How to start factory OS restore on a Dell

posted in: 4. Dell | 56

This guide explains how to start factory OS image restore utility on a Dell laptop with Windows Vista.

Running this utility will erase everything from the hard drive and re-image it back to factory defaults.

In this particular case I’m restoring software on a Dell XPS M1530 laptop.

Let’s say your Dell came without recovery discs but you have to reinstall Windows because the operating system got corrupted or infected with viruses or spyware. What can you do?

There is a chance that your laptop has a hidden recovery partition and you can re-image the hard drive using files on the hidden partition. This guide may not work for all Dell laptops with Vista.

If the guide works for you, please mention the laptop model name and number in the comments after the post.

STEP 1.

Turn on the laptop and as soon as Dell logo appears on the screen press on the F8 key.

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How to replace fan in Dell XPS M1530

posted in: 4. Dell | 30

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In this guide I explain how to clean up or replace the cooling fan assembly in a Dell XPS M1530.

The fan can be accessed from the door on the bottom of the laptop and removing procedure takes only about 10 minutes.

In my XPS M1530 it started making noise and had to be replaced.

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Broken power button on Toshiba A70 A75 P30 P35

posted in: 8. Toshiba | 18

The power button on your Toshiba Satellite A70/A75 or Satellite P30/P35 laptop got broken. It was pushed into the case and now you cannot turn on the laptop. What could be done to fix the problem?

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The power button is a part of the top cover assembly. It’s permanently attached to the top cover with a few plastic bridges. When the power button pushed into the case, it means one or more plastic bridges are broken.

In order to fix the power button you’ll have to replace the top cover assembly.

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Upgrading RAM in HP Compaq nc8430, nw8440, nx8420

posted in: 3. Compaq & HP | 7

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In this guide I explain how to upgrade RAM in HP Compaq nc8430, nw8440 and nx8420 notebooks.

In my example I’m using a Compaq nc8430 which came with 1 GB (two 512MB modules).

This model can take up to 4GB total. You can install up to 2GB memory module into each slot.

HP recommends using PC-4200 DDR2-533 SODIMM.

If you cannot find PC-4200 DDR2-533 memory, you can use PC-5300 PC-6400. They should work.

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How to remove keyboard on HP Compaq 6515b

posted in: 3. Compaq & HP | 48

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In this guide I explain how to remove the keyboard and clean the cooling fan in an HP Compaq 6515b laptop.

Most likely this guide will work for some other HP Compaq model. If it works for you, please mention the model number in the comments below.

Also, you can use this guide for accessing and replacing the memory module installed in the hidden slot under the keyboard.

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