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DanG Laptop

Started by Magicman, September 16, 2016, 08:58:42 PM

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Magicman

Died.  The leds that should be blue are now yellow.   It does not go through it's normal startup.  I did the  stuff like unplugging and removing the battery but it just goes back to not coming on.  I used it this afternoon to upload a couple of pictures and make a couple of posts.

I'll have to use this old Dell until I can figure out what to do or more accurately, who to take it to.  I have not been able up upload pictures on this one since I did the Win10 thing.   :-\
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It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

OlJarhead

Start by getting rid of 'the win10 thing' ;)
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Magicman

Well this old HP apparently overheard me saying something about "waste management" and decided to start working again.  I was on the other laptop looking at refurbished units when the yellow led's turned blue and it booted up.  I guess that it was just going through some kind of updating or something.

OJH, this one is still a Win7, the backup is Win10.  Anyway, at least for now, I am back up and running, and I did not actually do anything.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

clearcut

The beginning of the end?

One thing to try if it does it again is to boot in Safe Mode. The procedure varies with manufacturer and operating system. Sometimes an automatic update will kill a  driver. Safe Mode loads only what is necessary.
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Magicman

I have always know that anything that "fixes" itself does not stay fixed.  Yup, it is dead again this morning.   :-\

I Googled "safe mode" and the instructions said, F8.  I never get a splash screen, advanced option screen, or any screen for that matter,  Just black.  I stuck the backup disc in the drive before as well as after I try to boot up.  I hear it click but still nothing.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Ox

Whenever I had a computer do stuff like that it was always the hard drive.  Of course this is where all the stuff you want to keep is stored.  Unless you're smart (unlike me) and save important stuff on another drive or disk or something.

Why is it a computer "disk" but a field "disc"?  Or am I wrong or backwards...?  ??? ::)
K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simple Stupid
Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without
1989 GMC 3500 4x4 diesel dump and plow truck, 1964 Oliver 1600 Industrial with Parsons loader and backhoe, 1986 Zetor 5211, Cat's Claw sharpener, single tooth setter, homemade Linn Lumber 1900 style mill, old tools

thecfarm

I'm a waitin for my dinosaur desktop to die. It grinds away and freezes up for ½ hour at a time. I mostly only do the FF, Anything else and it goes belly up and starts to grown. Forget Facebook.  ;D We really hand onto it just to print out recipes for the wife.
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Magicman

It just started up.  There are no sounds so I have no idea what is happening or not happening on the inside.

I guess that I had better start looking for a new laptop again. 
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Ox

Another thing to note:  these computers will "dust up" and won't cool properly.  A little compressed air in and around all the cooling vents sometimes works wonders.  They'll heat up and stop working sometimes...
K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simple Stupid
Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without
1989 GMC 3500 4x4 diesel dump and plow truck, 1964 Oliver 1600 Industrial with Parsons loader and backhoe, 1986 Zetor 5211, Cat's Claw sharpener, single tooth setter, homemade Linn Lumber 1900 style mill, old tools

Magicman

Yes they will and it is incredible how much dust/lint will accumulate on those cooling fins.  You would think that there would be a small cover to remove rather than having to remove the entire lower panel.

I have booted and shut down once more, and am satisfied that this thing needs either repairing or replacing.  Since a shop charges $100-$200 just to open the cover, replacement is probably the best option.  I just hate the startup/initializing process.   :-\
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

clearcut

If you're replacing, consider a Chromebook. Unless you have Windows specific software, or do video or major photo editing, you might find Chrome OS useful.

For web surfing, email, simple word processing, and spreadsheets Chromebooks just work. Updates and backups are automatic, and the Google keeps malware away. Your documents are accessible from any computer. Chromebooks go from off to ready in seconds.

Because Chrome OS is so lightweight, an inexpensive computer that would gag on Windows runs Chrome effortlessly. I would suggest 4GB of RAM and 32 GB storage though. These can be found for about $200.

I have one for the kids and it works great.

No Microsoft Office, except the web version which I don't like. Some people object to be so heavily reliant on the Google.

With the right voodoo, most Chromebooks can dual boot into Linux.

Worth considering.
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OlJarhead

I use Linux on my laptop.  It's an older one I was given with a bad hard drive, so I found a hard drive (nephew had one) and got linux on it...never fails, always works....free.

Too easy :)
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Magicman

I have an old Dell laptop at the Cabin that I was using for picture viewing and storage.  The power receptacle went bad so it has not been used in several years.  I wonder if the hard drive would fit in this HP?  Just as information, I refreshed my backup disc last week.   
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Ox

I too run only Linux.  Hard to beat, IMO.
K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simple Stupid
Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without
1989 GMC 3500 4x4 diesel dump and plow truck, 1964 Oliver 1600 Industrial with Parsons loader and backhoe, 1986 Zetor 5211, Cat's Claw sharpener, single tooth setter, homemade Linn Lumber 1900 style mill, old tools

Magicman

A trip to Wally was a bust.  13"-14" is large enough so there was really nothing there for me to decide on. 
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Magicman

OK, so I found a flow chart to show me exactly how to upload pictures with the Win10 thing. headscratch


 
Everything is perfectly clear and very easily understood.   smiley_dizzy 
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

OlJarhead

Quote from: Magicman on September 17, 2016, 12:29:29 PM
I have an old Dell laptop at the Cabin that I was using for picture viewing and storage.  The power receptacle went bad so it has not been used in several years.  I wonder if the hard drive would fit in this HP?  Just as information, I refreshed my backup disc last week.

probably but you'd have to change some drivers etc in order to get it work properly with a different MoBo and graphics card etc
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Magicman

I was just sorta thinking out loud.  I guess when laptops die they make good trot line weights.   ::)

I installed the "classic shell" on this laptop today and found my pictures and was able to upload and post so at least I am not dead in the water.  It also has my Excel and Word that I use quite a bit so whatever I get I do need those programs.  I see where MS will rent it to you for an annual fee, but I would much rather buy the program and be done with it.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Ianab

Unless you specifically need Word and Excel, you can download and install Libre Office. It basically works the same and can open and save MS Word and Excel files.

https://www.libreoffice.org/

Works under Windows, Linux or Mac.
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clearcut

Google Docs and Sheets do a pretty nice job of translating Word and Excel documents also.

I really dislike Excel 2016. It messed up my work flow. Creating new files from templates became a multi-step, error prone process. Ugh. With 2011, New File from Template was in the top toolbar and the last template used was selected. Click / Return.
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Magicman

I did not have Word & Excel on the dead HP laptop so I loaded Libre Office.  It worked fine but I never could move an Excel file to it.  I dunno, but it is a mute point now.  I would feel much more secure if both laptops had the same program so can open or duplicate my spreadsheets.  I surely would hate to have to rebuild all of those formulas again.

I am looking at a 14" Dell and I saw last night where MS Office 2010 was available online for ~ $70 and they said that it would work with Win10.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

OlJarhead

Try Open Office.  I find it reads the MS files just fine.
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clearcut

OpenOffice is having trouble attracting developers and is considering retiring the project.

In particular, security vulnerabilities are taking a long time to be addressed.

     http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/09/openoffice-after-years-of-neglect-could-shut-down/

In LibreOffice you can just use File / Open to import Excel files. Or right click and select Open With / LibreOffice.

An advantage to using Google Sheets which also can open Excel files is that your spreadsheets are automatically backed up.

Lots of choices.
Carbon sequestered upon request.

Magicman

I just ordered a Dell Inspiron 14 3000, which was $229 and free shipping.  I'll deal with the spreadsheet when it gets here but I surely was not about to pay Dell another $229 for Office.  If I can get the Libre Office to work it would simplify everything, plus free.

I hate to even think about the boot/startup procedure.   :-\
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

OlJarhead

Boot/Startup for Linux?  It's easy ;)

Or did you mean something else?

I'll admit, Linux isn't for everyone (don't pounce on me Penguin users!) as software installation isn't always the easiest (and how easy in my experience depends on versions used -- ie.e Debian vs RedHat vs SuSe etc)...but install is easy, bootup is easy, it comes with most of what you need (if not all) and never seems to crash ;)
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