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RE: Repair Diaries #1 HOW TO KNOW A LAPTOP IS BEYOND REPAIR: Qosimo x775 (REAL COMPUTER SECRETS PLUS A SECRET FEATURE ON STEEMIT YOU CAN TRY NOW)
I think this one is nice, key take out is the enclosure.
But, for a 2011 laptop that send for repairing, it shows this is just not a tech guy and very likely no back up past 6 yrs or so. The laptop is just barely usable as steemit machine to write something. Not sure how the owner play games....
I believe you can further test the laptop with a linux live CD, if it loads, then it is the OS get issue, if it won't load, it is the hardware
Hello @ryoplasmic. I normally check for os issues using the linux distro slax, that I can boot up via usb. Unfortunately this computer gave multiple indications of bad mobo. They have a newer computer they use and this one was dedicated to only play games. I wonder if they spilt something on it?
@shello
There are so many things you can do but not really need to go this far. Just for ref, the memtest86 boot usb/disc to test memory, the ubuntu install usb/disc to see if it loads (if error, almost sure overheat). A gparted cd to just wipe everything and start over windows install (after you backed up the data). If all failed to load, 90% overheat issue.
Sometimes hdd sector failure will also make things not bootable but will look like a mainboard error.
for mainboard type error, if replacing thermal paste help run longer but still hang randomly, test ram. if ram test pass, the cpu have problem and need to replace.
if video on bootup is "broken", it should be the south bridge overheat (that shdn't be the case in modern pc) or the board itself have serious issue such as rust (not likely for this laptop).
One more silly thing about these random reboot is the dust will short-circuit the board, so you need dust off/duster to blow the board.
Dust can be all kinds of ridiculous when part of the board loses signal. I didn't see a need to wipe the drive as everything on it, was running properly and readable. The part that got me was the no BIOS. You cannot boot anything if it isn't there, which I why I had to RAM test in the first place. No other OS would load in this case as I would have to change the inaccessible boot settings to even load a live CD :c
I still have yet to learn how to replace the thermal paste, but in this case the repairs would have gone far over what I would have quoted along with work time to run all diagnostics required. Newer machines I would not mind looking at the mobo, but in this case- the machine was too old for it to be worth it to me. I could be wrong, but that is what I have learnt through doing a lot of repairs this past year.
Thank you for the great feedback, I'll make sure to use my live USB/live CD on the next one I find in this state :3
not worth to do all of these i mentioned, just for ref for yr next job
and...not worth it unless it is about.....btc or steemit private key that can only be accessible on successful win boot (not usually but sometimes could, like the MS windows post-it note)
and, when u unplugged the hdd, the next bootable is cd then usb then network
you are welcome
The client I had for this job did claim to have another computer in a different state that's down but has a bitcoin wallet he used to use. He had gotten into it way early on. Should I investigate this? Or is it BS?
He only need 12 words backup phrase to restore his wallet on another device if the wallet is 100% on-device type, see https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@ryoplasmic/the-misinformed-btc-wallet-issue-plus-wallet-compatibility-on-ios
Those online wallet he just don't need these recovery at all - just the login pass will do.
There are complicate ways to rebuilt his windows if he pays, but I think you can simply get his 12 words phrase and recover the wallet on his phone will do.
He doesn't have an online wallet unfortunately. It is one of those cases where his coins are on the drive and nowhere else.
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You need this https://www.acronis.com/en-us/personal/true-image-features/
I am not sure if this work on just HDD * for win10. My experience on 1000+ PC is you can clone his HDD to an image, then you can use the Universal Restore feature to a new machine - including Virtual Machine which is a windows on windows solution, all you need is enough ram. I am not sure how far the trial version goes, I primarily means the purchase version.
When it is about BTC, the software cost is nothing, assuming that you let him know he have to pay upfront no matter if it is successful. Your PC should also have enough **Spare/free ram, Win7 min 1GB for virtual machine/pc, win10 need 2GB; CPU better be Core i3
If you need further help, let me know.
I don't think they spilt something in. You are right about hardware, it looks like overheat. I think a cpu thermal paste redo will help, but it just don't worth the hassle if they are paying you anyway. Just want to point out the linux way, u know it and then it is fine :)