Computer seems to take a long time loading pages or programs
Malware and spyware can be a major reason for a computer slowdown or freeze. The more that accumulates on your laptop, the slower the computer becomes. Anti-spyware programs are a good way to clear away problems. Malwarebytes, www.malwarebytes.com is a great program to use to eliminate this problem. The program updates often and is one of the better program solutions in detecting spyware and malware.
Viruses, depending on the severity, can slow down or freeze your computer. The more viruses on your computer, the slower it will run. By installing an anti-virus program, you can remove viruses from your laptop. It can also intercept viruses before they are downloaded. AVG, www.avg.com is recommended anti-virus software.
Your computer may have too many programs trying to start when it boots. This is a fairly common problem. It can be rectified by removing or disabling the program at startup. You can see which programs are running in the background by opening the Task Manager and clicking Performance.
Temporary files, whether internet or program, can clutter the computer and cause it to run slower. Run the Disk Cleanup utility which can be found in the Control Panel under Administrative Tools.
Your system may be running slow due to hardware issues, such as a faulty battery, an overheating system or a faulty hard drive. Low power due to a faulty battery can cause your system to run slow and freeze up. The same problems arise when the laptop is overheating or the hard drive is going bad. So if all you software seems okay, try checking your battery life, laptop temperature and hard drive. You can check and diagnose hardware with incorporated software on your device and through device manager.
Slowness with the laptop can also be linked to faulty RAM cards in the computer. To check for a possible issue in memory, follow the steps in this microsoft guide to schedule a memory test on the next computer boot. If an issue has been detected, it is recommended to replace your computers RAM using our RAM replacement guide for step-by-step instructions, or you can take it into a local repair shop for assistance.
***You can replace your hard drive using our hard drive replacement guide. Toshiba Satellite A215-S7425 Hard Drive Replacement
Laptop cannot be used on lap because it may burn you
Sometimes where you store your laptop can be a cause of overheating. If your laptop is stored in direct sun light or in rooms or areas where the room temperature is hot such as a garage or in your car; these actions can cause your laptop to overheat. Avoid storing your device in hot places or direct sun light such as your vehicle, garage or near windows. You can also try extra cooling systems to keep your laptop cool.
The first thing you need to do is figure out where the heat is coming from. No air flow means no heat transfer, so figure out where the air vents are. Are they blowing hot air, or is there barely a breeze?
Most commonly, an accumulation of dust in the vents and fans through the cooling channels will be culprits in restricting air flow. Clean your fans and air vent areas as well as your device interior such as around the CPU and RAM. Remember where dust accumulates heat can gather.
Sometimes fans fail to function and produce the essential flow of air in the system to keep it cool. So make sure fans are actually spinning; the best way to make sure your fans are working properly is to use diagnostic software, since the fans are inside the case, and sometimes opening a laptop case can void the warranty. Go to the Web site of your laptop maker and see if there’s a fan-diagnosing tool you can download. If not, you can download one from another reliable vendor online.
Due to the very small amount of space in a laptop there can be much less air flow than there should be. If you like to lay your laptop on the bed, carpet or just your lap; you can very well be restricting the air flow of your lap top. Try to keep your laptop on hard flat surfaces or use cooling stands and pads that add air flow and cooling technology to keep your laptop cool.
Batteries aren’t meant to be stored at 100% or 0% capacity. Plenty of people buy laptops and always keep the charger in, never actually using the battery. You can definitely expect to kill your battery’s health this way, since you’re essentially storing the battery when it’s full. Bad batteries don’t just give out really quickly, they can generate heat.
- You can buy replacement batteries pretty easily online, even for laptops that are four years old. You just need to know what model your computer/battery is. Also try not to charge your laptop unless it’s necessary to do so but try not to allow your battery to go dead for long periods of time either.
Take in consideration that if you have your laptop plugged at all times; even if it is off it well heat up. The longer you keep it plugged the hotter it will get especially if it is not running.
***You can also replace your battery using our battery replacement device guide. Toshiba Satellite A215-S7425 Battery Replacement
Check your BIOS settings. There are software settings that tell your computer how hot is too hot and at what temperature the fans should kick in. Sometimes, BIOS updates implement revised temperature settings, which can help you optimize cooling. Check your laptop manufacturer’s Web site for a BIOS update, but be careful; BIOS is a more difficult software system to update than the usual operating system software. You may want to request some experienced help for this process. Also remember that you can access fan functionality in BIOS, so make sure your fans are on!
Your Toshiba Satellite won’t play DVD’s or CD’s
Occasionally, disks can become dirty, or damaged, over their lifetimes. Depending on the extent of the damage, or unclean surface, a disk may become unreadable. To check if this is the problem, turn the disk over and check for one of these causes:
Look for any dirt or smudges that would obstruct the disk from the laser. If anything is present, wipe away with a lint free microfiber cloth and rubbing alcohol. Gently wipe the surface of the disk with the damp cloth, so the surface does not get scratched by the particles.
After cleaning the disk, check the back of the disk for any scratches. Smaller scratches can sometimes be buffed out by a number of methods, such as by using toothpaste, or polishing the disk; however, deeper scratches are harder, if not impossible to fix.
Make sure that the media you are trying the insert into the drive is the right type. A DVD can’t be read in a CD only drive, just as a CD/DVD drive cannot read a blu ray disk
Occasionally, the laser head of the CD/DVD player can become dirty and needs to be cleaned in order to read disks. There are a number of kits available on the market that can be used to clean the laser; however, a cotton swab that has been lightly dabbed in rubbing alcohol can gently brush the surface of the laser, cleaning it.
If the CD/DVD drive has just been introduced to a computer, or if special circumstances have left the optical drive non responsive, there may be missing, corrupted or out of date.
***You can also replace your CD/DVD drive using our Optical Drive Replacement guide. Toshiba Satellite A215-S7425 Optical Drive Replacement
Power down the laptop completely and unplug all attached accessories. Remove the battery from the laptop and hold the power button for 30 seconds. Reattach the battery and reconnect the power cable. Check for results.
Remove the battery from it’s compartment and clean the metal contacts on the battery and inside the laptop battery compartment.
This action is performed through Windows Device Manager. Open the “Batteries” section and right-click the “Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery” and click “Uninstall.”
Then do a scan for new hardware by right-clicking on the laptop name at the top and click “Scan for hardware changes” to reinstall the driver.
DO NOT REMOVE THE MICROSOFT AC ADAPTER DRIVER
When you connect the power adapter to an AC outlet, your laptop should detect power coming in. If not, verify that the outlet is a live outlet. If the outlet is live, the AC adapter may need to be replaced. Also, check to make sure the power cord is securely connected to the AC adapter.
Typing on the keyboard does not work at all.
Firmly hold laptop at a 45 to 75 degree angle from horizontal, or upside down and give it a good shake. This will help to dislodge any crumbs that may have gotten stuck underneath the keyboard. Also, give your keyboard a good cleaning with a can of compressed air or keyboard vacuum. If you know that spillage of liquid has occurred you may need to replace the keyboard. If you’re still in your warranty period or have an extended warranty, then try your laptop manufacturer’s tech support line or go to http://support.toshiba.com/support/model… to find out.
Rebooting can solve a myriad of problems. Holding the power button down for 15 seconds will manually shut down your PC if your mouse or touchpad are not working.
Checking connections should be the next step of the trouble shooting process. Sometimes a keyboard will lose connection with the motherboard on a laptop due to constant jarring caused during transport from home to the office or school, or even being gently tossed around. This can be checked by you or a professional. Check out the repair page link to learn how to open the laptop to check the connections.
You can also check to see if your drivers are up to date. If you run Windows on your Laptop, you can go to http://support.toshiba.com/drivers or http://www.driversupport.com which can both help you to do so.
You can replace keys that are stuck or missing, or you can replace the entire keyboard using the keyboard replacement device guide.
For help replacing keys go to http://www.laptopkey.com/KeyboardKeys.ph…
You can also replace your keyboard using our keyboard replacement device guide. Toshiba Satellite A215-S7425 Keyboard Replacement
When the icons on the desktop become large and the change was not made by a user, it can be very confusing. Other than a person changing the settings, there are some programs, such as video game that enter into a full screen mode, that will change the resolution of the desktop temporarily, and forget to readjust.
The easiest way to fix this is to go into the computers resolution settings by right clicking on the desktop, selecting selecting screen resolution and changing the current resolution back to whichever is most recommended by the computer
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When turning on the computer, the screen stays black and is accompanied by beeping noise: this is a result from the computers POST check telling you something is wrong. Depending on how many beeps, and the type of beeps heard, each set will correspond with a different type of issue, which will stop the computer from starting until fixed.
One such cause of the POST check black screen could point to an issue with the current memory having gone bad. This can easily be checked by simply removing one memory stick at a time, until the computer starts up correctly. if the computer does not start up, replace the one removed and test another; however, if the computer still does not start up, either both cards are bad, or it is a different POST check issue.
When it becomes harder to read text on the computer, there may be an issue with Microsoft’s cleartype feature. changes in video cards, screen resolution and color depth can create issues with cleartype, though there is an easy way th change these settings.
By entering into the control panel, searching cleartype and selecting adjust cleartype text, the feature can be turned on/off, which may fix any problems being had, or the feature can be tuned to fit the users needs by choosing from test slides until text is clearly visible again.
Black dots in a screen are normally called dead pixels, which is just one of the lights that makes up the screen no longer functioning. Lines running through the screen can have different causes, but most of the time are fixable. Dead pixels appear over extended periods of use, normally after the manufacturer warranty unless you’re lucky, and is just a sigh of the screen aging. Lines in the screen can be caused by physical damage to the screen or bad video drivers.
the first thing to do in either situation is to update the video driver to the current version to ensure that the issue is not software related. if either issue is not fixed with the update, and the computer is out of warranty, you can use our screen replacement guide for step-by-step instructions in replacing your screen yourself, or you can take it into a local repair shop for assistance.
