oh arse, if it's as simple as that i'll feel like a right ******* for having coaxed her to rip the laptop apart.... although the HDD almost definitely needs replacing.
Thank you for explaining it to me.im more at home working on a car than i am trying to fix this laptop.i just dont understand how they work.I shall put it all back together this eve and give it a try leaving the hard drive un connected.Will let you know how i get on. Many thanks Fod.Much appreciated.
already tried that one..when i select cd/dvd drive i get prompted for the password in the phoenix bios utility set up.its this password i dont have, anything i have tried, it always goes back to the same error message.
I'd agree with you about the HDD Fod. The Acers don't have shock absorbers like the IBMs unfortunately. Hard drives normally are the easiest to replace, I can only find FRDs for the Acer laptops, they just have exploded diagrams (poor quality) so it's hard to find out how to take it apart. One thing with the keyboards and so on, normally the keyboard has locks at the top, if you press the F keys down you may see a couple of tabs, those will need to be pushed it gently to unlock the retaining plastic, other laptops have a small hole on the top near the power switch to push the tabs down and unlock the keyboard. Try looking for those. I've just spent today ripping apart another laptop of mine (much older)
Temper often kills a lot of things. Resetting the CMOS on my acer travelnote 2000 laptop was actually pretty straight forward. Goes like this. Note! The keyboard itself normally has a piece of either mild steel or aluminium as backing. The locking tabs are part of that backing. So regard the keyboard as one piece. The reason im telling this is because it actually is pretty sturdy. 1. At the bottom of the keyboard I used a small flathead screwdriver, inserted between the keyboard and the plastic frame to push the keyboard towards the screen. gently, very gently though. 2. You should see the locking tabs on the keyboard along the plastic frame. On mine they were at each top and bottom corners. 3. Apply a bit of pressure upwards as you normally use a crowbar and the bottom of the keyboard should pop free. 4. You can now pull gently upwards and towards yourself and you can lift it afterwards. 5. Flip the board vertical, you should see some ribbon cable connecting your keyboard and the rest of the laptop. You dont want to pull those loose. Either lay it backside up on the trackpad or the screen. As long as there is no tension on the ribbon. The CMOS battery is usually covered in brigtly coloured plastic and has a set of wires protruding from it. Follow those wires to where they connect. Disconnect it for 30 minutes. Reconnect. Assembly is the reverse of removal. Easy peasy. Happy (dis)assembly Stefan
