iMac G4 Music Recovery – Narre Warren North – South Eastern, Eastern suburbs and surrounding such as: Berwick, Beaconsfield, Cranbourne, Dandenong, Endeavour Hills, Mulgrave, Narre Warren, Pakenham, Rowville, etc. – CMSS provides first class Technical Support, Data Recovery Services! Call 8790 4460
The customer requested to recover his music files as much as possible when he brought over his non-booting iMac G4.
The dead computer had been used solely as a media player for music only. Great if it can be fixed, otherwise please recover as much of the music files as possible.
Push the power button, nothing, no light no noise.
Tried resetting it, still no joy.
Connected another power supply, no movement.
Highly likely a motherboard problem although no visual clues i.e. blown caps or the likes.
Not worth trying to fix this any further due to the value and purpose of the system.
Remove the HDD caddy. Two PATA drives. Connect them to one of the data recovery PCs. First drive is readily accessible but completely empty.
Second one presents a lot of bad sectors. Retrieval of the music files is going to require preparing the drive accordingly.
After processing for access, this turns out to be the system drive with all the user account folders. Recovery of the music files will now be possible indeed. As expected all other user folders are empty, so there is no other type of files to worry about.
Recover and extract the music files successfully to a safe recovery drive. All the files are integral so they should be in perfect state and playable. Test play samples, 100% good.
The customer supplied a transfer drive, appropriately format it for access by Mac OS. Copy over the recovered music folders and files.
Yes, no matter what kind of data are important to you, we can help you recover them when bad luck strikes.
Best Computer Repairs Narre Warren North ~ Looking for a top class computer repairs and IT support company to help you out at Narre Warren North – South Eastern, Eastern suburbs and surrounding such as: Berwick, Beaconsfield, Cranbourne, Harkaway, Dandenong, Endeavour Hills, Mulgrave, Narre Warren, Pakenham, Rowville, etc. – CMSS for fair and honest top class laptop and computer repairs! Call 8790 4460
OS not loading, glitches, sluggish, not responding, can’t print, etc,
Can’t open webpages can’t get emails, can’t update, can’t install program, can’t open programs, etc.
Maintenance
Update OS and drivers, update utilities, update apps, cleanup junk files and folders, optimise settings for performance and stability, physical cleanup, fluff and dust cleanup
Dead Lenovo Laptop Legion ~ Repairs with a twist at Narre Warren North – South Eastern, Eastern suburbs and surrounding such as: Berwick, Beaconsfield, Cranbourne, Harkaway, Dandenong, Endeavour Hills, Mulgrave, Narre Warren, Pakenham, Rowville, etc. – CMSS provides fair and honest laptop repairs! Call 8790 4460
Dead Lenovo Laptop Legion Repairs ~ Gaming class laptop. The client was happily playing when the laptop just shutdown! No light, no noise, no movement! The laptop was just shy of fourteen month old. Googling on the smartphone did not help.
Dead Lenovo Laptop Legion Repairs ~ Under warranty
Outline
Location: At our workshop Client type: Personal Problem – Symptoms: No light, no noise, unresponsive. Diagnostics: Physical, battery, power adapter, Findings: Failed – power adapter, battery, motherboard Solution: Get Lenovo to repair/replace failed components under warranty Outcome: Laptop successfully repaired under warranty
Where: at our workshop
Lenovo Legion Gaming Laptop ~ The client got in touch, his gaming laptop just died, no light, no response, whilst he had been gaming hard. Really panicking, he’d been all over the internet googling how to get around this, no luck!
From experience I knew this was not a simple case, so I advised him to drop the laptop off so I can run diagnostics to find out the source/s of the trouble.
Client Type
The owner bought the Lenovo Legion which is a gaming series laptop just for personal use. No especially valuable data to worry about. Just wants it back working so he can play his games! Really stressing out as he had it custom upgraded at the time of purchase with higher performance components.He wanted a really top class rig and put the money in to get it. And now the thing died just shy of fourteen month old. And he might lose all these expensive upgrade components as well.
Well, at fourteen month we might be able to get Lenovo to own up to this failure if it turns up to be from main hardware components. Even though the basic 1-year warranty had expired, purchaser life expectancy might still prevail at fourteen month? Still have to make sure it was not software related or user-induced damage. And identify the origin of the failure in the process.
Symptoms
This Lenovo Legion Gaming laptop was indeed dead – Plugged in the power adapter ~ no show on charging indicator LED; push on power button ~ nothing on power ON LED, no sign of life;
The Legion laptop appeared in perfect condition, no dent or scratch, and pretty clean/brand new looking. No dust or fluff around the fan grills. Indeed someone’s who loved his rig!
The power adapter also looked very neat – wires properly coiled, no kinks or knots, no visible damage. Power jack in the laptop looking in perfect shape, no damage. Pin in power connector present and straight. Should be making perfect contact with power jack.
Ok, pull the multimeter out and check the power adapter. Well, no life in it at all. So the adapter was dead. Pull out a known working well test charger, plugged it in, still no light on charger and power LEDs.
Ring customer and let him know the laptop’s power adapter was definitely dead. He will need a replacement one and these are not cheap. That’s when he mentioned that the battery should be fully charged as he had kept the charger plugged in whilst playing. He remembered the battery charge indicator showing full charge before everything went dark.
So if the battery was fully charged, this Legion laptop should at least start and run on battery. Unless the battery also died along with the charger? To check whether the battery also failed, disconnect it from the motherboard, plug in the good charger for testing. Still no sign of life. Replaced the RAM, removed the SSD, no joy.
Looks like the motherboard also died. Tried resetting the BIOS, still no response ~ definitely dead motherboard.
At this point in time, since the system was only fourteen month old for such a general failure, I felt Lenovo should take responsibility of this mess. I then requested the client to provide me with copies of the purchase docs.
Findings about this dead Lenovo Legion Gaming laptop
Visual checks – no sign of physical abuse or damage;
Charger – tested with multimeter ~ dead;
Battery – unconfirmed but potentially damaged as well from adapter death;
Motherboard – dead, not responding with test charger even with potentially major components replaced.
Solution
As the dead gaming Legion laptop basic warranty had recently expired, I contacted Lenovo support and presented the case along with my testing procedures and findings.
And yes, they agreed to take care of the matter. They organised the product pick up and return. I properly package the laptop as per requirement and sent it back for assessment and repairs under warranty.
Outcome – Lenovo Gaming Laptop Legion ~ Repaired
The Legion laptop was repaired under warranty. The client was ecstatic! Extremely happy and relieved to get his laptop back and working perfectly when he had already given up any hope about it. And especially at minimal cost considering the high cost of the replacement components.
Desktop Failed Drive Recovery Narre Warren North – South Eastern, Eastern suburbs and surrounding such as: Berwick, Beaconsfield, Cranbourne, Dandenong, Endeavour Hills, Mulgrave, Narre Warren, Pakenham, Rowville, etc. – CMSS provides first class Technical Support! Call 8790 4460
Desktop Failed Drive Recovery Narre Warren North
Workshop Job – Home Computer Data Recovery
Desktop Failed Drive Recovery ~ The client called desperate for help getting especially her photos back. The computer had stopped booting to Windows so she took it to have it repaired to a shop recommended by a work colleague. As the hard disk had indeed failed, they replaced it with an SSD and re-installed Windows afresh. They were however unable to retrieve and restore her data to the new setup. Apparently the weather was not helping?
The client had photos she was really desperate for, more so of her recently departed dog. Although they had an external drive for backup, they had never done any as the person who set it up for them never showed them how to.
Apart from the data, the original configurations and setup were also important, though not a priority.
Please bring it in for assessment as we all have different approaches to a particular situation.
Investigating
We ran the drive through our usual assessment processes and it did turn up in really bad shape due degraded platters with a lot of bad sectors.
Findings
Following our assessments all heads returned 100% full functionality status. Although the drive showed a lot of bad sectors the file system however still appeared ok.
As a result of the platters degradation it was not possible to access the drive directly from a computer. Consequently a path to recovering the required data from the failed drive would be as follows.
Solution
Path for recovery of the data from this failed desktop drive: First we cloned the bad drive it to a good one using our state of the art imaging system. Then we tried accessing the data directly from the clone for quick retrieval, but that failed. Had this worked, because the original setup and configurations were desired, we would have attempted booting from the clone. Nonetheless this testing had merit to try giving the client all possible best outcome.
Consequently, due to the failure to directly access the data through the clone, we would perform logical recovery off the clone.
Following completion of the logical recovery process we randomly check the integrity of the data to ensure the client gets them in a usable condition, not garbage. Next, we’ll transfer the recovered data to the client external drive. Well, this is a brief summary of what happened, the whole story is much longer and more complicated :-).
Results
Although the desktop drive showed severe degradation of the platters, the recovery process returned all the data 100% good. Happy and thankful customer!
Once we’re happy with the data ourselves, we setup access to the recovered data so he could check and test them himself. We then transfer the data to the client’s supplied drive.
CMSS – Narre Warren North We get your DATA back for you
Lost data? Photos? Business stuff? Personal stuff? External drives, SD cards, system drives? Windows? Mac? Linux? Android?
Home Networking Support Connect EcoVacs DEEBOT Narre Warren North – South Eastern, Eastern suburbs and surroundings such as: Berwick, Beaconsfield, Cranbourne, Dandenong, Endeavour Hills, Mulgrave, Narre Warren, Pakenham, Rowville, etc. – CMSS offers first class Networking Support! Call 8790 4460
Home Networking Support Narre Warren North
Onsite/Offsite Job – Connect EcoVacs DEEBOT
Home Networking Support – The client called and asked for help installing a new modem for their NBN service. Once onsite, the client explained that their current modem was unreliable with their EcoVacs DEEBOT OZMO 900 robot vacuum cleaner. They also could not connect their smartphone with the DEEBOT as required to configure the mapping for cleaning.
Findings
First the smartphone is supposed to connect to the modem on the 2.4GHz wireless band. Then the DEEBOT connects to the smartphone on the 2.4GHz band. Although the current modem indicated it offered 2.4GHz and 5GHz, there was no option to differentiate the SSIDs and manually select which one to connect to. This modem automatically detects the capabilities of the connecting device and initiates the connection accordingly. As the smartphone is 5GHz enabled, the modem therefore automatically connects it on the 5GHz band, thus making it impossible to access the DEEBOT on the 2.4GHz. The new modem totally refused to pick up the NBN internet connection – presumed dead-on-arrival (DOD). After trying a number of different possible options, we couldn’t determine for sure whether the fault was solely from the old modem, the DEEBOT or both.
Suggestion
Take the DEEBOT back to the workshop and test its connectivity. Our Telstra SmartModem can be configured to allow SSIDs differentiation and manual selection for connection. The client’s ISP is also Telstra. So to help mitigate the instability of the NBN service we advised him to request/get a Telstra Smart Modem. These modems have a SIM card which automatically defaults to the mobile 4G network service when the NBN service gets flaky. As long as the mobile signal is good, the internet service would also be just as fast for no extra charge.
Back at the workshop
The DEEBOT successfully accepted the connection with the smartphone. However we did have to work out the correct procedure to make that happen. Client bought a SmartModem a couple of days later.
Back onsite
Successfully setup the new SmartModem working on both the mobile network and NBN service. Then as per the previously developed procedure, successfully connect client’s smartphone with the DEEBOT. All good.
CMSS – Narre Warren North Taking care of your Networking problems for you
Gigabyte Gaming Laptop Broken Screen Narre Warren North – South Eastern, Eastern suburbs and surrounding such as: Berwick, Beaconsfield, Cranbourne, Dandenong, Endeavour Hills, Mulgrave, Narre Warren, Pakenham, Rowville, etc. – CMSS offers first class Laptop Repairs! Call 8790 4460
Gigabyte Gaming Laptop Broken Screen Narre Warren North
Gaming Laptop Broken Screen Gigabyte P27K came in for repairs. The owner dropped it and apparently drove over it. Miraculously everything still worked except the broken screen! Only other problem, the slightly bent metal frame holding the LED panel to the screen back cover.
Findings
Now one potential problem, Gigabyte no longer carries spare parts for the model as it’s over 6-years old. However we can source out compatible components from third party suppliers. One problem though – about 10-days ETA. This is a desktop replacement exclusively used for work. So the client needs this laptop for work on a daily basis. As he usually connects it to a secondary monitor when at work, and that still works, he takes it back pending receipt of the part.
The Fix
He dropped the laptop back when notified about the delivery of the panel. To perform the repairs of the broken screen, first disassemble the screen set. Then temporarily replace the damaged screen with the new one, connect, test, all good! One more thing to fix, remove the bent metal screen frame and carefully straighten it back to normal. Finally re-assemble everything, test again, perfect!
Something extra
Login to Windows and do a general software check. Disable some unnecessary startup items to improve logon performance. Apply latest Windows, drivers and BIOS updates. Also review and optimise the settings in Chrome for performance and ease of use.
Although this was simply a broken screen repair job we always round off the service. Remove all covers and perform internal dust and fluff cleanup with brush and compressed air. Will definitely improve cooling and stability. Then using rubbing alcohol and microfibre cloth, cleanup screen, keyboard as well as the external covers.
CMSS – Narre Warren North Taking care of your Laptop and IT needs for you
Recovering Business Data Narre Warren North – South Eastern, Eastern suburbs and surrounding such as: Berwick, Beaconsfield, Cranbourne, Dandenong, Endeavour Hills, Mulgrave, Narre Warren, Pakenham, Rowville, etc. – CMSS offers first class IT Support! Call 8790 4460
Recovering Business Data Narre Warren North
Workshop Job – Data Recovery
Recovering Business Data from his laptop drive led the client to call for help. Following the breakdown his laptop drive he was so desperate. After some preliminary questioning, it turned out it wasn’t physically broken, but some internal damage may have occurred. The client mentioned he had visited a number of other data recovery options trying to get his business data back. However they told him this required clean room works as some heads were damaged and must be replaced. The expensive options! Please bring it in for assessment as we all have different approaches to a particular situation.
Investigating
When the client came in, he further explained that he had bumped the laptop still running when closing the lid. Because he was concerned something wrong might have happened, he successfully logged back in to check. However the next day, the laptop could no longer logon to Windows. As a result he could no longer access some of his most recent business data he didn’t get to backup.
Findings
Following our assessments all heads returned 100% fully functional status. However the drive presented heavy media degradation and a corrupt file system although our imaging device could access the data. Consequently a path to recovering the required business data would be as follows.
Solution
Data recovery path: The drive is highly unstable. As a result accessing the data within on the computer was no longer possible. Therefore we’ll clone it to a good one using our state of the art imaging system. Then we’ll perform logical recovery off the clone upon completion of the imaging process. After that we check the integrity of the data to ensure the client gets the required them in a usable condition, not garbage. Next, we’ll transfer the recovered data to the client external drive. Well, this is a brief summary of what happened, the whole story is much longer and more complicated :-).
Results
Although the extensive degradation of the drive corrupted some of the recovered data, the process returned all the data he needed fully functional. He had backups of the rest from which he could restore. Happy and thankful customer!
Once we’re happy with the data ourselves, we setup access to the recovered data so he could check and test them himself. We then transfer the data to the client’s supplied drive.
CMSS – Narre Warren North Taking care of your DATA needs for you
Lost data? Photos? Business stuff? Personal stuff? External drives, SD cards, system drives?
Reorganising Laptop Data Narre Warren North – South Eastern, Eastern suburbs and surrounding such as: Berwick, Beaconsfield, Cranbourne, Dandenong, Endeavour Hills, Mulgrave, Narre Warren, Pakenham, Rowville, etc. – CMSS offers first class IT Support! Call 8790 4460
Reorganising Laptop Data Narre Warren North
Onsite-Offsite Job – Call out to reconfigure data
Reorganising Laptop Data for easier access was the client request when she called for onsite visit to help. She had been frustrated with her laptop slowness especially when accessing and working on her Gmail. She decided to use the Windows backup utility to save her data to a portable hard drive, then perform a clean system reset. However after returning the data following the system reset, she could no longer find her most recent documents and photos.
Investigating
On checking up what was going on, it became apparent she had previously done other backups to the external drive. In her frustration with not finding the documents she was after, she had restored multiple sets of previous backups. Total mess and total confusion! To make matters worse, the most recent backup set was longer present in the external drive. Were this available, a quicker way to solve the problem would have been to remove whatever she had restored, then restore from the latest set.
Findings
There were multiple copies of various folders and files everywhere. Reorganising and optimising data access in the laptop would not be a quick fix. This was going to take some serious time. Copying/transferring large amounts of data definitely take a while, so I suggested doing the job back at the workshop for better time and cost efficiency.
Solution
Back at the workshop, set the system to sort out folders and files according to last modified date. Create appropriate folders and copy/paste accordingly. When all the reorganising is complete, delete the source folders/files to reclaim disk space. After resetting the system, the customer could no longer access her old MS Office 2010 package. She decided to take up an Office 365 subscription. Unbeknown to her, that afforded her a one TB storage space on OneDrive. One of her requirements was to have a backup system that would allow her to readily see the data just the same as when browsing through her folders. The data allowance in OneDrive enabled configuring it as a cloud storage solution. Reformatting the external drive, setting it up and configuring SyncToy as a backup agent to synchronise with OneDrive was the next step. That pretty much covered the biggest parts of the requests.
Results
When the client was notified about the results her comment was: Wow! All that sounds so amazing! I was desperate that I could not access my data anymore. To hear I haven’t lost anything is just amazing.
Remove all covers and perform internal dust and fluff cleanup with brush and compressed air. Will definitely improve cooling and stability. Using rubbing alcohol + microfibre cloth, clean up screen, keyboard and external covers = squeaky clean brand new looking machine.
CMSS – Narre Warren North Taking care of your IT needs for you
Servicing computers and troubleshooting IT problems – that’s our passion at CMSS Narre Warren North! We offer on-site and off-site services. Some people prefer to drop off their device to our workshop whilst others would rather us visiting. It all depends on the nature of the problem and the client’s preferences. Issues like internet, emails, networking, printers, are prime candidates for on-site visits or remote access support. Suspected hardware, severe corruption/malware issues are best handled off-site for efficient diagnostics and troubleshooting. Drawing from our extensive technical experience and knowledge, we will suggest the best service options when you contact us and describe your problem. Broken laptop screens/hinges/body, PC not booting up-no sign of life, weird error messages/noises, can’t get emails, accounting package issues, can’t print, no internet/ISP can’t help, what do I do now feeling, etc. Whether at the office or at home – CMSS can help!
Asus Sluggish Laptop Narre Warren North – South Eastern, Eastern suburbs and surrounding such as: Berwick, Beaconsfield, Cranbourne, Dandenong, Endeavour Hills, Mulgrave, Narre Warren, Pakenham, Rowville, etc. – CMSS offers first class Computer Upgrades! Call 8790 4460
Asus Sluggish F555Y Laptop Narre Warren North
Workshop Job – Slow/Unresponsive dropped off for service
Customer brought in a sluggish, unresponsive Asus F555Y laptop. She said she was ready to chuck the laptop out through the window. It was taking up to 15 min to boot-up, then it was pretty much unresponsive and hardly usable.
Diagnostics
To determine the source of sluggishness of the Asus laptop (software or hardware) we perform a number of checks and/or diagnostics as may be required. Task manager shows CPU and HDD usage stuck on 100%. Startup items – Nothing unusual. Network settings OK. Installed programs – Some driverwhiz spotted, removed. Restart, check task manager, CPU/HDD still stuck at 100%. Check for malwares, spywares, adwares, pups – a bunch detected and removed. Cleanup remnants and registry entries. Restart, check CPU/HDD – still stuck on 100%. Check and optimise Chrome settings, restart, check CPU/HDD – still stuck at 100%. HDD test – OK. RAM test – Ok, though only 4GB installed, more should help. But it did not after adding extra 4GB.
Findings
The diagnostics and investigations results are indicative of some deep OS corruption which could take significant time to troubleshoot.
Solution
The client has all the necessary product keys for re-installation. Therefore a more efficient path would be to simply backup all valuable data, do a clean install, then return the data as well as reconfigure settings as necessary.
Results
All items in task manager now running within normal range. Laptop is snappy and responsive as expected.
Remove all covers and perform internal dust and fluff cleanup with brush and compressed air. Should improve cooling and stability. Using rubbing alcohol + microfibre cloth, cleanup screen, keyboard and external covers.
CMSS – Narre Warren North Taking care of your IT needs for you
Servicing computers and troubleshooting IT problems – that’s our passion at CMSS Narre Warren North! We offer on-site and off-site services. Some people prefer to drop off their device to our workshop whilst others would rather us visiting. It all depends on the nature of the problem and the client’s preferences. Issues like internet, emails, networking, printers, are prime candidates for on-site visits or remote access support. Suspected hardware, severe corruption/malware issues are best handled off-site for efficient diagnostics and troubleshooting. Drawing from our extensive technical experience and knowledge, we will suggest the best service options when you contact us and describe your problem. Broken laptop screens/hinges/body, PC not booting up-no sign of life, weird error messages/noises, can’t get emails, accounting package issues, can’t print, no internet/ISP can’t help, what do I do now feeling, etc. Whether at the office or at home – CMSS can help!
iMac SSD Upgrade Narre Warren North – South Eastern, Eastern suburbs and surrounding such as: Berwick, Beaconsfield, Cranbourne, Dandenong, Endeavour Hills, Mulgrave, Narre Warren, Pakenham, Rowville, etc. – CMSS offers first class Computer Upgrades! Call 8790 4460
iMac SSD Upgrade Narre Warren North
Workshop Job – Slow ‘n Sluggish iMac 2013
Sluggish iMac SSD Upgrade Narre Warren North – The client didn’t want to buy another iMac, the deal breaker were the software and configurations on his current computer. He loved everything on it except the speed. Late 2013 iMac, Apple store didn’t want to have anything to do with the antic! Oddly other computer shops also declined the job ~ too hard to chew?
Assessment
Check the OS – startup items, currently running apps, etc. – Nothing unusual spotted. Run hardware diagnostics – all good. The main performance bottleneck was found to be the hard disk drive. Although it passed diagnostics it was now a bit too slow for video editing and rendering. The iMac had sufficient RAM and extra would not provide the desired outcome.
FIX: Upgrade to an SSD of equivalent capacity.
The client did not want to go through re-installing and configurations all his programs and tools on a new computer. There was no problems with the current setup, the best solution was to clone the current hard disk to the new SSD drive, then perform the swap. Cloning completed and successfully tested. To upgrade the iMac HDD to SSD, it had to be opened up by carefully cutting the glue strips attaching the screen to the case. Whilst the computer is opened up, go through it with compressed air and brush, yeah a fair bit of stuff did get blown off. Scrape off the old sticky tape on the base and screen assembly, clean up, re-apply new sticky, align the screen assembly to the base. Reconnect the cables, apply back the screen, all good.
Nice extra touch
Rubbing alcohol + micofibre cloth to remove finger prints off the screen and clean up the body – brand new looking PC – so says the client. He tested some of the current projects – everything is now running smoothly, no jitter or stuttering. After the iMac SSD Upgrade it now starts and shuts down in seconds instead of over 10 minutes. Very happy client! You too can have a performing and satisfying computer experience!
CMSS – Narre Warren North Taking care of your IT needs for you
Servicing computers and troubleshooting IT problems – that’s our passion at CMSS Narre Warren North! We offer on-site and off-site services. Some people prefer to drop off their device to our workshop whilst others would rather us visiting. It all depends on the nature of the problem and the client’s preferences. Issues like internet, emails, networking, printers, are prime candidates for on-site visits or remote access support. Suspected hardware, severe corruption/malware issues are best handled off-site for efficient diagnostics and troubleshooting. Drawing from our extensive technical experience and knowledge, we will suggest the best service options when you contact us and describe your problem. Broken laptop screens/hinges/body, PC not booting up-no sign of life, weird error messages/noises, can’t get emails, accounting package issues, can’t print, no internet/ISP can’t help, what do I do now feeling, etc. Whether at the office or at home – CMSS can help!
CMSS ~ Laptops All-in-Ones Desktops Macs Repairs all brands Parts & Service Virus Removal Data Recovery Networking & IT Support for Fast and Efficient Service - Home Users Small Businesses.
