To test the battery itself, you can use pre-boot diagnostics. This is a quick diagnostic test that checks hardware across your laptop.

It can test the battery, along parts like the hard drive and fans.

You’ll need to restart your laptop, then press a specific key to trigger pre-boot diagnostics.

Each brand of computer comes with their specific key for this test. For example, it’s “F12” for Dell computers, “Esc” for HP computers, and “D” for Apple Macs.

There is no specific test for the motherboard, but if pre-boot diagnostics comes back to you with failure reports on the RAM and GPU, you may be able to confirm a motherboard failure. This is because the RAM and GPU are embedded on the motherboard of most modern laptops.

On Apple MacBook laptops, if Apple Diagnostics reports a SMC failure, you can also confirm a logic board failure. The motherboard is where power runs through to reach the battery, so the battery will be unable to charge without this channel.

For the charger and charger port, you can use a spare charger to test them first. If that doesn’t work, you can check the charger port with a multimeter. This tests the charger port for failures, as they may become bent or loose. That way it is unable to carry the charge from the charger.

2. My laptop won’t turn on. Is the battery dead?

Not necessarily.

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t actually need a working battery to turn on your laptop.

A laptop that won’t turn on might make most laptop users think they need a battery replacement, but that isn’t so. It’s a common scapegoat for dead laptop issues.

Even if you do have a dead battery, you should still be able to turn the laptop on, as long as it is plugged in to the power adaptor (charger pack).

The battery is only the part that stores power to use while the laptop isn’t plugged in. It’s not the part that powers up your laptop.

That’s the motherboard’s job.

The power current goes from the charging port to the motherboard, where power goes through the circuit board to all the other parts of the laptop.

So when your laptop won’t turn on, it’s not because of a dead battery.

It isn’t simply the motherboard’s fault either, it could be some other hardware issue.

A dead laptop can mean a few hardware failures coming from either the motherboard, RAM, or video card. These components are crucial for the laptop’s start up process, and when one falls, the laptop might not be able to turn on.

3. Do I need to unplug my laptop once it reaches full charge?

No, you don’t need to unplug your laptop once it reaches full charge. Leaving the charger cable plugged in your laptop won’t “overcharge” or harm the laptop’s battery life.

I can tell this from my own experience of having seen thousands of computers that need repairs.

I myself have always preferred plugging the charger in whenever I can. While my wife has always used her laptop on battery. Both of our laptops have lasted for well over 8 years!

So, you don’t have to worry about leaving your laptop to charge overnight. You can just leave the charger in while you use it, while you’re not using it, anytime really.

The lithium-ion batteries on modern laptops are made with a mechanism that is designed to stop charging the battery once it reaches full charge.

This avoids the accidents that may happen if the battery keeps charging and starts to heat up. If you click on the battery icon on your laptop, you should see it indicating “plugged in, charging” or “plugged in, fully charged”.

If you’re concerned about battery life deteriorating, that shouldn’t be a big problem with lithium-ion batteries. Lithium-ion batteries are also made to be able to be recharged over and over again, without losing their power capacity.

You could charge your laptop hundreds of times and that wouldn’t change its average battery life and performance. Of course, after about 600 charging cycles or more, the battery could lose its performance and start to fail. Then you’ll need to replace it.

4. What does “service battery” on my MacBook mean?

Apple MacBook laptops have different battery status indicators that tell users about their batteries and when it needs to be serviced. This includes “service battery”, “replace soon”, or “replace now”. Newer Macs may just show “service recommended”.

“Service battery” means that the battery may be holding less charge or isn’t working as well as when it was new. The battery is still working and can be charged up and used, but will need a little attention soon. You might want to take it to the Apple Store for some TLC.

As we’ve mentioned above, a high charging cycle count means that the battery may be on its way out soon. You can check your cycle count on your Mac, from “System Information”. Go to Hardware > Power, then you’ll be able to see “Battery information”.

There you can find information like your laptop’s full charge capacity and cycle count. You can only look up the maximum cycle count for your Mac model from Apple Support.

Although a high charging cycle count should be something to be aware of, it’s not the only cause of laptop battery failure. Even a battery with a low cycle count can fail. Along with the performance of the battery, the way the battery’s been used, and the overall performance of the laptop can cause battery failure.

5. Should I use a surge protector?

Yes, you should!

A surge protector can protect your laptop from getting fried by a current gone awry. When a power surge happens, the current is redirected to other sockets and can pass into your laptop through the charger.

This can do all sorts of damage, including burning the motherboard or frying the battery.

However, don’t assume that a power board with surge protector will prevent power spike from damaging your computers completely. It helps, but it’s not 100% protection.

Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) is a much better power surge protector for your computers.

If your computer is critically important for your business, you should consider getting a UPS. Many businesses have UPS for their main computers, printers.

Need laptop battery replacement?

Hopefully, we’ve answered what you want to know about your laptop’s power and battery options.

If you need more advice and help with your laptop, we’re here to help! At Safemode Computer Service, located in the heart of Inner West Sydney, our experienced technicians can assist you with any computer issue you have. We fix all computers, whether you have a desktop or laptop, PC or Mac. Call us today, or come on down to our Enmore store!

How to save your laptop from liquid damage

If you paid attention in grade school science, then you should know that liquids and electricity don’t mix. We know what can happen when you touch a lightswitch when wet hands, and that same accident can happen when you spill something on your laptop. It can also cause significant damage to the electronic circuits on your laptop.

When these accidents happen, it’s always important not to panic, and always put your safety before the laptop. At the same time, there are also ways to save your laptop from liquid spill damage, as much as you can.

What happens to my laptop after I’ve spilled something on it?

Sometimes an innocent knock from your arm can tip your drink right all over your keyboard. It happens, sometimes these things just do. Just how much trouble are you in? Depending on the type of liquid and how much of it was spilled on the laptop, it can go from completely fine to completely dead. Let’s see why.

Steer clear of these liquids

As computer technicians who have been in the game for a long time, we’ve repaired a fair few liquid spill damaged laptops. It’s not just water spills too, we’ve seen different kinds of liquid damage from coffee, wine, or even seawater. The amount of liquid could also affect the scope of the damage on your laptop. It could be just a splash of water, or a flood from leaving it out near an open window during a rainstorm.

Some common kinds of liquid spills include water, coffee, wine, or soft drinks. Naturally, the more pure the type of liquid, the less trouble it will bring. With drinks like water and black coffee, repairs jobs are quite manageable. This is because it does not leave much residue that needs cleaning up when the liquid evaporates naturally. In certain cases, laptops with water spills can survive without needing any repair work. Still, water can definitely damage or rust up the circuitry and connective points on your laptop.

Sugary drinks and corrosive liquids on the other hand though, are much trickier to handle. These not only ruin electronics, they also leave behind sugary residue that can stick up and ruin your keyboard. This makes it harder to clean the laptop. Even if your keyboard does survive, the sugary substances can cause sticky keys and wreck the keyboards mechanisms.

Corrosive liquids like beer and seawater do the most damage. If these liquids get into the motherboard, they can corrode the connective points and complex circuitry on it. The motherboard is the nervous system of a computer, so this sort of damage could possibly kill your laptop entirely.

Some accidents are hard to avoid, but it’s still a good idea to get a good understanding of what could happen to your laptop if it does happen. It might also make you more careful of your surroundings while you use your laptop too.

What not to do after you’ve spilled on your laptop

You may have heard of certain urban myths or hacks to clean and fix liquid spill damages. Some people may tell you to soak your laptop in a tub of uncooked rice. It is believed that rice can absorb the liquid in the laptop and fix it.

A laptop has a lot of complex components that can’t possibly be saved by rice. This will even bring in starch and dust into the laptop. After a liquid spill, you can’t necessarily undo what’s already damaged with these repair hacks. You might even cause more damage with the rich dust and starch inside the laptop.

What to do after you’ve spilled on your laptop

We’ve mentioned this before, but remember to keep a cool head when dealing with accidents. First thing you should do after you’ve gotten your laptop wet is to turn it off first. Don’t worry about properly shutting it down, just press and hold the power button until it shuts off. We have to be quick and dirty about this.

Remove the laptop from the wet surface, and disconnect it from the power adaptor if it is still connected. If your laptop has a removable battery, take that out too. You should also disconnect other peripherals like USB drives and mice. They draw power from your laptop, so it’s better to be safe.

Now that you’re safe from electrical shock, you can try wiping off the liquid on the laptop’s surface with a lint-free cloth. Turn it upside down to drain and dry, and that’s it.

Run diagnostics on your hardware

After the above steps, you might just be able to turn on your laptop again. If not, you should probably take it to a professional instead.

If you can turn your laptop on and it still runs, the next step is to run diagnostics on your hardware to access the damage. Sometimes it’s not apparent how much of your laptop is affected by the liquid damage, so it’s a good idea to run checks on your system.

Most computers have a built-in diagnostic tool that runs before your laptop boots up. This is known as boot diagnostics, or pre-boot diagnostics. It’s a simple and basic tool you can use to find possible faults and errors on your hardware. You can test parts on your laptop like the hard drive, RAM, or battery.

To run boot diagnostics, you’ll need to press a key specific to your laptop’s brand. This might be “D” if you have a Macbook laptop, or “F12” for Dell, “Esc” for HP, and “Enter” for Lenovo, Acer, Asus, and IBM. Press and hold this key after restarting your computer to run the tests. Your laptop will then detect and report any possible errors on your hardware.

If you do find errors, you should then take it to a computer repair shop. Liquid spill repairs are quite complicated and difficult to perform, especially on parts like the motherboard and keyboard. For badly damaged laptops that are completely dead from liquid spills, it’s best to check with a repair shop to see whether it’s salvageable.

Liquid spill repairs is a common laptop repairs that we see every week, including Apple computers. It may surprise you but this is very common. If you’ve spilled water onto your laptop, you’re not alone. In fact, I’m guilty of this too. I spilled an entire cup of hot coffee onto my Dell laptop.

6 easy tools and tricks to test and diagnose your laptop

Is your laptop acting up but you have no idea what’s wrong? All you need are some simple tools and a little time to figure out what might be the problem. Computer hardware issues can look like a range of things and can be quite tricky to detect immediately. Here are 6 simple tools and tricks to diagnose what might be causing your computer issues.

1. Computer built-in tools

Before we get into the more in-depth software tests, we should first cover the basic tools that are already on your computer. These built-in tests are where you should start out, when you want to figure out what’s wrong with your computer. Sometimes you have a general idea of what the issue is, but running built-in diagnostics tests can still be quite helpful.

Boot diagnostics

On every laptop or desktop computer, there is an option to run diagnostics before it boots up to its operating system. This is known as pre-boot diagnostics, boot diagnostics, or Apple Diagnostics for Mac users. It is a base-level test for its hardware, to find out possible faults and failures. You can test your laptop’s hardware like the hard drive, RAM, or battery.

To enter boot diagnostics, you’ll need the specific key required, depending on your laptop’s brand. This would be “Esc” for HP, “F12” for Dell, “Enter” for Lenovo, Acer, Asus, or IBM, “D” for Apple Macs with Intel processor, or holding down the power button for Apple Macs with Apple Silicon processor then Command-D. Restart your computer and press the corresponding key when it starts up. It should run on its own and report any possible issues that it can find.

Boot diagnostics can come in handy as a diagnostic solution when your laptop turns on but doesn’t boot. When you can’t get your computer to boot to Windows or MacOS to run software tests, starting boot diagnostics can be a helpful way to find out what’s going on.

Built-in support software

Other than boot diagnostics, you can also try using your computer’s branded support software. These software come preloaded on your Windows device, and can be used for troubleshooting and contacting online support. Apps like Dell’s Support Assist and HP’s Support Assistant are examples of this.

Now that we’ve covered the basic tools, let’s move on to some dedicated software tools for testing specific parts of your laptop. Some of these methods may require some disassembly, but it’s nothing too difficult for any computer user.

2. Testing a hard disk drive

Chkdsk (Windows)

“Chkdsk” is a built-in tool in all Windows computers used to test and attempt repairs on hard drives. It is a pretty useful tool for hard drive testing, where it can mark off or possibly repair bad sectors. Type in “chkdsk” as a command, or go to the “Properties” window of your hard drive and run it from the “Tools” panel.

Disk Utilities (Apple Mac)

Similar to chkdsk, running First Aid from Disk Utilities can also attempt repairs or isolate bad sectors that are harming the drive’s health. If a hard drive failure is detected, it can also offer support solutions to repair the hard drive.

Dedicated analysis software

Dedicated hard drive analysis software like Seatools or WD Data Lifeguard are some great free tools to test your hard drive. You can install and use it on your current laptop to test your hard drive for errors.

For a more thorough test that can get you better results, you may also take out your drive and test it separately. This would usually be done on a desktop computer. You’ll need a SATA to USB enclosure box for this as well. The enclosure box powers the hard drive separately from the desktop computer, so this keeps it isolated for in-depth testing.

These extensive tests on your hard drive will most probably take longer than boot diagnostics or chkdsk. But it can offer some conclusive results about your hard drives and what you should do next. Learn more about testing and repairing a faulty hard drive for Dell, HP, or Apple computer users.

3. Tools for solid-state drives

A lot of modern laptops these days come with solid-state drives instead of hard disk drives as the main storage drive. This is because of the technological advances that make SSDs a much better option over traditional spinning hard drives.

While SSDs are much more durable than HDDs, they will still eventually start to fail after a period of prolonged use. And just like HHDs, SSD manufacturers do make free companion software tools for analysing and testing the drive for faults. This would be apps like Samsung Magician and Intel SSD Toolbox.

4. RAM failure testing

A RAM analysis software that most techs recommend would be Memtest86. You can install it right away and test your RAM with it on your laptop. Or you can do it on a desktop computer.

Another easy way to test your RAM is by swapping out the RAM chip with a spare one and see if the problem persists. This works great in fixing situations like startup issues where you can’t boot up or turn on your laptop.

However, most laptops have their RAM chips embedded on the motherboard these days, and that makes it impossible to swap out the RAM. Detachable RAM chips are more common on older laptop models and desktop computers.

5. Troubleshooting lines and distortion on laptop screens

Lines or image distortion on your screen would generally lead you to think you have a screen failure right? Sometimes it’s not that easy to tell just by looking at it and accessing the problem visually on the screen.

Image distortion can definitely indicate a screen failure, but sometimes your laptop may be experiencing a video card failure instead. When your laptop screen is showing distortion like artifacting or columns of different colours instead of thin lines, that’s a sign of video card failure. Another sign of video card failure could also be a laptop that won’t turn on at all.

It’s not always easy to diagnose screen or video card issues, so here’s a straightforward trick to find out: Connect your laptop to an external monitor or your TV via an HDMI cable. If the image looks normal on the second display, you have a faulty laptop screen. If the image remains distorted or does not appear on the display at all, you have a video card issue. You’re looking at replacements for either part failures. We explain more about screen image distortions and screen replacements in our guide “What to do with a busted laptop screen“.

6. Stress testing your video card

Another way to test the status and perform stress tests on the performance of your GPU is by using dedicated analysis software. Using Geeks3D’s Furmark is an effortless way to do so. Not only can you test for GPU failure, there’s also stats on the video card’s performance. This is a handy tool for gamers keen to keep up their computer’s performance to run graphics-heavy programs.

Need more help?

These free software tools should help you get a better idea about your laptop’s problems and what needs to be fixed. For more help, check out our blog! We cover issues like computer boot up issues, or what to do after you’ve spilt over your laptop.

If you find yourself lacking the skills you need to diagnose and fix your laptop by yourself, why not bring it to us? At Safemode Computer Service, we offer a free initial diagnosis and quote to repair any computer issue that we can help with. Along with computer repairs, we can also advise and install upgrades to refresh and bring your computer up to today’s speeds.

Our expert and friendly services are highly-rated in Sydney, especially in the surrounding Inner West suburbs where we are located. Book an appointment with our experienced technicians at our Enmore store today.

Laptop not turning on? Here’s how to diagnose your laptop for issues

Are you pushing every button on your laptop and it’s giving no sign of life?

It seems to be completely dead. You might be thinking that the battery is dead or it’s something to do with the power supply.

Let’s not jump to conclusions yet. Trying to fix a computer issue without thoroughly diagnosing the problem could waste you unnecessary money and labour.

Not to worry, we can show you how!

To find the right solution to your issue, we must accurately identify your specific startup issue.

When we say that a laptop is not turning on at all, it means that it appears to be completely dead. There is no response when you press the power button to turn it on, even when it is plugged in.

Other startup issues might include situations when the laptop turns on, but stays on a black screen.

Or it may turn on, but never boots to Windows or MacOS. It might even shut down after a few seconds while it is booting up.

If your laptop does not turn on all, you’re at the right place. Check out our other guides which can help you with

How to find out why your laptop is not turning on

Your laptop relies on its different components to work. Every part is necessary for the laptop to work properly, run software, play videos, and more. So once a part starts to fail, it may become quite noticeable when you use the laptop.

When your laptop won’t turn on, it means that a part essential for startup is out of service. The whole process will then be disrupted and the laptop won’t respond.

These essential components include the hard drive, motherboard, video card, and RAM.

A faulty power adaptor may also be the cause of a dead laptop.

To find out why your laptop is not turning on, you may try testing each of these components and repair faulty parts as needed.

When you can’t turn on your laptop at all, there are less options for diagnostic tests. You’ll have to make use of methods that involve taking out the part to test it.

If you do manage to turn on the laptop, you can run more tests on your system with pre-boot diagnostics and analysis software to get more conclusive results.

Hard drive failure

The hard drive is used as the startup disk for your laptop. Along with your files, it contains the boot files and operating system used to start your computer.

Whether your drive is a hard disk drive (HDD), or a solid-state drive (SSD flash storage), it can accumulate bad sectors and fail eventually. These bad sectors cause permanent damage which can corrupt files or even completely remove them.

When the boot files or OS is corrupted, your laptop will have trouble starting up. Essential files are missing or inaccessible, so the laptop might not even turn on. Other hard drive issues could include the blue screen of death (BSOD), SMART failure, or a Mac startup question mark folder screen.

How to fix a failing hard drive

The solution to a faulty hard drive is to first test it out to confirm the problem. Now as your laptop is not turning on, we’ll have to take the entire drive out and test it on a different device, preferably a desktop computer. Connect the drive via a SATA to USB enclosure and use hard drive analysis software like WD Data Lifeguard to diagnose problems.

If your laptop does manage to turn on to the logo splash screen, you may also use pre-boot diagnostics to test your system. At the logo splash screen, hold down a specific key to enter boot diagnostics. There you can test not only your hard drive, but components like the battery and RAM too.

After you confirm a hard drive failure, the next step is to replace the hard drive. While a quick fix with software can get your laptop on again, this is only an emergency fix that might only get you one more year on the drive. Replacing or upgrading your drive can get you a significant and long-lasting fix for your laptop. Learn more replacing a Dell, HP, or Apple Mac hard drive.

Motherboard, video card, and RAM failures

The motherboard (or logic board), video card, and RAM are all components essential to the laptop’s startup process as well as normal functioning.

We’ve put them together in one category because the video card and RAM are commonly embedded on the motherboard in modern laptops these days. So if you find an error with either part that is on the motherboard, you can conclude a motherboard failure.

The motherboard of a laptop computer is the circuit board where every part of the laptop communicates with each other. The processor makes decisions and these instructions are sent through the motherboard to be carried out by the respective components.

So when the motherboard starts to fail, components lose their communication channel and can’t work together. This could make the laptop unresponsive when you try to turn it on.

Components built-in on the motherboard, like the RAM and video card, are responsible for multitasking and the display respectively. When the video card fails, it can’t properly generate the laptop display feed, or not at all. For a RAM error, it will fail to provide readily available storage memory for quick multitasking purposes. These two parts also play a critical part in your laptop’s startup process.

How to test for motherboard issues

A motherboard failure is one of the hardest parts to test and repair, as there is no specific test for it. We’ll have to deduce the issue by eliminating other possible causes. This involves testing the RAM and video card.

Unfortunately, if your RAM and video card are both embedded on the motherboard and you can’t turn on your laptop to perform diagnostics, there’s no other option for you at home. Certain models of laptops do have detachable RAM chips, so you can test that. All you need to do is swap out the RAM with a spare stick of RAM and see if your laptop turns on or not. If it does turn on again, you can solve your RAM failure with a new replacement. If not, you might have a motherboard issue.

As we’ve mentioned, motherboard repairs are very hard to do. The motherboard is a delicate and intricate piece of circuitry, with a lot of connective points that regular consumers might not be familiar with. That said, you might want to get the help of a professional technician to repair your motherboard. Learn more about motherboard failure in our guide to motherboard repairs.

Power adaptor failure

A laptop’s power adaptor, or the PSU, is used to charge up your laptop for you to use it on the go. Your laptop requires a certain amount of juice to startup if it’s not plugged in. When you notice that your laptop isn’t turning on even when it’s plugged in, you might have a faulty power adaptor.

How to fix a power adaptor failure

Power adaptors can break from natural wear and tear, or maybe from accident damage like spilled liquids. You can simply test this out by using a spare adaptor on your laptop. If the light comes on and it charges your laptop, you’ve fixed the problem!

After following the above steps, you should be able to narrow down the culprit behind your laptop’s “murder”. Then you can move on to looking for replacement solutions to your faulty components. You may also use YouTube and repair guides on ifixit as a starting point to fixing your laptop all by yourself.

Professional repairs

The limited options to testing your laptop for issues when your laptop won’t turn on at all can be pretty frustrating. You might not have the time, nor the tools. So is it time to take it to a professional for help?

It might be a good idea to just take your laptop to a repair shop, to save yourself the hassle.

Safemode Computer Service can fix this for you.

Conveniently located in Inner West Sydney, we are a quick stop from Sydney CBD as well. Call us up to set up an appointment, and we can help you test your laptop in-store.

Our trusted services are highly-rated across Sydney, and we take pride in supporting the community. We also can help you with computer upgrades, computer virus removals, and liquid spill repairs. Book an appointment at our Enmore store today.

Ask a technician: How long does a computer repair take?

Every computer user these days is bound to experience at least one computer error in their lifetime. Laptop and desktop computers can last very long, but once one part fails, the rest of the computer may not work at all. With these problems, you may have sent in your laptop or desktop computer for repair.

While most people may be capable of using different types of technology, they may know little about PC hardware issues and repair. With this, questions about how soon the repair can be done or whether they can rush the process are often asked.

Depending on the faulty part that needs tending to, your computer repair duration can vary. The type of repair may be more challenging to do, or the problem may take time to detect and diagnose. Understanding the process of PC repair can be helpful to ease your mind over how long your computer is going to be away from you. We’re going to look at the average repair process of a computer, and the different things that affect the time to complete a repair.

Our computer repair process

Computer repair is certainly more than just taking things apart and screwing things together. Together with those tools, we also make use of spare parts and components for testing and repair. This process involves a lot of diagnostic tests, and of course, a lot of waiting around for those tests to finish. We test parts of the computer before and after fixing it, and get the right replacement parts for it as well.

1. Testing before repair

For a reliable fix, multiple tests are required to ensure the problem is properly eliminated. These multiple tests also help to detect and fix intermittent problems that only one test might not find.

We perform initial tests on problem areas that are reported to us. Usually from experience, we are able to narrow down the faulty part and focus on that. For example, if the laptop is completely dead, it could be a motherboard issue, or a hard drive issue if the user is experiencing boot up issues.

Then we can start running more extensive tests to diagnose the problem. This involves taking out the said part and testing it on a separate desktop computer with hardware analysis software. By doing so, we can eliminate other factors that can affect the diagnosis of the hardware. In some situations, we also switch out faulty parts with working spare parts to confirm the problem by method of elimination. Learn how to test for hard drive or motherboard issues in our guides to hard drive faults and motherboard failures.

2. Data backup

Repairs that involve storage drives would call for backing up data or data recovery. When we install a new drive, backing up data to an external hard drive is something that can take quite a while as well. This applies to repairs related to hard drive failure, liquid spill damage, or SSD upgrades.

Before we reinstall the OS on the new drive, backing up data would be required to make sure files can be retained and used again. Sometimes data backup and OS installation is also required in certain motherboard repairs. Copying data across storage devices takes time, and could take longer if data recovery is required on the drive. Data recovery repair is something we can also do to help you get your data back, but there’s no guarantee that all data can be recovered from the faulty drive.

3. Getting parts that need replacing

After diagnosing the problem, getting the right replacement solution is the next step to a working computer again. While some diagnostic software can sometimes fix the reported problem, a more reliable and long-lasting solution might just be a replacement. For example, bad sectors on hard drives can be repaired or isolated by software, but its eventual failure is still looming. Getting the drive replaced could promise you long-lasting performance over a quick fix that might only get you a few more months on the drive.

Replacement parts are then ordered online, according to the right part number. Different models of laptops and desktop computers will require only compatible replacement parts. We can usually find these by their matching part numbers, or by inspecting for identical ones when their part numbers are not available. If the exact model is not available, we’ll have to find other compatible alternatives. Luckily, we’re pretty well-versed in looking for the right replacement parts and suppliers are generally quite helpful as well.

4. Fixing and replacing faulty parts

Depending on the type of repair, we determine the right repair solution for the device. Some repairs like hard drive replacements or SSD upgrades can be done pretty quickly.

But for some more delicate parts of a laptop like the motherboard or the screen, replacing them takes more careful consideration and time. Screen replacements involve taking the faulty screen out of the laptop and assembling everything back together. For motherboard repairs, other components will have to be taken out and connected again after the motherboard is replaced.

After installing new hardware, we have to make sure the computer now works properly. Repairs that involve boot drives would also need new OS installations. Then we can move on to more tests to make sure the repair was successful.

5. Testing after repair

After installing new parts and replacements, the computer may work just fine. But by running final extensive tests, we can find errors that we have missed or that the repair wasn’t successful. This way we can make sure that intermittent problems won’t happen again. If the computer passes these final tests, then we’re done!

Things that affect how long it takes to repair a computer

Diagnostic test duration

To make sure problems are detected and fixed properly, we run multiple tests before and after the computer is repaired. This ensures the proper repair of failures and even intermittent issues that aren’t always apparent.

Due to their in depth testing process, these tests do take a long time to complete. Say we’re testing for RAM issues. Each test can run up to 30 minutes.

Other tests like hard drive diagnostics can run overnight, and cannot be attended to the whole time. Every so often the test can pause on its own while it is unattended, and will have to start again when we get to it. It is with these extensive tests that we can deliver the right result.

Part accessibility and delivery

Getting replacement parts can sometimes be harder for certain computer models. This depends on how accessible they are to find from a supplier, and its compatibility with different models.

Branded parts from HP, Apple, or Dell have universal part numbers that are available from a public lookup system. They also offer other compatible alternatives and comparisons depending on the model of computer. This offers a more streamlined ordering process from a hardware supplier.

Apple, being the most popular brands for computers, also have the most spare parts available. Hence, repairs on Apple computers can be faster too.

However, with brands like Acer, Asus, and Toshiba don’t have a universal part number lookup system. Components can’t be found via a singular part number, so they need some digging to find the right one. To find the right part to order, we can only find the matching part by inspecting it visually. This takes an expert technician to do so.

For branded components that are out of market or supply, we try to find the best compatible alternative as a replacement. Not every type of replacement part can be used for every model of computer, even if it is from the same brand. For instance, we have to match the frequency of RAM chips to make sure that it is the right one. A 1333 mHz RAM can’t be used in place of a 1066 mHz RAM. With our experience and a little bit of patience, the right replacement part can definitely be found.

Delivery of replacement parts can take time too, like most things that you order online. Normally they can take 2-5 business days to arrive, or 1-2 business days by express delivery. We also take delays and the delivery of faulty or wrong parts into account.

Repairability of certain computer models

Newer models these days are made more and more fancier and sleeker. This slim design in turn gives the computer lower repairability that does not benefit the consumer. It certainly does not make things easier for the repair technician.

These slim designs often glue things together instead of using screws for assembly. It takes more time to take things apart for replacement. For screen repairs on certain computer models like the iMac, its screen is glued on the aluminum casing. It would need a lot more care and effort to take out the screen for a replacement.

Other parts like the butterfly keyboard on Apple Macbook Air and Macbook Pro laptops is also a challenging repair to perform. Replacing the keyboard involves other delicate parts of the Macbook, including the logic board. These slimmer advanced designs may make for a better computing experience for the user, but when it breaks, it can take a while to fix.

Data backup

Data backup and restoration to a new drive can take a while due to the size of files and the connecting interface used to transfer data. Hard drives make use of the SATA interface to transfer data, and most data transfer devices or cables make use of a SATA to USB connection.

The USB interface, while being the most available option, drops the transfer rate significantly, compared to a SATA connection. Transfer speeds for SATA is up to 6GB/s, with USB clocking in at 480MB/s. The type of connection can greatly affect the time spent backing up and restoring data on a hard drive.

Human errors

We may pride ourselves in being experts in the field, but we might still make mistakes. We’re only human, after all. Improper installations or the wrong type of repair can happen, and they may take a little bit more time to correct. With more difficult repairs, breaking something else while fixing something can also happen. At times, we may also be provided with the wrong password for the computer and are unable to complete the job until it is corrected.

Our turnaround time for most computer repairs is 1-7 business days (not including weekends), and may take longer if data recovery is needed. With this expected time frame, we always allow time to cover for mistakes or delays in delivery or repair completion. There are often multiple jobs at the same time and we cannot promise urgent repair orders.

Things to keep in mind when taking your computer to a repair service

Always have a backup

Whether or not your laptop or desktop computer is failing, it’s always a good idea to have a backup of your storage drive. This can either be on an external hard drive or on a cloud-based storage service. Actually, the more backups the better. You never know when your computer may crash and lose all your data, so having a backup of your files can help keep them safe from a tragedy. It can also save you the time and money that data recovery processes often need.

Keep original software licenses and installation media

Regular backups can keep your files safe and readily available, but software installed on your system will probably be wiped if your system crashes. To keep a “backup” of your software, it’s best you keep the original software licenses, manuals, and installation CDs that come with the software purchase. This ensures that you can install the software again if your OS has been reinstalled or if you’ve installed a new drive.

You can ask for a rental computer

Not having your computer for a few days can be unbearable, especially if you use it for work or entertainment. If you don’t have a spare computer to use while your main one is getting serviced, you may ask us for a rental computer to use in the meantime.

Got a question for us?

Safemode Computer Service has served the Inner West for many years now, with our highly rated repair services around Sydney. We can help with any computer problem and repairs that you may have. Call us today or come by our Enmore store for expert advice and solutions to your computer problems. We are always happy to help!

Don’t flood your head with laptop liquid spill repair hacks

Simple accidents can sometimes cause big problems. Liquid damage can kill your laptop quickly, so you’ll need to act fast to protect it. Whether you’ve spilled your coffee over it, or you’ve left it in the bathroom during a hot shower, liquid damage needs to be dealt with immediately and carefully.

Electronics are extremely prone to liquid damage, even those with some sort of plastic or rubber protective layer. We can’t all own military-grade Toughbooks that are water-proof and incredibly resilient to damage, as they are not sold at consumer prices.

So, having an idea about how to deal with accidental liquid damage on your laptop can help you solve the problem in no time. Otherwise, you’d be desperately looking for answers on the internet while your laptop suffers more damage over this wasted time (you might be doing this now, but we don’t judge👀) . In this guide, we’ll be looking at what you should do when these accidents happen, how liquid spills can hurt different parts of your laptop, and how you can fix liquid damage and how professional computer repairers can help you.

Types of liquid damage

Spilling liquid onto your laptop can result in different levels of damage, depending on the type of liquid and the amount of it. It might just be a splash from a drink, or your laptop could’ve been left out in the rain. Any type of liquid could also cause damage to your laptop, from water to vomit, even. By knowing the culprit behind your laptop damage, we can find the right repair solution for it.

The worst liquids to spill on a laptop

From experience, we understand how different liquids can create all kinds of damage across your device. Of course, vomit would be the first thing that comes to mind when we’re thinking about the worst kind of liquid damage. But more commonly, liquids that are hard to clean off and can corrode components are typically hard to deal with.

The thought of making this list is bizarre, but we’ve put together a list of types of common culprits of liquid damage, from the most manageable to hardest to repair. It goes from water, coffee, soft drinks or juice, wine, sea water and beer. Water, coffee, or tea, does the least damage to internal components, compared to other sugary or corrosive liquids. Water eventually evaporates and does not leave anything behind that needs cleaning. In this case, your laptop may just survive if you are lucky.

Sugary liquids like soft drinks, juice, and red wine are hard to clean off the keyboard and other parts of the laptop. Even when it has dried off, the sugar makes everything sticky and hard to clean.

Sea water and beer are also known to corrode parts of the keyboard and motherboard. The motherboard is composed of many small connecting points and circuits that are susceptible to liquid damage. We know it’s hard to prevent accidents from happening, but knowing how much damage different liquids can make might just help you be more careful around your drinks. Next time you have a beer with your mates, best to stay away from your computers.

What not to do when you’ve gotten your laptop wet

First of all, don’t panic. Panicking usually leads to doing unwanted things in hopes of saving the laptop. Unprofessional treatment of liquid damage can lead to further damage that we surely don’t want.

Some people might look to certain hacks to save their laptop, like submerging the laptop in a tub of uncooked rice. That doesn’t work for the complex components of a laptop, and will even bring dust or starch into the device. Though rice does absorb liquid, we believe many of these liquid spill repair hacks are mostly click-bait. Rice cannot undo what’s already damaged, and the leftover rice in your laptop may even cause more damage to the fan.

Using a hair dryer to dry out the laptop is also something we don’t recommend. The heat generated by the hair dryer can melt the keyboard or warp the motherboard. This makes repairing the laptop from liquid damage even harder. Make sure you’re not making things worse for your laptop, as more unwanted damages could cost you more.

What to do when you’ve gotten your laptop wet

While you might want to clean the liquid off immediately, the first thing you should be doing is to turn it off. Just shut it down by holding down the power button, don’t worry about properly shutting it down. If your working surface is still wet, you should also remove the laptop from the area.

Then you’ll need to disconnect it from power. Disconnect the laptop from the charging cable and remove the battery if you can. Otherwise, just leave it as it is, unplugged. USB drives or other peripherals that can draw power from your laptop should also be unplugged. Keeping yourself safe from a wet electronic device is also something to be aware of. You may also try wiping off any liquid on the laptop’s surface with a lint-free cloth. After this quick damage control process, taking the laptop to a repair shop might also be a good next step.

Certain models of Lenovo laptops have built-in mechanisms that act as a drainage system for liquid spills. Again, the best thing to do with laptop liquid spills is to remove it from its power and get it repaired as soon as you can.

What liquid spills do to your laptop

When liquid gets on your laptop, it can get to different parts of the system. This depends on how much liquid and how long the liquid has been on there.

Keyboard

The keyboard is usually the first to go once liquid gets in. It’ll have to be replaced once it’s damaged. Sometimes it may work after it’s been wet, but the keys are still hard to clean individually. They keys may feel sticky and hard to type with, and trying to clean them individually might break the keys as well.

This is true especially for thin keyboards like Apple’s butterfly keyboard on Macbook Airs and Macbook Pros. Trying to clean the butterfly keyboard on its own might damage other components on the Macbook. So it might be a good idea to get the whole keyboard replaced by a professional.

Motherboard

The motherboard, or logic board for Apple computers, spans across the laptop as its main circuit board. It is located right under the keyboard, where liquids can seep through. This makes it easy for liquids to destroy any part of the motherboard.

Other than overheating, liquid spills are one of the main factors of motherboard failure. When any part of the motherboard is damaged by liquids, it’s likely that your laptop won’t turn on at all. The motherboard is the nerve centre of the computer, so when it is down, other components can’t communicate with each other. Nothing else will work when this happens.

Even if your laptop does turn on and seem to work properly, residue left behind from the spill can create problems for later. These might be sticky sugary residue, or minerals that can escalate corrosion damage on the motherboard. So just because your laptop still works, preventable problems can arise if not dealt with.

Motherboard failures are known to be very difficult to repair as it involves careful navigation among delicate components. Learn more about motherboard failure and how to test for them in our guide to motherboard repairs here.

Hard drive / SSD

Liquid spills can also cause damage if it gets to the hard drive. Whether it is a traditional spinning hard drive or a solid-state drive, once it gets wet, the drive will die immediately. Hard drives store data electronically either on disks or memory chips. When these electronics are damaged, data loss is almost certain in this case.

This is why we always encourage keeping data backups. As data recovery from liquid damage can be very expensive and not worth it, having a backup can keep your data safe from accidents that you can’t prevent.

While keyboard and motherboard failures are pretty apparent after liquid damage, you can’t really test your storage drive when your laptop doesn’t turn on. Should you want to test your hard drive for failure after liquid damage, you can try taking it out and testing it on a desktop computer. Follow our guide to testing a hard drive for issues here.

Battery

Lithium batteries are vulnerable to liquid damage. Even with its outer layer as protection, it can only withstand a certain amount of liquid. You’ll need to replace the damaged battery if any liquid gets inside. Batteries that have been tainted by liquids are extremely unsafe to use.

This is why you have to act quickly to remove the power source from the laptop after any liquid spills. The battery’s outer layer can usually be wiped dry if only a small amount is spilled on the laptop.

What to do when your laptop doesn’t turn on after you’ve spilt on it

If you’ve done everything in your power to save your laptop from further damage, it still might not turn on. It might be time to get help from a professional technician. While a brand authorised service provider might be your first choice to get a free repair while your warranty is still valid, they might not be able to help with liquid damage. Service providers like Apple do not usually offer motherboard replacements after a liquid spill. This sort of accidental damage might not be covered under warranty either.

Let’s face it, often times your warranty will not be able to cover liquid spill damages. If liquid traces are found inside your laptop, your warranty cover has been voided. This may also include liquid damage that you aren’t even aware of.

Manufacturers like Apple use built-in indicators to tell whether liquid has gotten inside the computer. This is a small round white pad that turns red when it comes into contact with any liquid. A small amount of water would make it turn pink. If the indicator has turned red, this means that there was a large amount of water inside the computer. This is how Apple Support can detect the problem with a simple indicator test.

If your device is under Apple Care, you might be able to get repairs done at discounted prices. The good news is that you may be covered by insurance if your policy covers accidental damages. That said, always check with your insurers first.

The other thing you can do, is to bring it to a third party repair service like us, at Safemode Computer Service 👍. We can offer expert liquid spill repairs on your laptop, and replace damaged parts like the keyboard and motherboard.

How do we fix a laptop damaged by liquid spills?

With a dead laptop, we usually can’t test everything on your laptop, even after a motherboard replacement. We can assess the damage from looking at the liquid residue on the keyboard and motherboard, and attempt repairs and replacements on parts of the motherboard. We also replace small components on the laptop, just to make sure we’ve covered all our bases. If it does need a complete replacement of the motherboard and keyboard, we can do that as well.

Liquid spill damage can be unpredictable, and each repair process is different. This depends on the type of liquid and how much damage it has caused on the system. With that said, the repair process can differ in duration and scope of repair. This also affects the cost of each liquid spill damage repair.

For a first-rate repair on your drowned laptop, consider us! We are in Inner West Sydney, a convenient location both from the city and Inner Sydney. Rated highly among computer repair services around Sydney, we can help you with any computer issues. This includes possible data recovery from a dead laptop and motherboard repairs. Got any questions for us? Call us or drop by our Enmore store today.

5 Easy steps to test and repair a Dell computer hard drive

As a leading manufacturer of computer hardware, Dell has definitely made a name for themselves in the computer electronics world. They have and continue to make many lines of personal and business desktop computers and laptops. These include Inspiron, Vostro and XPS, just to name a few.

A common issue that Dell laptop users come across is hard drive failure. Hard drives depend on machinery that needs to be powered to read and write data, and will eventually fail. This may be from damage that impacts its moving parts, or from natural wear. The hard drive will need a repair or a replacement.

When a hard drive does fail, it can be frustrating and annoying, especially for the unprepared. Luckily there are some things you can do to protect yourself from a catastrophic loss of data. For Dell users, there are specific ways to test your hard drive for any problems or failure. Understanding these tools and the right replacement for your hard drive can be helpful for when you do need it.

Want to know more about common hard drive problems? We have other guides that can help you test and repair your hard drive. Even if you own an HP, Apple, or Lenovo computer rather than a Dell, we can help. Error messages like “No bootable drive” or “Operating system not found” can be easily detected and fixed. Check out “Top 8 hard drive issues and how to fix them yourself”.

Top 8 hard drive issues and how to fix them yourself

The hard drive is undeniably a very important part of your computer. As the main storage device, it contains your files, installed software, and your operating system. It plays a large part in managing processes within your computing experience. Running into problems with hard drives also happens to be the most common issue for laptop users. Understandably, these problems can be frustrating to diagnose and repair.

To get an idea of what issues we’re dealing with hard drive failures, recognising and understanding the common errors that concern them can help you be prepared, should they happen to your hard drive. In the guide below, we’ll look at the common errors that occur when a hard drive is failing, and explain why hard drives fail.

What is a Hard Disk Drive (HDD)?

A hard disk drive (HDD), or hard drive, is the main storage device on laptops and desktop computers. It has been the mainstay for computer storage for many years. It reads and writes data using magnetic read and write heads on an actuator that floats on a spinning disk.

As a form of non-volatile storage, digital information stored on a hard drive stays there at all times. Data stays there even when the device is not in use or when it is turned off. This differs hard drives from Random Access Memory (RAM). As volatile storage, data stored on RAM is reset once the computer is turned off.

What is the expected life-span of a hard drive?

The life-span of your hard drive can depends on different factors, such as interface type and use. In general, consumer-graded hard drives tends to last anywhere from 2-5 years on average.

It is expected that hard drives will eventually wear out with age and lose its original spark. This can come from all kinds of reasons, from general wear and tear to accidental damage. Hard drive failures are quite inevitable, and will need to be fixed or replaced.

How are hard drives manufactured?

The delicate machinery that makes up a hard drive is manufactured in several processes. Parts are made and assembled together under a controlled and clean environment, where the chances of air and dust contamination is extremely low. Different parts of the drive are often produced in separate sites, then shipped to the final assembly plant.

Even with such tightly controlled conditions during the process, nothing is perfect, and defects can happen to almost all hard drives. These are known as bad sectors.

What are bad sectors?

A bad sector is a defective part (among millions or billions) of a hard drive that is unusable for writing and reading digital information. Once damage is taken to a part of the hard drive, the information that was stored on this bad sector can become corrupted or lost.

Bad sectors can be divided into two types — “physical” or “hard” bad sectors, or “logical” or “soft” bad sectors:

Physical bad sectors

Hard bad sectors are physically damaged parts of the hard drive that are impossible to repair. This type of bad sector can be detected and mapped out by disk repair utilities. Then your computer will be able to skip over the hard bad sector and stop reading or writing on it. Still, hard drives can fray over time, and eventually fail. A hard drive replacement may be something to think about down the line.

What causes hard bad sectors?

Hard bad sectors are caused by physical damage, and this can be from a range of circumstances. As we’ve learnt before, hard drive manufacturing isn’t perfect, even with its rigorously controlled environment, and can come with small defects like bad sectors. Other things like dropping the computer and damaging the platter with the drive head, or environmental factors like dust and air can also cause significant damage to over time.

There are surely many possible causes to hard bad sectors. So keeping in mind that your hard drive will ultimately start failing, it could still be a good idea to treat your computer with care.

Logical bad sectors

A logical bad sector, or a soft bad sector is a part of the hard drive that isn’t working normally. Your system may come across these when trying to read or write information on it, and the information is inaccessible or it takes too long to complete the process.

In contrast to hard bad sectors, soft bad sectors can be detected and repaired with disk repair software. Reading and writing processes can resume as normal if a repair is successful.

Another thing that your system does with bad sectors is replacing them with sectors within the spare sector pool on the hard drive. This allows the drive to work properly again by making use of the working sectors. Even so, this isn’t a permanent fix, as space within the spare sector pool is limited.

What causes soft bad sectors?

In general, software issues cause soft bad sectors. Situations like the computer being abruptly shut down while the hard drive is writing information or virus infections can cause software issues that escalate to soft bad sectors. Maintaining safe shutdown practices is always a good idea, not only for the good of your hard drive, but for the health of your computer as well.

So now that we understand what causes most hard drive issues and failures, we can look at the few common errors that users come across that concerns a failing hard drive. You’ll also be able to use diagnostics tools to find out out the right repair solution to common HDD issues.

1. “SMART failure predicted on hard disk”

SMART, short for “Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology”, is a built-in tool on a storage device, such as hard drives and solid-state drives. It works to detect and report any issues or signs to anticipate any drive failures. “SMART failure” is a very common hard drive error for users of Windows 10/8/7, as hard drive failure will happen along the lifespan of the drive. Typically, this is caused by factors such as the accumulation of too many bad sectors, or improper use.

When you get the error message “failure predicted on hard disk” or “a failure may be imminent”, it means that your hard drive has not yet failed, but is getting close. Your system sets out an alert for you to make precautions, such as backing up your data and getting a repair for your hard drive.

2. “No bootable device” / “No boot device found”

“No bootable device” means that your computer can’t properly recognise the hard drive, which is where your operating system is stored. Most of the time, this is due to a failed hard drive or an OS issue.

3. “Inaccessible boot device”

The “inaccessible boot device” error shows up on what is known as a “blue screen of death” (BSOD), where the system crashes and restarts. This occurs when the system recognises the HDD, but can’t access or read data on the drive properly.

4. “Operating system not found”

Another error similar to the ones listed above, “operating system not found” means that the system is unable to properly read and boot from the operating system on the hard drive.

5. Folder icon with question mark on Apple computer start up

This error occurs during startup in an Apple laptop or desktop computer, showing a folder icon with a question mark. This means the computer is having trouble finding its system folder within the hard drive, and is unable to boot from the Mac OS.

6. Windows stuck at logo screen at startup

The chances of getting stuck on the logo screen at startup are higher with the build up of bad sectors on the hard drive. This causes longer read processes and the system will experience difficulty when booting up.

7. Laptop stuck in Windows startup repair, or showing “Diagnosing your PC” but cannot boot Windows

If Windows is not booting up properly, users will often be prompted to use the advanced boot options menu. This brings us to startup repair. This error occurs when the user is stuck in the startup repair task and is still unable to boot up. System files are unable to load from the OS, causing the boot up process to be stuck.

8. Slow computer, often getting spinning colour wheel

This one is pretty self-explanatory, right? Finding that your Apple laptop or desktop computer is running a lot slower than usual can be pretty frustrating when you’re used to a certain standard of things. A ridiculously slow computer can mean issues with reading and writing processes on the hard drive. Or it may even be mechanical issues with the drive. It might be time for a replacement or an upgrade.

How do I diagnose HDD issues?

Here are three methods you could use to diagnose issues on your hard drive:

Built-in disk repair utilities

Both Windows and Apple computers have built-in disk repair utilities, namely “chkdsk” and “Disk Utility”. You can use these basic tools to detect and attempt repairs on any issues you may find on your hard drive.

Pre-boot diagnostics

With pre-boot diagnostics, you’ll be able to run tests on your computer’s hardware to find out whether everything is working properly. This way you can spot hard drive failures and other hardware issues before they become a huge problem.

To run boot diagnostics, press the corresponding key while your computer is booting up. Each brand of computer has their own specific key to run the diagnostic tests, such as “F12” for Dell laptops, “ESC” key for HP, “Enter” key for Lenovo laptops, and “D” key for Apple Mac. Be sure to look up the right key for your brand of device.

Dedicated hard disk analysis software

Using dedicated software to diagnose your hard drive issues can also be a helpful option to understand hard drive failures. Free hard drive analysis software like SeaTools (Seagate, Windows), Drive Utilities for Mac (Western Digital, Apple), or Data Lifeguard (Western Digital, Windows) can be used for such tests.

With this option, you’ll need to test your hard drive with software on a different desktop computer. This involves taking out the hard drive in question and using an enclosure box to connect it to the desktop computer that you are performing tests on.

If your hard drive needs replacing

As we’ve learnt, hard drives do fail and an easy and effective fix might as well be a replacement. You can choose to do it yourself by following the many guides out there, from sites such as ifixit. With a few tools and careful moves, your computing experience can be enjoyed as normal.

Rescuing data from your computer

Your data is saved on the computer hard drive. When the drive fails, your data is at risk. Keeping regular backup of your data will give your best chance of rescuing data from your computer.

If you don’t have a backup, you’ll certainly need external tools or help from a professional computer technician to assist you with data recovery.

Things to consider when buying a new hard drive

To find out the right drive for your desired computing experience, here are some things to look out for when shopping for a new drive:

Storage capacity

Different types of hard drives offer different storage capacities. For most users of personal laptops, storage capacities from 250-500GB may be enough. 250GB can roughly mean 30,000 photos or songs. Storing and using larger files such as movies or media projects would usually call for a capacity of up to 1TB or more.

The physical size of hard drives also differ for laptops and desktop computers. If you own a laptop, you will need a 2.5-inch HDD, or 3.5-inch for desktop computers. 2.5-inch HDDs offer up to 5TB of storage, while the largest capacity of 3.5 HDDs is 14TB.

Speeds

When considering hard drive performance, you may want to look into the speeds of different types of hard drives. This is mainly reflected from the RPM, the revolutions per minute. RPM measures the rotational speed of the platters that are used to store information of the hard drive. The higher the RPM, the faster the read and write speeds of the drive. So, a high RPM would be able to get you a faster drive.

These days, a consumer-grade hard drives mainly operate at 5400 RPM or 7200 RPM. By comparing the two types, 7200 RPM drives approximately runs five times faster than 5400 RPM drives. Having a think about the right performance for your computing experience may be able to help you decide.

Consider a solid-state drive

Solid-state drives are becoming more and more popular as a better computer storage solution. Its use of non-volatile memory that does not require any machinery to read and write information provides a faster and safer option for computer storage.

While you can just replace your hard drive, but upgrading to an SSD may get you a smoother experience in the long run. Need more information about SSDs? Learn more here. We cover the basics of solid-state drives, and how you can benefit from an SSD upgrade.

Getting an in-store repair

As another option, you may decide to just take your computer to an authorized service centre or a repair shop. Professional services may be an option for you if you’d like to get your computer checked out thoroughly and get a good fix.

If you live in Inner West Sydney, why not consider seeking professional advice from our technicians at Safemode Computer Service? Rated among the top three computer repair services for three years in a row by ThreeBestRate, we can definitely offer the right solution for you :)

A Complete Guide to Upgrading Your Hard Drive to an SSD

So you’ve had your computer for a while and it seems to be running slower than you’d like. Or you’re looking for something to boost its performance. Want a quick and practical way to upgrading your computer? Then upgrading your hard drive (HDD) to a solid-state drive (SSD) might be something to consider. As a quick and cost-effective upgrade, an SSD upgrade can be a way to boost your computer’s performance and practically make it fly!

Boosting your computer’s speed with an SSD upgrade may sound like a big change, and you may not know where to start. There are certainly a few things to consider before you decide to upgrade. Not to worry, here’s a guide to computer storage basics and what you should consider before upgrading to an SSD.

What is computer storage?

We all need a place to store our files, somewhere the data can stay on your computer and even while you’re not using those files or when your computer is turned off. This form of storage is called non-volatile storage. With this, you won’t lose data and have to recreate your work every time you turn on your computer. The main device for computer storage is generally a hard drive or a solid-state drive.

While we mainly store data on hard drives or solid-state drives, these drives work together with your computer’s memory (RAM) to get work done. RAM, random access memory, is a form of volatile storage, stores data that you are working on at the ready, so you can access it faster. Both forms of volatile and non-volatile storage work together to give you a smooth multitasking experience.

What is an HDD?

A hard disk drive, or hard drive is the storage device on your computer. HDDs have been the standard for permanent data storage on computers for many years. Traditionally, hard drives come in two physical sizes, 2.5-inch for laptops, and 3.5-inch for desktop computers

So how does a hard drive work?

Right round like a record, to borrow a phrase. The actuator arm floats on the rotating disk to read and write data to its surface, using magnetic heads, working like a record player. The disk rotates on a spindle at a high rate of speed to read and write data.

Like most things, hard drives will eventually age and wear out. While they can last long, they can cause unwanted issues such as overheating and performance loss. On top of that, because they contain delicate moving parts, dropping your computer while it is operating can also cause significant damage to the disk.

Related: Top 8 hard drive issues and how to fix them yourself

If you’ve owned your laptop or desktop for a few years and want to keep its performance up to your standard, you may want to start thinking about upgrading to an SSD. Let’s look at the benefits of that.

What is an SSD?

Solid-state drives are becoming more and more popular in comparison to hard drives, due to its higher speed and reliability. Most new computers use SSDs over the old standard of HDDs. SSDs typically come in 2.5-inch sizes, the size of a standard laptop HDD. A newer type of SSD, the M.2 standard, is much smaller and thinner and can fit in ultra-thin laptops and mini PCs.

The main difference between HDD and SSD is that SSD does not have any moving parts that need to be powered. While HDD works by motorized write and read heads on a disk, an SSD makes use of flash memory, a form of non-volatile computer memory. Simply put, data is electronically written and stays on memory chips, unlike regular RAM, where data is only stored while the computer is powered. This process does not require any moving machinery for data storage.

What are the pros and cons of upgrading to an SSD?

Pros of upgrading to SSD

Without any moving parts, its solid state can withstand physical impact more than a hard drive can. Its shock resistance promises better durability while it is in use and not.

The moving parts of a hard drive draws power to work, and also produces noise and heat. All these issues can be solved by replacing the HDD with an SSD. You can use an SSD as a data drive together with your HDD, but using the SSD as a boot drive allows you to make full use of its benefits.

The biggest benefit of upgrading to an SSD is the higher performance, which greatly improves your computing experience. It can read and write much faster than standard hard drives. Booting up your computer will also be much faster than before. You’ll be able to refresh your computer and even make things run faster than it ever has!

Cons of upgrading to SSD

While it seems like an easy decision to upgrade to an SSD, one significant downside is its high cost. The cost of SSDs are gradually decreasing, but still remain a lot more expensive than hard drives. A hard drive of the same price of an average SSD can get you a lot more storage.

The storage capacities of SSDs also can’t compare to the largest capacity of a hard drive. Hard drives are still the mainstay if you need to store huge amounts of data. You could consider replacing your hard drive with a newer one, or put your data on external hard drives.

On the bright side, SSD manufacturers are still working to refine their technology and quality of their drives. With this, we can expect price drops and capacity improvements for the near future.

Things to consider before upgrading to an SSD

This may be obvious, but if your computer already comes with an SSD, you do not need to upgrade from an HDD to an SSD. Most newer models make use of SSDs, such as Apple Macbook laptops from 2013 onwards. If you are looking for more upgrades, you may want to look into other hardware upgrades that can boost performance.

When it comes to deciding which SSD is right for you, you may want to think about your main computing needs. The capacity and performance of the drive should be your priority when you are shopping for one. In terms of cost, getting an SSD with larger capacity could provide more value for money.

Interface: SATA vs. PCIe SSDs?

PCIe SSDs a newer option compared to the more widely-used SATA interface for SSDs. It connects directly onto the motherboard. Compared to one another, both connection types have their relative benefits and disadvantages:

Form factor

You’ll also need to think about whether the drive’s form factor can fit in your computer. The 2.5-inch size can fit a laptop, but the thickness of the drive is also something to consider. Checking your computer’s manual can help you make this decision.

The smaller and thinner M.2 SSD is also gaining popularity for storage solutions in thinner laptops. For desktop computers that usually require a 3.5-inch size for drives, you may use an adaptor to mount the 2.5-inch SSD.

For Apple computer users

Users of Apple laptops from 2012 and Mac desktops and can only upgrade to the 2.5-inch SSD with SATA connection, as the laptops do not come with the PCIe connection option.

If you own an Apple laptop from 2013 to 2015 and onwards and want to upgrade your existing SSD’s capacity, make sure you only choose from genuine Apple SSD’s. This is due to the specific interface that Apple makes use of for their laptops from 2013 to 2015. Apple desktop users can choose from any brand, just as long as they are 2.5-inch ones.

From 2016 onwards, most Apple laptop SSDs (flash storage) are built into the computer motherboard which makes it impossible to upgrade.

How do I upgrade to an SSD?

If you’d like to install your new SSD on your own, you can do so with some simple tools and by migrating your data from your HDD to your new SSD. This is a process where you’ll need to clone your drive, which carries over your files, installed programs, and operating system over to your new drive. You’ll be able to boot up exactly as you did before, only with a significant performance boost for your computing experience.

In-store upgrade

If you find yourself not-so-adept to DIY tasks or would just like to save yourself the hassle, you may want to get your SSD upgrade done by a professional. Our friendly technicians at Safemode Computer Service, one of the best computer services in Inner West Sydney, can definitely provide you with the best advice and service.

If you own an Apple Mac, you might be thinking about taking it to the nearest Apple store. But, an upgrade with Apple may not be possible. Apple does not offer upgrades to every model of their computers, so you may want to check with them before booking an appointment to avoid wasting your valuable time.

For Windows computer manufacturers such as Dell, HP, or Lenovo, you may want to check if there is an authorized service centre near your place. Same with Apple stores, it could be a good idea to make sure they offer such services for your computer.

Otherwise, a third-party computer repair service might be your only option. If you live in Inner West Sydney, surely us – Safemode Computer Service is an option! We are rated among the top three laptop repair centres for the third year in a row by ThreeBestRate :) Or you can look up other computer repair services online to find one near you.

 

This HP Pavilion DV6 laptop has been over-heating and recently has broken its bottom casing at the left hand side. Due to the damage, the laptop lid can no longer close.

How To Repair Your Laptop

Since the bottom casing is broken, we will need to replace it. This bottom casing is underneath the laptop’s motherboard, fan, heatsink, screen and everything else so this job won’t be as easy as it sounds like. Get ready to disassemble the whole laptop to replace the bottom cover.

Let’s first remove the laptop keyboard.

Disconnect all ribbon cables that you see here then remove the laptop keyboard cover.

The laptop display panel is attached onto the bottom casing, we will need to take the display unit apart from the bottom casing too.

 

Now we would have the laptop motherboard in its bottom casing left. Let’s remove the motherboard.

 

Now the motherboard is removed, take a look at the fan and heatsink units and you’ll see why the bottom casing went broken. We’ll need to remove the fan and heatsink from the board itself, then detach the fan from its heatsink.

The heatsink is completely covered in dust, there is no gap for the heat to go out, this caused over-heating problems with this HP DV6 laptop.

Using a computer brush, air duster and cleaning oil to clean out the heatsink and the laptop fan. This will stop the laptop from over-heating.

To make it even better, we will use electrical tape to wrap around the gap between the heatsink and the fan to stop dust getting into the heatsink.

Now the cleaning is done, we’ll move on to replacing the bottom casing. Let’s take a look at the damaged bottom case.

The left side of the bottom cover is damaged, thus it couldn’t give support to the display panel, which led to the facts that the laptop could not close.

Now make sure to remove the remaining parts from the bottom case too, this includes USB ports, ribbon cables, DC power jack, etc. We will need to fit all of these small parts onto the new bottom cover.

Once that’s done, we are now ready to take out a new bottom cover and reassemble the laptop in reversed order of this guide.

This process should be easier than taking the laptop apart since you’re already familiar with the build of this laptop.

With the new bottom casing, the laptop will now be able to close normally.

Over-heating problem is also fixed for good after we have cleaned out the dust.