Refurbished Laptop Guide

What is a Refurbished Laptop?

       A Refurbished laptop is also recognized as re-certified or remanufactured, has been returned to the company for one grounds or another. Laptops are returned for any number of reasons. Just think about the last time you returned an item. It is not always because it was faulty. Sometimes a laptop just doesn't meet the original purchaser's needs.  The company will clean, repair, replace parts and test the unit to bring it up to factory specs. Then they resell it at a considerable discount. When you're looking for an outstanding deal on a laptop computer, you might want to go the refurbished route.

Should you buy a refurbished laptop?

   Factory refurbished laptops are relatively simply great value, selling at between 20% and 50% off retail price. The number one reason consumers buy factory refurbished laptops is price. Whether you need a laptop for school, a new business endeavor, or just internet surfing, a factory refurbished laptop allows a consumer to purchase a quality branded computer for a smaller expense than a similar new computer. This is a great way to buy a cheap laptop.

How to test a refurbished laptop before buying?

• Reboot the laptop a few times to test the boot process.
• Dial out to test the modem. Visit a few web pages.
• Send and receive a few e-mails.
• Read and write from the floppy drive.
• Try the viewing screen on different resolutions.
• Check the viewing screen for contrast and brightness.
• Check the LCD screen for dead pixels which appear as black dots.
• Try burning a disc if there is a CD-RW drive present.
• Play a DVD movie or audio CD if it has the appropriate drive.
• Use and AIDA64 or any benchmarking software to  test the stability of the laptop.

 Dell D600 Laptop (1.6ghz, 40 GB Hard Drive, DVD/CD-RW)

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How To Install Windows XP Using PXE or Via LAN

1.) On your server, Download TFTD32 here http://tftpd32.jounin.net/download/Tftpd32-3.51-setup.exe

2.) Install.

3.) Write down your computer name found by right-clicking "My Computer," then clicking "Properties" and

      clicking the "Computer Name" tab.

4.) Make a new folder in your drive C and name it as OUTPUT

5.) Download these files and extract to the OUTPUT folder.Click here to download

6.) Configure your TFTD32

     Change the Current Directory to “C:\OUTPUT

 

7. Click Settings. Change Base Directory to: C:\>OUTPUT.

 8. Click DHCP and follow the configuration as seen below.

9. Create a shared folder--for example at c:\winxp--then copy the entire i386 folder from the Windows XP   

    CD and SMARTDRV.EXE to this folder. SMARTDRV.EXE is included on the file from step 5.

    How to share a folder? Follow this link:  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/304040

10. BOOT the computer you want to reformat, LAN Boot first. (Check your BIOS settings)

11. Leave everything at its default setting until you come to the DOS prompt.

12. Repartition your hard drive using FDISK by typing FDISK on your DOS prompt.

                       For FDISK partition refer to this site. : http://fdisk.radified.com/

                       Make sure that your drive C is set as Active.

13. Reboot your computer..

14. Leave everything at its default setting until you come to "Identification Settings." Using Tab, select 

      "lmhosts," then enable it with the spacebar. Go to "OK."

15. Enter the IP address of your server, then press tab once and enter your computer name. Save the file and

      quit by simultaneously pressing the "Alt" and "X" keys.

16. Press "Enter" to continue through the rest of the questions, accepting their default values.

      Enter the command "format c:/Q" once you get to the command prompt. Enter the command "net use

      x:\\YOUR-COMPUTER-NAME\winxp" once the format is complete. Replace

      YOUR-COMPUTER-NAME with the computer name you wrote down

17. Change directories by typing "x:" then "SMARTDRV.EXE." Change directories again by typing "cd 

      i386," then type "winnt" to copy the files from the shared folder onto the hard drive, beginning the   

      Windows  install. Proceed through the Windows XP install as normal.

missing "\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SOFTWARE" error

SYMPTOMS:

You try to start up your Windows 2000/XP (Vista too?) computer and you get a message, white text on black background:
Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM
or
Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SOFTWARE

WHAT WOULD YOU DO? REFORMAT? REPAIR THE OS? Yes it can be possible but their is a short way or workaround and I have tried and tested it. This tutorial is all about this issue.


Steps.

1.  Download HIREN Boot CD here: http://www.hirensbootcd.org/files/Hirens.BootCD.13.1.zip
2.  Burn to CD and boot into it.
3.  Check your memory using Memplus which is included on HIREN.  If Memplus find some error on your RAM, try to replace with working or new RAM and then try to boot. If Error still exist go on to step 4.

4.  Check your hard drive using HDAT2 which is also included on HIREN. Restart.  If the error still exist, go on with the next step.

5.  Boot on MiniXP which is also included on HIREN.
6.  On MiniXP, double click "My Computer" and  go to "C:\windows\system32\config\
7.  Backup the following file system, "software, sam, security and default"  to your USB/Pendrive or drive D:
8.  Delete the same files from your CONFIG folder.
9.  Open one of these folders to locate a Snapshot subfolder. The following path is an example of a folder  path to the Snapshot folder:

C:\System Volume Information\_restore{D86480E3-73EF-47BC-A0EB-A81BE6EE3ED8}\RP1\Snapshot

10. rom the Snapshot folder, copy the following files to the C:\windows\system32\config\

• _REGISTRY_USER_.DEFAULT
• _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SECURITY
• _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE
• _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM
• _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SAM

11. Rename the files in the C:\Windows\Tmp folder as follows:

• Rename _REGISTRY_USER_.DEFAULT to DEFAULT
• Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SECURITY to SECURITY
• Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE to SOFTWARE
• Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM to SYSTEM
• Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SAM to SAM

12.  BOOT TO WINDOWS:

========
IF ALL ELSE FAILS:  Reformat or Repair your OS.  Dont forget to Backup.