Can I upgrade

[mrkngpn]

I have a Toshiba Tecra M2-S730 what can i do to upgrade it?

 

[frozenlead]

To upgrade it how? Why do you want to upgrade it? What do you wish to improve?

 

[mrkngpn]

Its acting slow. Just wanted to make it faster. And whatever else i could do to it. And would you happen to know why the cursor goes all over the place. Is it the track point going bad?

 

[frozenlead]

If you have a track point, I suggest you clean it every once in a while, but after a few years they do get rather jumpy.

If your machine is just slow, it's most likely due to software issues. Upgrading it is a waste of money when you can fix software for free. What is the notebook equipped with?

 

[mrkngpn]

Does it mean that there is a short or something if i hit the space bar and the cursor moves? It will jump around the screen. And how do i go about cleaning it?

In the system properties it says Intel Pentium M processor 1.60 GHz 598 MHz, 512 MB of ram. Is this good??

 

[frozenlead]

Because of the trackpoint function, it's certainly possible that hitting the spacebar can make the cursor move. Trackpoints usuall are pads with joystick-like devices underneath them. Simply lift straight up on the little dot and it should pop off - then use some alcohol (and perhaps some tweezers or small flathead screwdrivers) to get any gunk out of the stick part.

Your system hardware is fast enough if you're running windows XP. Are you?

 

[mrkngpn]

Think i need a new keyboard because i took off the keys to clean the track point and notice the wires that go under the keyboard were coming off. I touched the wire and it made the cursor jump around. So im going to get another one and see if it works.

And i do have windows xp. How do i find out if there is a system problems or error? Could that be some of the problem?

 

[frozenlead]

Well, the matter of having a slow OS is a multi-headed dragon. You really need lots of experience in the field to detect and solve all the little problems that can eat away at your system speed. I'll give you a few pointers.

1. Check to make sure you're not wasting memory by starting up tons of programs you don't need when windows starts. You can use the msconfig utility's startup tab to do this. Common examples are Adobe updaters, iTunes, IM clients, toolbars, etc.

2. Clean out your registry with a registry cleaning program. Just do a google search and you should find a few.

3. Uninstall programs you don't need, especially adware types like toolbars and other downloaded applications.

4. Run a disk defrag.

 

[mrkngpn]

K, I will do those things and let ya know how things turn out. Also I was wondering, when i hit ctrl, alt, delete to bring up task manger. Is there suppose to be a lot of things under the processes tab? Cuz it shows that a bunch of things are on there.

 

[frozenlead]

It depends on the computer, but it should usually hover around 50 or 60. Lower is better, of course.

 

[mrkngpn]

Well what i mean is its showing these.

Under processes on task manager.

Camfsem.exe
runll32.exe
cctray.exe

Are these suppose to on here. There are more showing than this, just used some of them to show what I was talking about.
And i wouldn't be running anything either.

 

[rodyhoffer]

This is the reason why I think 2x before buying a laptop. Upgrade would be very minimal for laptops compared to desktop PCs. What you can increase is the memory of your notebook (if there are still available models), not sure about the graphic card (if there are compatible ones then yes).

More probably if you want to upgrade your notebook, you may opt to buy a newer model. I only consider laptop's portability as its advantage over desktop PCs.

 

[frozenlead]

Don't go about randomly ending processes. Just leave the task manager alone - if you follow the other steps I outlined, that should solve any or most things with the task manager.

 

[mrkngpn]

OK. I got one more question for you. Do you know how i can replace the socket on the mother board that the power cord goes in?

 

[frozenlead]

Yeah. It's pretty easy, given the tools. As long as the socket itself is the only thing that's bad (and not the motherboard), it's just a simple solder job.

 

[mrkngpn]

Do you know where or a website that i can go to and get the socket. And maybe a site or something on how to replace it?

 

[frozenlead]

You may not need a socket depending on the damage, but check your local Radio Shack.

This is a decent guide on doing the repair:
http/www.laptoprepair101.com/laptop/2007/12/06/dc-power-jack-repair-guide/

Some of the steps really aren't necessary, though.

 

[mrkngpn]

there is nothing left of the socket on the motherboard. Just 2 metal pieces still attached. but i will check around.