How to enable the Wireless Radio on an HP Mini 110 or 210 Series Netbook

Description: This article describes how to enable the wireless radio on an HP Mini 110 or 210 Series Netbook

1. On the keyboard the key used to enable or disable the wireless radio is the F12 key.
2. Press the F12 key which has the symbol . If the radio is switched on the wireless indicator will be white.
3. If the wireless radio is turned off the Wireless Indicator light will be amber.
4. If the radio is turned on or off, the Wireless Assistant icon in the system tray will display the status.

Wireless Connected

Wireless Disconnected

Wireless Disabled

For more assistance contact Technical Support here.

Troubleshooting no wireless activity on a Dell Inspiron 15r series

This article will provide some initial steps to troubleshoot the problem of not being able to get online wirelessly on a Dell Inspiron 15r series notebook.

Problem: Your new Dell 15r notebook computer is not able to connect to a wireless network. You get an error stating that the wireless card is not active or installed.

Resolution: This is a problem when the wireless card in the Dell 15r series notebook is disabled or not powered on. To resolve this problem we will be activating the wireless card through the function keys on the notebook.

1. Make sure the notebook computer is on and computer is at the windows desktop.
2. Hold down Fn and press F2. This toggles the power on/off for the wireless network card on the notebook. Each time the F2 is pressed, it will cycle on/off for the wireless network card.

Two status icons will appear on the screen when the function keys are pressed:

When the wireless is enabled:



When the wireless is disabled:



For more assistance contact Technical Support here.

Enable the touchpad on an HP ProBook 4525s Notebook

This article describes how to enable the touchpad on an HP ProBook 4525S notebook.

When the HP ProBook 4525S notebook computers were shipped from the manufacturer, the touchpad could be turned off by default or accidentally turned off. To allow the touchpad to activate you will need to turn on the adapter when setting up the PC for the first time.

1. On the touchpad in the upper left hand corner there is a small circle. This button turns on/off the touchpad.
2. Tap the small circle once and the touchpad will turn on. When it is switched on, the circle will be blue.
   
   


3. Tap the small circle again and the touchpad will turn off. If the touchpad is turned off the Indicator is blank or not lit up.
   
   

For more assistance contact Technical Support here.

Notebook FAQs

Q: What is a Recovery Disc or an Operating System Disc?
A: The Recovery Disc or Operating System Disc is used when the Operating System has become unusable, due to file corruption, virus or hardware malfunction.

Q: Are any of the pre-installed applications removable?
A: Yes, any software is removable by accessing the Add or Remove Programs control in Windows XP, or Programs and Features control in Windows 7.

Q: Is Up-To-Date Security Software Necessary?
A: Security software is recommended to prevent data loss, as well as theft of personal information. If this security is not kept up to date, newly created Viruses, Worms, Trojans and other threats will have easy access to the system. We recommend ESET NOD32 or ESET Smart Security to keep your computer secure.

Q: What is DVD-RAM?
A: DVD-RAM is a re-writable DVD that can be rewritten hundreds of thousands of times. Typically DVD-RAM discs will not play in standard DVD Players. It is often used in Video Cameras.

Q: Why are Back-Ups necessary?
A: Keeping an up-to-date back-up of your computer is critical if you have files on the system that you do not want to lose. If your computer gets hit by a bad virus or the hard drive crashes, you may lose all information on the computer. Keeping information saved on an external hard drive using backup software ensures that it will always be available.

Q: What is a HomeGroup?
A: A HomeGroup is an easy way to share files, printers and other resources when multiple Windows 7 computers are connected to one router.

Q: Where is the Microsoft Office product key?
A: To obtain the Microsoft Office product key, activate the trial by clicking the 60-day trial icon located on the desktop, or Activation Assistant icon in the Microsoft Office folder found in the Start Menu.

Q: Where can I see how much battery life is left?
A: In the system tray in the bottom right corner of the screen there is a battery or power icon that will show how much charge is left in the battery, as well as whether or not it is currently charging.

Creating Recovery Media for Gateway Computers

This article shows how to create the recovery media for a Gateway-brand computer.

Before you begin:
If your computer experiences problems that are not recoverable by other methods, you may need to reinstall the Windows operating system and factory-loaded software and drivers. To reinstall using discs, you must create the set of recovery discs before you have a problem. To ensure that you have recovery options available, you should create a set of recovery discs as soon as possible.

If you are creating recovery discs, ensure that you have several blank DVD±R discs. Note that you cannot use DVD±RW or DVD±R Double-Layer discs to create the recovery media.

Close all open applications on the PC. You will not be able to use the computer while it is creating the recovery media.

Create a set of operating system recovery discs by following these steps:

1. Click on Start » All Programs » Gateway, then click on Gateway Recovery Management. This will open Gateway Recovery Management.

2. Choose the recovery media you wish to create.

OPTIONS:
- Create factory default disc. This creates recovery discs for the hard drive's entire original contents, including Windows and all factory-loaded software and drivers.
- Create driver and application backup disc. This option creates recovery discs for only the factory-loaded software and drivers.

Note: It is recommended that you create each type of disk as soon as possible.

3. The Create Backup Disc dialog box opens. This dialog box tells you the number of blank, recordable discs you will need to complete the recovery. Be sure to have the required number of blank discs ready before going on.

4. Insert a blank disc into the drive indicated in the Burn to list, then click Next. The first disc begins recording, and you can watch its progress on the screen. When the disc finishes recording, the drive ejects it.

5. Remove the disc from the drive and mark it with a permanent marker.

Note: Be sure to label each disc. We recommend that you pick a unique name for each disc such as Recovery Disc 1 of 2 or Apps/Drivers Recovery disc.

If multiple discs are required, insert a new disc when prompted, then click OK. Continue recording discs until the process is complete.

Creating Recovery Media for Dell Computers

This article shows you how to create recovery media for Dell-brand computers.

Before you begin:

If your computer experiences problems that are not recoverable by other methods, you may need to reinstall the Windows operating system and factory-loaded software and drivers. To reinstall using discs, you must create the set of recovery discs before you have a problem. To ensure that you have recovery options available, you should create a set of recovery discs as soon as possible.

If you are creating recovery discs, ensure that you have several blank DVD±R discs. Note that you cannot use DVD±RW or DVD±R Double-Layer discs to create the recovery media.

Close all open applications on the PC. You will not be able to use the computer while it is creating the recovery media.

Create a set of operating system recovery discs by following these steps:

1. Click Start. In the Search Programs and Files box located just above the Start button, type "Dell Backup and Recovery Manager" (without the quotes) and press the Enter key.

2. On the left side of the window that opens, click Dell Recovery Tools.

3. Click Create a Recovery Disc or Device.

4. Select DVD and Factory Image and Recovery Tools and click Next.

5. Select your optical drive and insert a DVD±R and click Next.

The recovery files will then be written to disc. You may be asked to insert an additional disc after the first one. Follow the on-screen instructions until the recording is complete.

Note: Be sure to label each disc. We recommend that you pick a unique name for each disc such as Recovery Disc 1, 2, 3..etc.

Creating Recovery Media for HP Computers

Before you begin:
If you are creating recovery discs, ensure that you have several blank DVD±R discs. Note that you cannot use DVD±RW or DVD±R DL discs to create the recovery media.

Close all open applications. You will not be able to use the computer while it is creating the recovery media.

You can use HP Recovery Manager to create a personal set of recovery discs. When you select the Recovery disc creation process, the HP Recovery Manager examines the PC and determines how many blank DVD discs will be required. Depending on the model, you will need up to three DVD-R or DVD+R discs. The creation process can take up to an hour or more. Do not interrupt the creation process.

Create a set of operating system recovery discs by following the steps below.

1. Click Start and type "recovery" without the quotes in the search field. Select Recovery Manager from the list to open the HP Recovery Manager window. Alternatively you can click Start , All Programs , Recovery Manager , and then Recovery Manager.

2. When the Recovery Manager application opens, click Recovery Disc Creation. The computer will restart and launch the Recovery Manager again.

3. Select Recovery Disc Creation again to start the process. The program will appear to pause for about ten minutes while it examines the computer and calculates how many DVD-R or DVD+R discs are needed. Do not interrupt this process. The discs must be either DVD-R, or DVD+R. Do not use DVD-R/W read/write type discs because the creation process will fail.

4. When prompted, put a blank disc in the DVD drive and follow the on-screen instructions to create the recovery discs.

5. After all of the recovery discs are created, label the discs and store them in a safe place.

Reference:
HP Support. Creating the Recovery Disc Set in Windows 7.
http://bit.ly/ftJRKW

HP Support. Creating the Recovery Disc Set in Windows XP.
http://bit.ly/evR90I

Creating Recovery Media for eMachine Computers

This week, we are going to focus on creating recovery media for different systems. For Day 1, this article shows you how to make backup discs for eMachine-brand desktops and notebooks.

Before you begin:
If you are creating recovery discs, ensure that you have several blank DVD±R discs. Note that you cannot use DVD±RW or DVD±R Double-Layer discs to create the recovery media.

Close all open applications on the PC. You will not be able to use the computer while it is creating the recovery media.

To create recovery media:

1.  Click on Start and then All Programs.

2. Click on the eMachines folder and then on the eMachines Recovery Management. This will launch the eMachines Recovery Management application.

3.  Click on Create Factory Default Disc. The Create Backup Disc dialog box will appear and provide information on the number of blank media that is needed for the recovery media.

4. Insert a blank disc into the drive indicated in the Burn To list and click Start. The eMachines Recovery Management application will be in the process of creating the recovery media.

5. The disc will be ejected whenever it has completed burning, if multiple discs are required insert a new disc when prompted and click Ok.

Reference:
eMachines Support. FAQs.
http://bit.ly/evR90I