Laptops (also called notebooks) are portable personal computers with an integrated screen and keyboard. They come in a variety of sizes.
92
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9answers
28k views
Is it better to use a laptop on battery or on AC power?
When I'm at home, is it better to use the laptop plugged into AC power, or with just the battery, for the overall battery life?
45
votes
4answers
7k views
Can I use my laptop as a second monitor for my desk computer?
Is it possible to make my laptop's screen be a second monitor for my desk computer?
131
votes
6answers
49k views
Should laptops remain plugged in when their battery is 100% charged?
When your laptop's battery is 100% charged, should you leave it plugged in so any battery power doesn't get used, or will that cause overcharging, overheating, etc.? Should the laptop be unplugged ...
6
votes
2answers
6k views
Charging laptop with non-original charger
I have a Toshiba Satellite laptop. My charger has stopped working.
I have access to a Lenovo charger. Can I use this charger on my laptop?
41
votes
6answers
8k views
What is it that kills laptop batteries?
There are many superstitions on what you must never do lest your battery become worthless - and by worthless I mean hold about 16 - 24 seconds of charge. This has happened to every laptop I have ever ...
18
votes
8answers
659 views
What are some good practices for making sure my laptop battery serves its full life?
Basically, I'm looking for some do's and don'ts. Is it bad to keep my laptop plugged in when I'm not using it (majority of the time)? Is it bad to plug it in once I've finished using it (with it ...
20
votes
11answers
64k views
Laptop power supplies, does current matter?
I have two laptops (same manufacture), with the same type of power connector.
However, the power supplies/transformers are slightly different.
The output on the first laptop's power supply is ...
39
votes
10answers
142k views
Connecting 2 External Monitors to a Laptop?
Equaling 3 Displays Total (or 2, if the laptop display cannot be used).
I work at home on two large monitors, but at the office on a laptop with a single large monitor. Is it possible to attach two ...
1
vote
2answers
6k views
Everything running super slow in Windows 7 on my Dell Laptop
Recently my laptop has become really sluggish. I have Windows 7 and Windows Explorer often freezes or the hour glass comes up and never goes away. I often can't close windows, and when I do, again the ...
3
votes
4answers
5k views
Reset or remove the BIOS password on my laptop
I have a laptop but forgot the BIOS password. I cannot go beyond the BIOS password screen and need to continue.
Is there any way I can reset or even remove the BIOS password on my laptop?
6
votes
3answers
1k views
Is there any way to execute something when closing the laptop's lid?
I'm wondering if there is any way to execute a program, run some command or anything else when closing the laptop's lid.
My question aims to be generic, both for Windows and Linux. Something useful ...
14
votes
0answers
2k views
How long will an unused hard drive store its memory? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
How much time until an unused hard drive loses its data?
I have a broken laptop, and it's the motherboards fault that it can't turn its power on.
The laptop has been ...
3
votes
4answers
707 views
Can a 20V 4.51A power supply be used with a computer that requires a 19V 3.42A power supply?
I have a laptop that says it needs a 19V 3.42A power supply. I have a Dell 20V 4.51A power supply.
Can I use this power supply with my laptop, or will it destroy the machine?
26
votes
19answers
1k views
How to prepare your PC or laptop for theft
Of course preventing them from getting stolen is the top priority, but invariably, someone is going to get jacked. What are some good practices to minimize the damage incurred when your PC is stolen?
...
24
votes
8answers
62k views
How to disable NVIDIA Optimus on a Dell XPS 15?
I've got a new Dell XPS 15 (L502x) with an NVIDIA GeForce 540M, Intel Core i7Q 2.2 Ghz, and Crucial RealSSD hard drive. As with most laptops with NVIDIA cards these days, it's got the "Optimus" ...
18
votes
8answers
8k views
What makes a laptop overheat?
Is there a correlation between CPU usage and heat? RAM usage? Other things?
How can software affect overheating in a laptop?
13
votes
8answers
44k views
Is it bad to put your computer in sleep mode every time?
Often I have a lot of stuff open and don't feel like shutting down my laptop, so I just use sleep mode when I'm transferring it. But I have no idea if this might have any disadvantages.
So my ...
11
votes
4answers
25k views
What is a free/open source tool to allow me to control another computer or use it as a second monitor?
I tried MaxiVista (their free trial) recently for using my laptop as a second monitor and it worked great. It also allowed me to control my laptop from my desktop PC. Does anyone know of a tool that ...
8
votes
6answers
5k views
Disable CD eject button on Windows laptop
Most laptops have a CD eject that is very sensitive, and placed such that it regularly gets triggered when handling the laptop. This is in particular a problem (for clumsy-handed me) when picking up ...
4
votes
2answers
3k views
Replacing notebook SATA hard disk with SSD without reinstalling
So there's a notebook (Lenovo Thinkpad Z61m) with a SATA hard disk, the SATA controller is configured for native AHCI operation & the OS is Windows XP. The hard disk is going to be replaced with ...
12
votes
3answers
2k views
Are notebook batteries generally hot-swappable?
I have a new HP Compaq 610. Most of the time I use it plugged and with the battery removed, to avoid wearing it. Sometimes I need to move it to somewhere else - currently I hibernate the machine, move ...
3
votes
4answers
2k views
Battery charge suddenly drops from about 25% to 6%
I own a Lenovo Y500 series laptop.
The battery being an year old lasts only 1 hour.
But the strange thing is that, when the charge comes down to 25-20 it drops to 6%(critical battery level) in a ...
2
votes
3answers
3k views
Dell Inspiron 6400 indicates the wrong power adapter is plugged in and will not charge the battery
I am using the original power adapter with the Dell Inspiron 6400 laptop and now when it boots up I get the following error message.
The AC power adapter type cannot be determined. You system will ...
11
votes
8answers
4k views
Do newer laptop batteries still need to be drained before recharging?
10 years ago when I was doing hardware support it was best practice to fully drain a laptop battery prior to recharging in order to maximize its life. Is this still the case or can a battery now be ...
8
votes
3answers
26k views
Maximum temperature laptop internals can handle? Cooling options?
So I have a Compaq CQ50-215CA and my sister was using her laptop on her bed and I was just using it quickly to check my email. The surface of the laptop was really hot and I opened Speccy to see that ...
4
votes
3answers
3k views
Is it safe to use a power supply with a different laptop? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
charging laptop with a diffrent manufacture charger
I have a Dell Vostro 1500 laptop, but unfortunately I lost the power supply in Indianapolis last month. I have a power ...
7
votes
3answers
262 views
How to get the most out of laptop battery life of a Windows PC?
I'm a big fan of portability and battery life. I want to take the most out of a single recharge. Any tips to accomplish that?
Things on top of my mind:
Voltage reduction (with RMClock, any better ...
4
votes
2answers
1k views
Tools to find bottlenecks in hardware configuration
I'm thinking of upgrading my notebook and I want to find the tightest bottlenecks in its hardware configuration to target my money in the most efficient way. So what software tool can you recommend to ...
8
votes
4answers
13k views
Will cold weather break my laptop?
Situation:
It's -5 °C outside and I'm bringing my laptop to school in my bag. I spend a lot of time walking outside in the cold. Then I go into the school where it's 25 °C and fire up the laptop ...
4
votes
3answers
43k views
How can I disable my laptop's built-in keyboard?
I have a HP Compaq Presario C700 laptop with Windows 7 installed on it.
My laptop's keyboard is not working properly; some keys never work and some keys will keep on pressing. I've formatted the OS ...
4
votes
4answers
3k views
Are laptop hard drives fairly generic, or do I need to be careful to get the right one for my computer model?
I have a Dell Inspiron 1525 laptop, and the hard drive is failing and I'd like to get a new one.
What I'm wondering is, do I need to buy a hard drive specific to my computer model, or are laptop ...
3
votes
2answers
511 views
Just installed Windows 7, some things not working out-of-the-box
My Dell Inspiron N5010 laptop is a little under a year old now. It came with Windows 7 x64. When I first bought it Windows Aero was working fine. Anyway, it got infected with trillions of viruses ...
2
votes
2answers
205 views
Is it possible to use a PC as a external drive via USB?
I have a bluray player that has a USB interface that allows me to plug external hard drives and pendrives for me to play movies or music files.
I was wondering if it's possible to have the PC or ...
1
vote
2answers
622 views
External video card for notebook?
I'd like to hook an external monitor to my notebook as I need a higher resolution (1680x1050).
My notebook supports that resolution (via analog vga out) but the quality is pretty awful - there are ...
11
votes
3answers
8k views
Anti-glare filter for glossy laptop screen?
For some reason (technical? fashion?), just about every laptop today comes with a glossy screen, which makes them pretty much unusable when there's any light in the backgound.
I have a 13.3" 16:9 ...
2
votes
5answers
6k views
How to stop flash from raising my CPU temperature?
I've found that, although my laptop CPU temperature is usually 50-65C, whenever I keep running flash applications on any of my two browsers (chrome, firefox) it gradually keeps rising, to the point of ...
5
votes
3answers
15k views
Is there an alarm clock app for Windows (running on a laptop)?
I need to use my laptop computer as an alarm clock. The laptop is specifically an X301 running Vista Enterprise
Features I am looking for in this application, ordered by importance:
Will work even ...
7
votes
8answers
6k views
I just spilt coffee on my laptop, what should I do?
I have just dropped a half full latté on my company laptop and am not sure what to do.
Is there a way I can make sure that my laptop is usable again?
What steps must I go through to improve it's ...
9
votes
2answers
7k views
Is my install 32 or 64bit?
I'm trying to find out if my Ubuntu install is 32 or 64bit.
The best I can find is "i686" does this mean its 32 bit?
Whats the correct way of finding out if the Ubuntu installed on my laptop is 32 ...
7
votes
4answers
2k views
Why does the Fn key on my laptop not work when used with an external keyboard?
On my Dell Latitude E6400, the up and down arrow keys are used to change the brightness of the screen when used with the Fn key.
I connected an external keyboard via USB and tried to increase the ...
6
votes
3answers
1k views
Are Laptop Cooling Accessories (Pads, external fans, etc.) Effective?
I am asking about the effectiveness of these:
And/or add-on cooling fans like these:
Should cheap ones be bought or are expensive ones are the way to go?
4
votes
1answer
251 views
Storing a laptop for a month
I won't be using my laptop for a month. I remember I let a laptop sit all summer and the battery failed.
How do I store a laptop and battery properly?
3
votes
3answers
2k views
Processor Heatsink - Thermal paste application
Do I have to apply more thermal paste to put the processor heat sink back into the laptop? OR, do I just need to make sure that the screws are tight, and it will work? What are the problems with not ...
3
votes
1answer
2k views
Use laptop A's LCD as secondary monitor for laptop B [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Can I use my laptop as a second monitor for my desk computer?
I have a working laptop (laptop A), but am interested in using the laptop's LCD as a secondary monitor for ...
12
votes
4answers
8k views
Can I install a laptop 2.5" SATA drive on a desktop without any adapters?
My girlfriend's computer has had the disk so I'm going to reinstall the operating system. However, before I do this I need to get all the data onto another machine. As the laptop won't stay on long ...
4
votes
5answers
19k views
Charge a laptop via USB power (500mA)?
My laptop is almost dead and I do not have the charger. Is there anyway I can DIY a charger for a laptop. Even if it takes 20 hours. To make it clear, I want to send power from a usb port on another ...
3
votes
3answers
18k views
Can I use a power adapter with more current but lower voltage on another laptop? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Laptop power supplies, does current matter?
I have the opposite problem outlined in Laptop power supplies, does current matter?
My AC adapter (19 V, 3.95 A, ...
2
votes
3answers
133 views
Am I able to upgrade to Windows 7?
I have a HP Pavilion dv5224ea (60gb hard drive, 512mb memory and 1.6Ghz Intel Core Duo Processor) laptop which was classed as “Vista Capable”. I have since upgraded the hard drive to a 250gb drive and ...
1
vote
0answers
617 views
Why touchpad glitches when Ethernet cable is connected?
I have two laptops (black and white) both connected to the same mains.
when I then with Ethernet cable and connect black laptop to AC adaptor, white laptops's touchpad starts glitching: can't ...
1
vote
5answers
1k views
Whats the deal with these new lower clock speed CPUs on Laptops? Can they still run apps well?
I'm looking at some new laptops, and I'm seeing the AMD Neo CPUs at 1.5GHz, and some of the new Intels at 1.3-1.8GHz. The laptops they are on come well supplied in terms of RAM (up to 8GB) and Video ...
