Can't Remove USB Drive

Windows really should tell you what program is using the drive, but it doesn't. You're going to have to do some detective work. Start by doing what Windows recommends: Wait a bit, then try again. But keep busy while you wait. Make sure you don't have the drive open in Windows Explorer; in fact, you may want to close all of your Windows Explorer windows, just in case. Next, examine the system tray   to make sure that a program...

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Safely Remove USB Drives Just by Unplugging Them

Reader Dane wrote in seeking help with this hassle: "After using Safely Remove Hardware for my SD card, I have to reboot my PC before my PC will recognize another SD card. Is there a way for the PC to accept the card without rebooting?" This brings to mind the old joke where the guy goes to a doctor and says, "It hurts when I do this," and the doctor says, "So stop doing it." Dane has the best of intentions: Windows' Safely Remove...

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Laptop Service Manual

Introduction In the same vein as in my driver guide, I’ve started finding laptop service manuals and hosting them on my site. These are the professional, official documents published by the various laptop makers, either for their own technicians or for the use of the general public They generally detail the exact list of parts in each model of laptop – often down to individual screws, if you happen to have lost some and need to know...

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Laptop Disassembly Guides

Here are the list of Laptop Disassembly Guides: You can save the file by downloading it to your computer. Enjoy! I'll be updating this list as possible. How to disassemble HP Pavilion dm1 laptop ...

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Laptop shuts down without any reason

Does your laptop shut down in the middle of doing something without any reason and warning? Does your laptop run much hotter then before, the keyboard and the bottom part of the laptop feels very hot? If yes, your laptop overheats and has to be cleaned up. It happens because the heat sink is clogged with dust and lint preventing normal air circulation. These are all the symptoms of a laptop overheating problem in or around the cooling...

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Laptop Repair Tools

The following tools will be very helpful if you decide to repair or disassemble a laptop yourself. I will make some recommendations and also provide links where you can find all these tools on eBay. SCREWDRIVER SET In order to open a laptop case you must have a good set of screwdrivers. I found that Wiha makes one of the best screwdrivers available on the market today. I’ve been using my Wihas almost every day for over 5 years and they...

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Laptop does not start. Is it bad power jack or motherboard?

Let’s say your laptop does not start at all. You plug in the power adapter and press on the power button, but the laptop will not react. It’s dead and the power or battery charge LED will not light up. What could be wrong? Is it bad power jack or the motherboard is dead?   By the way, the power jack aka DC-IN jack is the power socket on the side or back of your laptop where you plug the AC/DC power adapter. I’ll explain how to perform...

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