What to do when your Laptop breaks?

Having a broken laptop can be a genuinely stressful time, particularly if you have a lot of professional or personal data or images on there. When adding the cost of repairing or replacing it on top, it’s natural to feel a genuine sense of loss. However, before you lose all hope, it’s worth knowing that there are steps you can take to either give the laptop a new lease of life or retain some of its value. Here’s some tips on what you can do when your laptop breaks.

With some technical knowledge and a bit time and effort, it might just be worth it if you can save some of your investment and data.

Make sure that when your laptop breaks, it’s beyond repair

Firstly, is the laptop broken beyond repair, as you may be surprised at how easily it can be fixed! If you need a laptop while it is being assessed and/or repaired, Smart Computers offer a discounted laptop rental service to keep you going. Even if the laptop is beyond repair or will cost too much to fix, you may decide to rent a laptop. Where can I rent a laptop for a week?

Transform it into a ‘PC-in-a-Keyboard’

If the laptop’s processor and hard drive are still working, you can turn it into a new device. By taking the internal parts out and putting them into a standalone PC keyboard which connects to a monitor, you can create a PC.

Use the display as a standalone monitor

If the LCD display is still working, you can use it with another PC or laptop as an additional monitor. This can help you to multitask and improve your productivity. You will need to remove the LCD panel and attach it to a controller board.

Repurpose the hard drive

If the hard drive is functional, remove and use it as an external hard drive with another PC or laptop. You can try this even if you don’t know whether or not the hard drive is still working. You can also buy hard drive enclosures or cases to fit it.

Sell it for parts

The worst case scenario is that you cannot salvage any functionality when your laptop breaks. However, even in this instance you can sell the individual parts to try and recoup some money. There are lots of people who are in the market to buy old laptop screens and adapters.

If you do sell the laptop, it’s important to remember that you need to remove and destroy the hard drive. If you can’t sell the laptop or any of its parts, recycling it is your best option.

Smart Computers provide a laptop repair service. You can also rent/hire a laptop from us wherever you live in the UK, while we repair yours. We provide a next day delivery service to minimise your downtime. Get in touch with the team for more information.