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What To Do When... Article Last Reviewed October 2009 |
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 You Drop Your Notebook |
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 Short of having it stolen, we imagine the worst thing that could happen to a notebook is dropping it. The good news is that a dropped notebook doesn’t always result in the worst-case scenario, such as a damaged motherboard or hard drive or shattered monitor. So before you assume all is lost, carefully work your way through the following list to assess any damage your notebook has suffered.  The Checklist You can examine some parts of your notebook without turning it on. Others you’ll need to check after booting it up. And some features, such as the screen, you’ll need to examine both with and without the power, as we’ll explain. 1: The Case Check the exterior of the notebook to see if any part of the case is cracked, scratched, or dented. If minor abrasions occurred and they bother you enough that you want to fix or cover them, try one of these quick fixes. Use a car care product, such as Scratch Out by Kit (www.kitwax.com; $5 online; ). Put a small drop on a clean cotton cloth and gently rub it in. Or, simply “patch” the scratch with a small sticker—or a Schticker (www.schtickers.com), a skin for your laptop that covers up minor problems and simultaneously personalizes your notebook. However, if the damage to the case is major, take it to an authorized service dealer or repair shop, which we’ll discuss later. When examining the exterior, don’t forget to open the notebook to see if the hinges work properly. Also, test the latches to see if they still secure the lid tightly. Trying to repair a broken hinge or latch yourself can be time-consuming. Your best bet is to let a service center fix it. 2: The Screen One of the most fragile parts of a notebook is the monitor. After opening the notebook, see if the screen is intact. If it’s damaged (but still displays an image), you could get some temporary use out of your laptop by hooking it up to a desktop computer’s monitor. If the screen appears intact, boot up the notebook and see if there are any lines or dead pixels on the monitor. If the screen is completely black or you see lines, then the problem could be a broken connection between the monitor and the motherboard. You can remove the case to see if any of the cables are disconnected. There’s no quick fix for dead pixels. Perhaps you can live with a couple of them. But eventually, you’ll need to replace the entire monitor to get rid of dead pixels. Though it’s possible to replace the monitor yourself, this can be tricky and expensive, especially if you don’t do it right the first time. We recommend letting a professional handle the process. Another possible problem is that the backlight is broken. Normally, a notebook backlight, like a regular bulb, wears out gradually after many hours of use. But a drop could permanently damage the backlight or jar it out of place. You can buy a replacement backlight for about $10 to $15, but installation is beyond the scope of this article. Unless you’re confident in your abilities, we recommend letting a pro handle the task. (NOTE: Before attempting to make any repairs on your notebook, always make sure you remove the battery and/or unplug it first.) Don’t overlook the possibility that a nonworking screen is due to a loose or damaged video adapter or that one or more of the pins on the video cable are bent. If this is the case, you may even see a message, such as “No signal source,” on the screen. It’s possible to straighten out a bent pin or replace a video card by yourself. 3: CD/DVD Drive Open and close the CD/DVD drive to make sure the tray ejects smoothly. If it doesn’t, push a very small pin or wire into the hole on the front of the drive and try to unlatch it. If the problem persists, however, you’ll need to replace the drive. 4: Battery When you power on your notebook for the first time after dropping it, try using battery power first. If it works, you’ve ruled out a damaged battery. If the battery won’t power on the computer (and you know it was charged before the drop) but your AC adapter will, then you likely have a damaged battery, which you can easily replace yourself. 5: Fan A damaged fan can trick you into thinking your hard drive is the problem, even if it’s fine. That’s because the fan performs the essential work of keeping the interior of your notebook cool. If the fan stops functioning, your computer can over-heat and then perform sluggishly or shut down. After you turn on your notebook, wait for the fan to turn on, as well. If you don’t hear it, or if it sounds overly loud, as if it’s working too hard, turn off your computer, let it cool down completely, open the case of your computer, and examine the fan. You should be able to tell right away if the fan has been damaged from the fall. If it appears intact, at the very least clean it. One simple way to do this is by blasting the fan with a can of compressed air; it won’t leave anything foreign behind in your notebook. If the fan is damaged, let a repair service replace it. 6: Hard Drive/Motherboard If you can’t get a component to work, whether it’s a drive recognizing a disc or a peripheral such as a printer, the motherboard might have been damaged.  If you detect damage to an easily replaceable component, such as a memory module, you can replace that. But if you can’t pinpoint the problem, let a professional run it through diagnostics and replace the component(s)—or the entire motherboard—for you. Like the monitor, the hard drive is extremely sensitive to being dropped. If the drive has effectively been killed, first try to recover the data, either through a data-recovery program (check out the products at www.runtime.org) or by sending your notebook to a company that can extract the data for you, such as SalvageData (www.salvagedata.com). Depending on your level of comfort, you can try to replace the hard drive in your notebook yourself. Repair Service Centers Although you can repair some of the types of damage we’ve mentioned, sometimes the wisest course of action, especially for monitors and motherboards, is to let the pros handle it.  Your first step is to check your users manual and/or warranty that came with the notebook. Either of those—or the manufacturer’s Web site—may direct you to an authorized service dealer for your notebook brand in your area. You can also see if the store from which you bought your laptop offers in-store repairs or in-home service. Best Buy, for instance, offers in-home and in-store technical support through the Geek Squad (www.geeksquad.com). Another option is to ship the notebook to a nationwide repair center. For example, both Laptoprepair.com and Laptopservice.com perform repairs on all makes and models of notebooks. You can get an estimate for the work before you ship your notebook. Regardless of which service option you choose, ask beforehand if the repairer guarantees its work and then get it in writing.  by Rachel Derowitsch |
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