Today is December 1, 2021. We won’t talk about the time because if you’re listening to it, be aware that morning wasn’t even a promise when this was written/recorded and/or filmed.
Fortunately, it wasn’t in front of a – LIVE studio audience.
Anyway… I’ve been away even more because of class. My current adventure now spans close to 4 days.
Adventure? You might wonder.
This might not be the first time that I do this, but I’d love to have physical record for later reference.
My instructor also suggested I do so.
November 28, 2021 – So I’m studying IT stuff. My friend brought her laptop over on Sunday, upset that it wasn’t working for WiFi. While I was trying to fix it up, I added an extra 4 gigs of RAM into it.
I had an extra stick from upgrading my Windows 8, which now only spends 2.5 seconds in BIOS and runs circles around my other laptops.
It’s updates? – Upgraded from 12 gigs RAM to 16 (swapped out 4 gig stick for 8 gig stick); Replaced the entire hard drive – changed from HDD to SSD same size (1 TB); Changed out the CMOS battery; Brand new external battery. Oh… and fresh install of Windows 10 along with hunting for replacement drivers all over the place.
Anyways… After adding the additional RAM, because for some reason that laptop came with 2 DIMMs, but only 1 was loaded with a RAM stick (The one I inserted is also upside down inside the slot) … I realized that I needed to change the CMOS battery… Her laptop couldn’t remember the date or time to save its poor fragile life.
The battery of course has to be UNDERNEATH the motherboard… deep in the bowels of the case. I had to take out the NIC card, remove the cable, remove 10,000 screws, pull off the keyboard.
The frame over the motherboard was like… glued in place in one spot. I nearly freaked out when I realized trying to remove the cover was putting pressure on one of the USB ports and it was also stuck to the DVD drive.
So, I had to try not to bend the board while trying to change out the battery. And the motherboard had 3 screws in it as well. I’m supposed to be able to remove the frame then remove the motherboard and put the battery in. NOT so easy! Instead, I ended up bending the cover up just far enough to remove two of the screws.
Used a flathead screwdriver to flip out the old CMOS, snapped in a brand new one in and reversed everything I’d just done. I put screws back in place, relieved that I’d solved the memory issue.
On boot, it claimed there was NO CMOS, blinked — loaded and then I couldn’t use the touchpad. She told me to keep it for parts, and I felt terrible because it had worked before I went into it.
Slow as molasses, but it had worked.
I decided to work on it after she went home, because at that point – it’s my PC, right?
I went back in, down to the wonky cover and motherboard. Pressed that battery in as if it would save my life. Then went about reassembling. There are like 15 or 16 screws on the OUTER case alone, not including the two screws in the middle. Then you have about 5 underneath the keyboard. Those 5 screws are supposed to be removed so that the frame under the keyboard can be removed and expose the motherboard. Not possible. The motherboard had 3 screws.
On boot, the laptop loaded and was holding date and time.
But now the internet was not working. I tried to hook it up into the WiFi in my home, my phone hotspot… Nothing. Tried to connect it to the router via ethernet. Nothing.
So… I opted to order a USB to WiFi connector and a USB Hub. All of the USB ports seem to be working along with the DVD player.
This is not the end. Want to know more? Stay tuned!
~ Miss J
Wow… That sounded like something off a TV show.
Hey, Miss J! 
Your Thoughts?