DC Jack Dead - No password on computer - UPDATED

tizerbelle

So the dc jack has finally died on my trusty old toshiba satellite P100-160 (yes I know its [STRIKE]old[/STRIKE] ancient but it has served me well and put up with being dropped / trodden on / drinks spilt on it etc etc)

I knew it was on the way out and meant to reinstate login/outlook passwords etc but the jack went before I got round to it (and the battery died yonks ago)

So I need to get the jack fixed which means taking it into repair shop - hence my question as my data is unprotected can I just remove the HDD before I take it in and if I do will they still be able to repair it?

Thanks

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UPDATE ON POST 9

GunJack

only worry about removing the hdd if you don't trust the place you take it to for the repair - but then if you don't trust them, why take it there, IYSWIM ??

is there a friend who knows someone or suchlike you could have it done by?? Depends where you live, but around £40-45 should cover it

tizerbelle

Thanks GunJack, its not that I don't trust them per se, I don't really know them (have been recommended by a few friends though) but I'm just uber cautious - with free access to my email they could get details to get into various accounts and I'd rather not take the risk - however small.

GunJack

1. are you sure it's the dc jack itself and not the PSU or the internal PSU within the lappy?

2. any reputable repairer won't be interested in any of your data, just doing the repair. When I do power jacks, all I do is power up the machine with the battery removed and enter BIOS, then power off, put battery back in and boot windows to check the power meter/charging circuit. Then if that's the only work being done on the machine it gets shut down again...no rooting round of data, e-mail accounts, etc. TBH, I'm not interested in anything anyone has on their pc, no reputable repairer would be

3. if you're that concerned, find the friend of the friend to do it for you...

closed

if it really is the internal jack, <£5, screwdriver, and a little patience.

http://www.irisvista.com/tech/laptops/toshiba-satellite-p105/take-apart-3.htm

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TOSHIBA-SATELLITE-P100-160-DC-JACK-SOCKET-CABLE-3mm-/290657441329

Lum

If you take the hard drive out, the laptop will still boot to the BIOS screen, enough for them to tell that it now has power and so that the repair is successful.

I guess you can tell them that you're using the drive in a USB enclosure in the meantime rather than telling them that you don't trust them.

GunJack

closed wrote: »

if it really is the internal jack, <£5, screwdriver, and a little patience.

yup, but doesn't sound like the OP has the technical ability and/or confidence to do this themselves

tizerbelle

Thanks all and apologies for the delayed response.

@GunJack - it's definitely the dc jack but I'd just assumed it would be a solder job. Thanks to closed and lum I now know it isn't and I'm going to have a bash at replacing it myself and if that doesn't work I'll use a usb enclosure to get at the data from tosh through another laptop.

Thank you all for your help.

tizerbelle

Thought I'd give you all a progress report!

So I got the DC Jack and spent a couple of hours Sunday morning dismantling Tosh, replacing the jack and then rebuilding it.

Guess what? It wasn't jack that needed replacing apparently - it was the PSU

But at least I had a go. And Tosh is now working again although having bought another laptop during his downtime (yes I know not MSE at all!) I am absolutely shocked at how painfully slow he is so once I've transferred off all the files and stuff I want to keep I'm going to have a go at tuning Tosh up and removing some of the bloat and crud he's built up over the years and keep him just for my photo-editing.

Lum

Well, not paying for someone else to fix it IS pretty MSE

Wipe it, reinstall from scratch then re-use or sell

NiftyDigits

tizerbelle wrote: »

Thought I'd give you all a progress report!

So I got the DC Jack and spent a couple of hours Sunday morning dismantling Tosh, replacing the jack and then rebuilding it.

Guess what? It wasn't jack that needed replacing apparently - it was the PSU

But at least I had a go. And Tosh is now working again although having bought another laptop during his downtime (yes I know not MSE at all!) I am absolutely shocked at how painfully slow he is so once I've transferred off all the files and stuff I want to keep I'm going to have a go at tuning Tosh up and removing some of the bloat and crud he's built up over the years and keep him just for my photo-editing.

It's going to be slow if you are running Vista Home Premium on 1GB of RAM plus the bloat that Toshiba include. Did you ever upgrade the RAM?.

Should be a minimum of 2GB. You can get 2 x 1 GB here for £13.98 delivered.

Then a back up and a Factory Restore or better still a clean install with a Vista DVD will show a marked improvement.