I think it's dying-what to do?

Peckedhen

I need help! I think that my two year old Toshiba laptop is dying - it gets extremely hot now and the battery only lasts about five minutes. So, what to do? I don't want to buy a new one till I have to but, I can't afford to loose some documents and would hate to loose my photos - would it be possible to move them onto an external hard drive? How big would it need to be? S'cuse my ignorance, complete technophobe here.:o:o.

As an aside - laptops seem to only last about two to three years in our house - would it be worth taking out an extended insurance on the next one?

The_Grandmaster

I think buying an external harddrive (around the 50 pounds mark for 500GB or maybe a bit more for 1TB) would probably be the ideal solution for backing up your documents and date etc.

2 years for a laptop does seem very fast to me though... I'm sure people will come up with things you could try perhaps.

DCFC79

Does it charge up ok when plugged in,

Peckedhen

Yes, it charges up, just doesn't last. I've gone through two Acers, the motherboard? went on both those. This time I bought a Toshiba thinking that it would last longer.:mad:

Richie-from-the-Boro

Just get a USB drive about a fiver

Depending on the resolution of your camera, eg, a 2MP camera will make a minimum file size of 300k that's 3 and a half thousand [ ish ] photo's on a stick costing £5-10.

Hope this helps

NB. using a laptop on your laptop / arm of sofa / duvet etc, will kill it [ battery first / machine second ] sure as apples grow on trees !

KathysBoy

Peckedhen wrote: »

Yes, it charges up, just doesn't last. I've gone through two Acers, the motherboard? went on both those. This time I bought a Toshiba thinking that it would last longer.:mad:

Do you use the laptop a lot on mains with the battery in. This is the main cause of batteries failing, because the heat from the laptop reduces the retention capability of the batteries, particulalry if its charging. If you use the laptop on mains you should remove the battery, and you should always charge the battery when the laptop is not in use. If my battery runs out I plug in the mains and take out the battery, and then when I've finished I close it down, put the battery back and charge it. I learnt this from bitter experiece. My first battery only lasted 2 years. You could consider trying a new battery (Amazon are usually the cheapest).

nickyhutch

Our Toshiba is the same. It's fine to use when it's plugged in, but dies very quickly when not. It also gets very hot, and we've had 3 new chargers recently - we thought there was something wrong with the chargers as they packed up, but I think it's more likely the hole the charger plugs into. It's currently lying dead, and I'm using my work lappy, but need to get the Toshiba sorted out rather than buying yet another charger.

nickyhutch

KathysBoy wrote: »

Do you use the laptop a lot on mains with the battery in. This is the main cause of batteries failing. If you use the battery on mains you should remove the battery.

I am really thick. I use mine plugged in all the time and thought that was still using the battery! Just taken my battery out and it's still working. Thankyou!

Peckedhen

Right, I'm guilty of both using the laptop on mains whilst the battery is in situ and also using the laptop on, er, my laptop!

(Why on earth don't they put some sort of a warning in and why did they call it a laptop if it shouldn't be used on your laptop:mad:!?)

Peckedhen

Richie-from-the-Boro wrote: »

Just get a USB drive about a fiver

Depending on the resolution of your camera, eg, a 2MP camera will make a minimum file size of 300k that's 3 and a half thousand [ ish ] photo's on a stick costing £5-10.

Hope this helps

NB. using a laptop on your laptop / arm of sofa / duvet etc, will kill it [ battery first / machine second ] sure as apples grow on trees !

Thanks for the links, this would be cheaper than the £50ish external drive. Can I put documents on as well as photos?

tronator

Peckedhen wrote: »

Last edited by Peckedhen; Today at 2:45 PM. Reason: speeling mustak

Nice one