If you’ve ever been writing a paper or browsing the Internet on your laptop and your legs have started to burn, you’re not alone. Overheating laptops are unfortunately a fairly common problem that many users experience.  This article will explain how to check overheating laptop.

A laptop can overheat for a number of reasons, ranging from a clogged fan to an incorrect electrical voltage. Whatever the reason, continued use of an overheated laptop could result in a complete system fail, or even a small fire.

When your laptop feels like it is beginning to overheat, there are a few things you can do yourself to check things out. First and foremost, check to make sure that nothing is blocking the air vents. When you’re checking for this, also make sure that no dust or other particles are clogging the vent. Also check your laptop’s operating manual to see what the normal temperature and humidity ranges for operation are; you might just be sitting in too hot of a room. If none of those issues seem to be causing the problem, then your problem is stemming from one of these three sources: power, firmware, or hardware.

Power

Power issues are caused by incorrect voltage from the power supply, frayed cables or broken power bricks, or a problem with the battery. First, check your electrical outlet. If this seems to be the problem, try plugging your charger into a surge protector. If this doesn’t change anything, make sure the heat isn’t coming from the place on your laptop where the power cord plugs in. Lastly, unplug your laptop to test the battery. If it happens to feel particularly hot, this might be your problem. Try powering down, replacing the battery, and working from there.

Firmware

Your firmware is the software that’s installed on a memory chip inside your laptop’s hardware. If your firmware is what’s causing the problem, it will most likely be because the BIOS firmware version is not up to date. Follow your manufacturer’s directions to open up the BIOS set-up. From here, check to make sure the settings for the laptop temperature match the settings listed in your manual.

Hardware

Hardware issues can be harder to identify on your own, so calling a service professional might help. If you think you are up to diagnosing it on your own, follow the instructions in your manufacturer’s manual to open up the casing. Once inside, there are a few things to check out. Make sure the RAM isn’t too hot, check the internal fans to make sure they haven’t accumulated any dust or dirt, make sure the thermal grease isn’t dried, and look for any obvious signs of burning or any unusual smells.

If none of these tips helped your problem, try contacting TalkLocal to be connected to a trained local professional within minutes.

Are you tired of having to e-mail documents to colleagues or classmates in order share them? Are you annoyed with having to sign into GoogleDocs to access shared files? Does it bother you that your colleagues or classmates can edit and save over the files you share through your Dropbox? Windows 7 has the solution built right in! Here are some tips  on how to network computers on Windows 7.

Create or Join Homegroups and Workgroups — Homegroups and Workgroups are groups of computers that share folders. Using Windows 7, you can easily define which of your folders are shared and which are private and then customize how you share files with people on your network. For more information on which one of these groups will best suit your needs, check out the Microsoft Help Page that explains the nuances in different types of file sharing groups.

When you are inside of a folder in Windows 7, there is a dropdown menu across the top that says “Share with.” Clicking the dropdown will give you a series of options of whom you share the folder with. These options are:

– Nobody: You are the only person with access to the files in this folder.

– Home/Workgroup – Read: The files in this folder are visible to everyone in your group but you are the only one who can edit them.

Home/Workgroup – Read  and Write: The files in this folder are fully available to all people in your group. They can both view and edit the files. 

– Specific People: This option allows you to make this folder available to specific people in your network.  When you click this option, you will be prompted with a File Sharing Wizard that will help you further.

Use your Public Folder: Another more basic option for file sharing is the Public Folder option. Files you place in this folder are instantly available to other people in the network. You have public folders located inside every one of your document libraries. Although these are easy and quick, be aware that you cannot edit permissions within your public folders. Everything you put in these folders is available to everyone in your network.

If you have having difficulties getting your files to sync with other computers in your network, or if you are having other computer-related problems, visit TalkLocal, a service that will find you local computer repair professionals and have them call you back within minutes.

So what is disk defragmentation used for?  Disk defragmentation is for Windows only and it is supposed to help speed up your computer. When hard drives get old and filled with files, the files become fragmented. Deleted files are also scattered and take up space in an inefficient way. When new files are stored, they must fill the space around these fragments. As you can see, the files become scrambled and harder to access. The computer tends to get slower because it must search for files in many locations. A disk defragmentation rearranges and consolidates your files so that they can be located easier, making your computer run more efficiently. Disk Defragmenter is a tool in Windows that performs this task; it runs on a regular schedule and automatically keeps your computer files organized, though you can also make manual adjustments.

Is disk defragmentation necessary?

Disk defragmentation is not required, though it can help your computer run faster. Disk defragmentation rarely occurs today because newer operating systems do not need to be defragmented. Disk storage capacity and speed has increased substantially so the advantages of a defragmentation don’t offer much of an incentive.

Necessity also depends on the age of your computer. If you have an older Windows computer, then you can perform a disk defragmentation, but this process can only do so much to speed up an old system. There is almost no need for manual defragmentation because most tools have an automatic setting. Unless your computer is in an extreme condition, the automatic setting should be enough to maintain the good state of your files.

If your computer is extremely slow, contact an IT technician. Seva Call can put you in touch with the best professionals in your local area. Fill out a short service request on Seva Call’s website and talk to someone who can help within minutes!

System Restore Windows Vista

Windows Vista has a feature called System Restore that automatically backs up the registry and system files whenever new software or drivers are installed. System restore is useful when you accidentally install malicious software that can make your computer run slowly.

There are two places from which you can use System Restore. In Windows, you can just type “restore” into the Start menu search box and System Restore will immediately pop up at the top of the Start menu. Alternatively, you can type “rstrui” into the search box and hit enter. This will bring up a screen where you can choose to roll back the system to the last restore point you set up. You can click “Recommended restore” and click next, or you can choose a different restore point.

If you choose a different restore point, there will be a list of restore points that you can choose from. If there are any problems or errors while restoring, then try booting up in Safe Mode. For best results, you should always run System Restore from Safe Mode.

If your system won’t boot

If for some reason you can’t even get into Windows, then follow these instructions:

1. Boot off the installation DVD.

2. Choose the “Repair your computer” option on the lower left hand side. If you don’t have an installation disc, you can look up how to make one online.

3. Click next again.

4. Choose System Restore from the System Recovery dialog. It will take a few seconds to load

5. Click next.

6. Choose the drive that your copy that Vista is installed on.

7. Click finish. Windows will restore itself back to its previous restore point.

If you tried all these options and none of them worked, use TalkLocal to quickly get in contact with local IT professionals who can help you.