until the laptop starts needing repairs or replacement parts. Since one laptop is quite different from the other. The main problem that arises due to rigorous usage of laptop keyboards is of damaged keys. Sometimes, the port that connects the keyboard to the laptop inside also gets damaged. If the damage is of the connecting cable inside the laptop, there is not much repair work required. Repair is surely possible if there is a problem with some of the keys.
Every key in any keyboard has a spring like arrangement that allows the key to press the sensor below and show the typed words on the screen. Most of the problems with keyboards and their keys occur when it refuses to press the sensor below and the typed alphabet will not show on the screen. It is not easy to find as small a spare part as a few damaged keys.
New keyboard for laptops range from $20-$65 depending on make and model laptop/notebook.
Installation a new laptop/notebook keyboard = $45
The "Liquid Spill" On A Laptop, What To Do & What Not To Do:
If you own a laptop, there is a big possibility that you may spill some sort of liquid (coffee, soda, water, etc.) on it.
If this happens DO NOT TRY TO POWER IT BACK ON. If the computer has turned itself off, and you try to turn it back on, you may damage the computer more. If the computer is still running turn it off immediately, and don't turn it back on. Below are a few things to keep in mind if something is spilled on the laptop.
As was stated before, DO NOT try to turn the computer back on yourself.
Turn off your laptop as quickly as possible, unplug, and pull the battery out.
If there is a large amount of liquid turn the computer on its side like you were trying to make a corner wall with the laptop. This will help some of the liquid to drain out. Then turn it upside down and let gravity do the work, in trying to keep the liquid from drying othe components.
Depending on what was spilled on your laptop, the liquid may be corrosive, like cola and can still be doing damage to your laptop. The best defense is sending your laptop in for repair as soon as you can, this is absolutely crucial if you want your laptop to be repairable The quicker you get you laptop into the hands of a professional, the better chance you have of minimizing the damage.
- The longer a liquid stays on the motherboard, the more time it has to dry, and the more time it has to dry the harder it is to clean. Obviously the harder it is to clean, the more you will be charged for it. Also for some of the more acidic liquids, it can start eating away at the motherboard which will make your laptop very expensive to fix, if it is fixable at all.
What Not To do:
Do not turn your laptop back on! A lot of people will make at least one attempt to see if their laptop still works after the spill. This is the worst thing you can do. I can not stress how important it is to keep your laptop turned off, with no power available to it, until it is fixed.
As you can see, your reaction to a spill can minimize the damage that spill can do to your laptop. I have seen laptop repairs from spills range from simple cleaning and diagnostics, to replacing motherboards, and it is easy to tell when the owner handled the spill correctly and when they didn’t.
Many times this accident is not reversable, for the electronics inside of a laptop are very delicate, and complex.
Protect Your Laptop Keyboard from Liquid Spills - Video
This service I don't provide, just posted for information as to........... "DO NOT TURN LAPTOP BACK ON"
PHONE# 706-495-8164