Dying laptop

[absvan]

Hi,

What do you with a dying laptop? I know that it can be costly to fix it because the motherboard needs to be replaced and I dont think its worth it.

Is there anything I can do..like selling the parts thats working etc.

Any thoughts?

[seeker5]

Originally Posted by absvan

What do you with a dying laptop? I know that it can be costly to fix it because the motherboard needs to be replaced and I dont think its worth it.

What in it is "dying"?

[cdn2wheeler]

Hard drives can be replaced. So can motherboards. As far as whether it's worth it or not, well, I suppose it's worth whatever it would cost to replace the thing.

If it's still a usable machine but just operates slowly, then you can use it for your own personal email server, I suppose.

[Tayrak]

Usually by the time a laptop or computer 'dies' it's so far out of date that you likely just want to replace it with a new one.
You can always donate it to schools or those other spots that gather old computers and laptops, fix them then give them to kids who can't afford to buy one. They'll know if it's worth it or not.

[absvan]

Thanks for your responses.

I get the blue screen as soon as I power it on. Upon inspection, I was told that the motherboard need to be replaced. Currently the memory is 256 MB and the applications that I run these days easily need memory close to 1GB. The processor isnt that fast too.

Also I dont need a personal email server at this point. I felt that it wasnt worth upgrading the laptop to meet my requirements.

[cdn2wheeler]

Ah, the infamous Blue Screen of Death.

Looks like it might be good for a doorstop, or maybe a paper weight. Sorry..!

[Minsc]

Err... The bluescreen is a Windows thing. The fact that it was able to boot into Windows in the first place means that it works to some extent...

Some things you could do:
-Write down the codes that Windows' BSOD tells you at the bottom(it should mention a driver and some codes) and Google them. This should tell you the problem.
-Try to reinstall Windows..
-Maybe install a CLI version of Linux? The Linux kernel should tell you more about the problem if it can't boot. (you can also run Linux off a flash stick, floppy, CD, ect)
-If you have another laptop with some compatible parts(CPU socket, ) and want to check for yourself, you could swap parts with that laptop.
-Look for something called Memtest86 or something like that that boots off of a floppy and checks you RAM for errors.
-If your computer has two or more modules of RAM, try taking them out and only using one and then only the other.
-Take out any hardware that you don't need to boot it into the BIOS(hard drives, cdrom drives, any PCI cards, USB devices, floppy drives, ect). Then add hardware in until it breaks.

Anyway, a desktop motherboard would usually run for around $100 to $200 for a good, modern one. (I guess an old motherboard could be $50)
I suppose it'd be more expensive for laptops since their motherboard has to match the case, ect, and probably has more on-board stuff, although I'm not sure.

The minimum/recommended requirements for RAM don't say how much the application actually uses, but how much an average system would need to have enough free to run the application after considering all the other processes using RAM. So something that says it needs 1G of ram would actually use less.. And your computer can write to the hard disk as if it were RAM to effectively get more of it, but it's slow.

[absvan]

I had reinstalled Windows..but the blue screen still exists. I first though it was just the drivers but I believe its more than that.

Yes I get your point. But in my case I run Asp.Net and Sql Server - Microsoft technologies. They easily take more than 256 MB.

I should try installing Linux. Its been a while since I worked on it. But this might be an opportunity to refresh my Linux skills. Thanks for the suggestions.

[Raymond Fernando]

what was the blue screen reference code?

0x000000_ _ <--last two letters (depending on the type of error)

then you will have the address it failed on 0x000000xx, 0x000000xx, 0x000000xx

the first code that apears like at the top is the biggest identifier, and any text that comes with that like page_fault......

If you re-installed windows and you are still getting a blue screen a few things could be going on.

Your hardware is failing (bad memory, hard drive, or motherboard). Memory and hard drive can be replaced at a good price. Motherboard is a little more difficult option.

If you plan on installing Linux, you will probably run into issues tryinig to load the operating system or programs crashing on you.