Student-Contributed Wiki

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“When trying to use the computer… you can’t”

Try checking your power cord, and try starting the laptop without a battery installed. Try another power cord to ensure there is no hardware issues with the laptop.

Plug power cord into it’s proper input and allow some time to pass. If the computer does not power on, the problem might be the cord.

Try another cord. If the new cord doesn’t work it might be due to the input port.

If this is the case, the input will need to be replaced by your local computer geek.

“The shift key is hit multiple times so the preferences are changed.”

Before calling customer services and spending your day on the phone, make sure to check the settings for the Sticky Key.

If going to the settings does not work/help, restart the computer.

“The screen turns blue, preventing you from doing anything.”

This could be an error with damaged hardware, or just a operating system bug. Try restarting.

Hold the power button until the screen turns black. Unplug if necessary. Wait 2 minutes before turning back on.

“The cursor stops moving when the stylus and the screen come in contact.”

Using a laptop screen cleaner, wipe the screen and stylus down to make sure there is no residue between them.

  • First, try pushing the stylus moderately harder onto the screen. Then, if that does not work, use your finger to touch the screen and move the cursor, checking if the screen is responding.Lastly, you can use another stylus, if you have one already, for the current stylus you have may have poor responsiveness.

If any of the above solutions do not work, you need to replace touch screen.

“When you try to select/click on the screen, the touch pad does not let you.”

Remove the touch pad carefully and clean under it thoroughly, making sure that there is not anything preventing you from clicking the mouse.

Using a laptop screen cleaner, wipe the screen down to make sure there is no residue. Also, wash and dry your hands for it can affect the touch pad’s responsiveness.

Using your stylus and touch screen, go to Control Panel > Mouse to check if the touch pad is still connected. If not, connect it.

Sometimes the computer freezes so the mouse does not respond. Hold the power button down until the screen turns black. Unplug if necessary. Wait 2 minutes before turning back on.

If this does solve the issue there might be an issue with the ram or cpu.

“When the scanner does not recognize your finger, giving you an error and not letting you into your computer.”

Using a laptop screen cleaner, wipe the finger print scanner down as thoroughly as possible to get rid of residue that may be on there. Also, wash and dry your hands.

Check your Device Manager or Updates Option to see if you need updating. You can also download one online.

Sometimes the computer acts up because it has not been restarted for awhile. Hold down the power button until the screen turns black. Unplug if necessary. Wait 2 minutes before turning back on.

“When the computer turns on, the displays is black but shows a single error code.”

An error has occurred with the computers memory, try uninstalling and then re installing the RAM.

An error has occurred with the computers hard drive, try removing the hard drive and placing it back. A replacement drive may be needed.

The computer will not turn on. The problem with the hard drive could be the boot file, which may be corrupted or damaged. By making contact with any magnetic based device and all data has been lost.