Standard issue cleaning procedure seems to have gone wrong; I’ll express what I did, what the problem is, and all investigations after the discovery of the problem:

[ What was done ] :: The keyboard was set in a baking pan of isoprophyl alcohol for about 15 mins. with occasional swishing and then dried overnight in order to clean the board out as per regular maintenance.

[ The Problem ] :: The "Left" key continuously fires off preventing any other key entry from being registered by the board.

[ Attempted Fixes ]

1. The general uninstall/reinstall drivers and devices.

2. Alleviation of pressure on the left key by removing all top layers and plugging the keyboard back into the ZIF connector in concern that it was a simple membrane issue.

3. A full cleaning of the entire keyboard, removing all keys, holders, and the button layers followed by another day’s drying. The thing is spotless and there is nothing to press on the membrane.

4. Virus scan with Avast / Avg, nothing came up.

I’m sure I couldn’t have covered everything. I know it’s the left key is being depressed because I used a computer program called KeyBoard Test, gotten from their official website, and while I’m concerned it’s a short I don’t know how to test for that.

Suggestions more than welcome!

Specs:
Gateway FX 6860, laptop part number: 90.4V607.N01

Technorati Tags: alcohol, alleviation, computer program, discovery, investigations, keyboard test, quot, virus scan, zif connector

I’d like a new laptop. The one I have now is a Toshiba Equium A210-17i (retro, huh?) and there are a couple of things wrong with it, but I’ll get to that after going through the specs..

14" Screen (ish?).
2GB RAM.
Windows XP Home Edition w/ Dual Core Processor.
160GB HDD.
x3 USB Ports, Wireless, DVD and Floppy drives.

Admittedly there are a couple of nuisances about it. It needs a new battery and therefore will only work if it’s plugged into the power cable, and the keyboard needs a little bit of work – just a case of getting some new keys fitted as these are wearing now. I’ve had this laptop for at least 4 years, and it’s in otherwise good condition. It’s very reliable and I’ll be sad to see it go, tbh!
There is also some visible wear and tear from over the years. A couple of MINOR scratches, but the real problems would be the shiny keys (from all my typing!) and some of the silver paint has worn away on the left mouse clicker and a patch at the right hand side. The patches are white.

Obviously I’m not expecting alot for it, but I was just curious as to how much I might get if I sell it because, seeing as though it’s still in perfect working condition dispite some cosmetic maintenance, it seems like such a waste to throw it away!

Thank you :)
It looks like this: http://www.interweb.in/attachments/toshiba/4235d1202539258-toshiba-equium-a210-17i-laptop-46545.jpg

Technorati Tags: a210, dual core processor, floppy drives, huh, interweb, left mouse, little bit, minor scratches, mouse clicker, new keys, nuisances, ports, power cable, quot, silver paint, toshiba equium, wear and tear, windows xp home, windows xp home edition, x3

Can someone give me tips on caring for my laptop? It frequently feels hot to the touch (even if I have not been using it all that long) and sometimes makes high-pitched squealing noises if I touch a certain point (but only sometimes). The CD-DVD drive will only open unless I use the "eject" command on My Computer, and it recently has stopped reading discs.

I don’t have money for computer repair, but I would like to keep my computer functional for as long as possible (and obviously I understand very little about computer maintenance… one of those silly university students). From my description, does it sound like it will die/crash/spontaneously combust in the near future?

Technorati Tags: computer maintenance, computer repair, crash, laptop, money, quot, university students

My laptop’s display is messed up. I get no video on right side of screen, while the entire laptop’s display is squished onto the left side. Sometimes there is a black line about 3 inches to the left of the blank area and in between the two blank areas is a 3 inch area of replicated screen. Also the start bar is a little high and it repeats to the bottom (last two things are hard to explain, maybe i can screen shot it later.

It reads my laptop display as digital flat panel with max resolution of 1024 x 768 when it should be reading it as something closer to wxvga laptop display max res. 1280 x 800. I can get full 1920 x 1080 on my 24" monitor, so it seems to be specific to the laptop screen…which is weird because I’ve taken the laptop apart a few times to check the backlight and inverter, as well as numerous other maintenance related items like dusting, so it shouldnt be a hardware problem (also, the black right half is clearly backlit its just blank. I have used system restore and driver magician to try to get rid of the problem, and sometimes it works temporarily but any time i reboot the problem reappears. When the problem is present my graphics options are twin, dual, and extended display, when not present its just dual and extended. I never used to have this problem, and i never used to have the twin option. I’ve tried everything i can think of aside from reinstalling windows…even /basevideo booting to try to see if its a faulty intel driver…but even basevideo reverts to this problem sometimes. The problem appears at boot (even in bios) and after. Im really stuck here, and it takes a very tough problem for me to get stuck with computers…any ideas people?

It could be my os install, i have xp pro right now but the system came with media center edition. I installed updated drives at the time (which actually were the same anyways) so i doubt it has anything to do with that…but i cant revert to xp mce because my pro tools box requires pro or home. If its a video card issue im screwed because its an integrated graphics card.

Technorati Tags: backlight, bios, blank area, blank areas, digital flat panel, driver magician, hardware problem, intel, intel driver, laptop screen, max res, max resolution, mce, media center edition, pro tools, quot, reinstalling windows

Old iMac runs 10.3.2 (kind with CRT built into housing). I tried to use a DWL-2100 AP connected to the ethernet port of the iMac. I made the DWL-2100 AP in the same IP range as the 2wire AT&T gateway. I assigned the proper IPs and subnets to the ethernet port on the iMac making sure not to use reserved IPs. The IP scheme is Class C. I used my panasonic toughbook to set up the AP and verify its operation. I set the AP into "AP Client Mode". The 2wire gateway sees the AP and can see the device behind it. The toughbook works just fine with the AP but the iMac does not. What can I do other than running Cat 5e to get the iMac connected to the 2wire gateway? What equipment might I need? I have a Hawking AP that will do Bridge mode. Will the wireless bridge work to connect the iMac to the 2wire gateway?
The going rates on a compatible Apple Airport card is more than a new computer. I need a solution that doesn’t require the install of a adapter that might not work.

Technorati Tags: 2wire gateway, amp, apple airport, bridge mode, bridge work, cat 5e, class c, client mode, crt, dwl 2100, ip range, ips, new computer, panasonic, panasonic toughbook, quot, subnets, wireless bridge

I’m going to buy new Notebook for Cad Applications and for 3DS Max Arch Visualizing and modeling, which one to chose..
if main programs that i use runs only on widows. (with ugly windows interface)
(Audotesk doesn’t have any soft for mac osx but i think with Paralel desktop it will be possible to run those software which i use. or maybe not ??)

This are apple parameters –>

MacBook Pro, 17", Aluminum price ~3000$
Part Number: Z0G6
2.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM – 2×2GB
320GB Serial ATA @ 7200
SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
MacBook Pro 17-inch Glossy Widescreen Display
Backlit Keyboard (English) / User’s Guide
Accessory kit

And here are HP s parameters. price 3200$

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T9400 (2.53 GHz, 6 MB L2 cache, 1066 MHz FSB)
–
HP 3D DriveGuard
–
2 GB 800 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
–
250 GB 7200 rpm SATA II
–
Blu-Ray Disc DVD+/-RW SuperMulti DL
– *
NVIDIA Quadro FX 2700M
–
I dont understand why hp is more expensive, Maybe because of NVIDIA Quadro FX, but in any case i thought that Mac will be much more expensive than any other windows running notebook .?
————-
HP’s Web site –
http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF25a/321957-321957-64295-3740645-3329741-3784202.html

Mac’s Website –
http://store.apple.com/us/configure/MB766LL/A?mco=MTkzOTI1MA

Technorati Tags: 3ds max, accessory kit, aluminum price, backlit keyboard, blu ray disc, cad applications, ddr2 sdram, dl, intel core 2 duo processor, mac osx, mb l2 cache, mco, nvidia, nvidia quadro fx, quot, s parameters, serial ata, widescreen display, widows, windows interface

Is it true that laptops are always slower and less responsive than a comparable desktop with the same amount of memory and graphics? I have a 6 month old HP Pavilion laptop ZV6233nr with an "AMD athlon 64 processor, (2.0 GHz, 512kb 1.2 cache) 100 gig hard drive with DVD + R/RW and CD-RW combo drive with double layer support". It also says something about ATI 200 series video driver. My husband plays "military games" with helicopters/airplanes, and also racing games. Should this computer be ok for this? If not, who makes a good system for game play?

Technorati Tags: airplanes, amd, athlon 64, cd rw, combo drive, double layer, dvd r rw, game play, gig, hard drive, helicopters, hp, hp pavilion laptop, laptops, memory, military games, quot, racing games, rw combo, video driver

I have a sony vaio vgn-fs660, and my "G" key is displaced. So how do I put this key back? My warranty’s expired unfortunately and I simply don’t wanna spend money on a computer maintenance shop for just one broken key…

Technorati Tags: computer maintenance, maintenance shop, money, quot, sony, sony vaio, sony vaio vgn, warranty

I have a Dell laptop, had it for I guess around 2 or 3 years now and recently I just had it reformatted for maintenance purposes. Well, as I typing in an email address I discovered that the @ key was now where the " were supposed to be, and visa verse. Upon further investigation I found A LOT of my keys were in different places, but only the "special" keys like that. The letters and numbers are fine. So, I’d like to know why and how do I fix it? Thanks in advance.

Technorati Tags: 3 years, dell laptop, different places, letters and numbers, maintenance purposes, quot, thanks in advance, visa

A co-worker just gave me a nice keychain, and inside is what he said is a memory stick. I can see the bold "1G" on it, and that’s about it. Since I could tell I was supposed to think it was a cool gift, I said, "Oh wow! Thank you so much!!" But, in actuality, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with the thing. Can you help me?

Technorati Tags: actuality, co worker, keychain, memory stick, quot

Extensive searching for reviews on the web have been frustrated by the endless commercialism at tech sites. Even CNET gives ony three sentence "reviews." Rediculous!!! The internet as such is one vast strip mall. Please, if you know about edge tech ram let me know your experience with it. TY.

Technorati Tags: commercialism, quot, strip mall, ty

Its a "Panasonic Toughbook 74 Notebook PC
Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7300, 2GHz, with Centrino Technology, 1GB RAM, 80GB Hard Drive, 13.3-inch XGA TFT Display, DVD / CD-RW Combo Drive, Windows XP Professional." It was seldomly used, in brand new condition. Only thing it needs is a new hard drive other then that it looks like it came right out of the box. Its about 2-3 years old, this is the exact model on the link provided. http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?ref=CNET&pfp=CNET&product_code=349635&cm_ven=CNET&cm_cat=&cm_pla=&cm_ite=feed

Technorati Tags: 3 years, amp, cd rw, cnet, combo drive, drive windows xp, exact model, inch xga, intel core 2 duo processor, new hard drive, notebook pc, panasonic, panasonic toughbook 74, pc intel, pfp, pla, quot, rw combo, toughbook 74, windows xp

I’ve been having a few issues with my laptop, and my warranty has expired, so I can’t send it back for repairs or maintenance. Oftentimes my computer begins to act like I have the control button pressed, and it will not allow me to type at all.

For example, I type "That’s not true". Instead the computer will believe I’ve pressed ctrl_T, ctrl_h, so on and so forth, etc…

Is there any possible way for me to disable the ctrl button? As in, make is unusable so if the computer believes I have it pressed it will have no effect on my typing?

Technorati Tags: control button, ctrl button, laptop, quot, warranty

I had read tons of reviews and still cannot decide. I curently have a 3" box fan at the back of my computer and it is the noisiest little fan ever.

I really want a cooling pad but there are so many of them and none of the have stellar reviews…

Any suggestions?

Technorati Tags: box fan, quot, stellar reviews

Same little portable drive works just fine on my roommate's computer, but gets security errors on work computers. Also the shortcut doesn't work on work computers–is it because it's "F" drive at home and "E" drive when I plug it into work?

Technorati Tags: quot, roommate, work computers