Netbooks: The Missing Manual

Chapter 12. Troubleshooting Your Netbook

No matter how you use it—traveling Facebook updater, portable typewriter, video game console, or all of the above—a netbook is still a computer. And computers have problems now and then.

Figuring out what’s wrong with a sick netbook is pretty much like figuring out why a regular laptop or desktop machine is acting up. Is it hardware? Is it software? Could it have something to do with the cappuccino that you just spilled all over the keyboard? (Thanks to the prevalence of wireless Internet access in coffee shops, that last issue is more common than it used to be.)

This chapter takes a look at some tools and principles you can use to figure out what ails your netbook so you can fix it. You’ll also learn basic maintenance methods that can keep it running more smoothly and possibly prevent trouble. If worse comes to worst, you’ll see what to do if your netbook really needs a major operation—like a full system reinstall.

Whenever this chapter doesn’t have all the answers, it tells you where to look for them. This information can make the difference between a happy, functioning netbook—and a flat, three-pound paperweight.

Troubleshooting Common Problems

Netbooks, like their larger laptop cousins, are meant to be portable. Netbooks go places. But the more you move the netbook around, quaff chai tea lattes over it, or plop it into the plastic tub for an airport x-ray inspection, the more you increase the odds of something going awry. Here are some quick ...