Laptop Clinics
Location change for Central Area clinics
Room 1.17, 2 Buccleuch Place, 1st Floor (Central Area)
Directions: Enter downstairs at Number 2 where the door will be open. Walk up to the 1st floor and follow the signage. If you need further directions please ask at an IS Helpdesk or phone the IS Helpline at (01316)515151.
About the laptop clinic
Do you have a laptop running Windows or Mac OS/X? These free sessions are open to all students, staff and visitors at the University and provide help with diagnosing and fixing a wide range of software faults as well as general system clean-up and maintenance.
What we can help with
The laptop clinics aim to offer a comprehensive support service to diagnose and resolve issues with your laptop so that you can continue to use it effectively in your work or studies at the university. We can help with issues such as:
- Difficulties accessing our services, e.g. WebCT, eJournals, wireless network, etc.
- Specific software or driver issues, such as problems with sound or programs crashing
- Installing, uninstalling, updating and maintaining software, e.g. Office, SPSS, etc.
- Diagnosing and fixing Windows/Mac OSX errors such as blue screens or laptop not starting up
- Installing free anti-virus software, running scans, and removing infections
- General system maintenance, tune-ups, and software updates
- Advice on hardware faults and repairs
- Backing up and restoring your data, sometimes possible even if your system can't boot
If in doubt, you can contact us (see the bottom of the page) in advance to check if we may be able to help.
What we can't help with
Unfortunately we cannot repair hardware problems which require the opening of a laptop. We may be able to advise on communications problems in your home of residence, but without seeing the actual connection, such advice may be limited. If you need advice on software other than that provided in our computer labs, it will be much harder if you don't bring the CD. Advice on operating systems other than Windows or Mac will depend on the knowledge of the people staffing the session.
- The best we can do when your laptop is suffering hardware failure is to offer a basic diagnosis and general advice on how and where you may be able to get it repaired.
- Problems with your internet at home or in halls will need to be addressed by your service provider, unless the problem is specific to your laptop. We can usually help if your laptop can't connect in multiple different places, or if other flatmates are able to connect but you aren't.
- We may not be able to reinstall software on your laptop (e.g. Windows, OSX, Office, etc.) unless you have the original installation media (CDs/DVDs) that they were supplied on. While generic installation disks may be available, we cannot guarantee compatibility with every system. You should always bring you bring your own, original install disks whenever possible.
- These sessions are only for laptops running Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, or Mac OSX. We are generally less able to help with laptops running older Windows or Mac OS. If you have a non-Windows/non-Mac laptop, please contact us (see bottom of the page) well in advance to see if it can be accommodated
Before you attend
- If at all possible, make a backup of your data before coming to the session. If we need to wipe your machine you will lose any data which has not been backed up.
- Don't forget to bring the laptop power cable with you in case your laptop runs out of battery.
- There will be two staff handling up to eight laptops at the same time, so please be patient while we do our best to make your laptop healthy again.
- You are welcome to bring some work, but we cannot legally look after your laptop while you go somewhere else - we will need you to be there for the session.
- Please turn up on time (i.e. 2pm). If you are late your place may be given to someone else.
- Since the actual physical space in the room is limited, please do not bring along friends to the clinics if at all possible.
If your laptop won't start
- Bring a USB memory stick, or external hard drive, if your laptop can't start and you would like us to back-up your data for you.
- Bring your laptop's Product Recovery disks, or your Windows/OSX installation CD (XP/Vista/Win7). Many newer laptops have recovery partitions built-in. If in doubt bring your laptop along and we can check for you.
- Also bring any CDs/DVDs or install media for any other software you have on your laptop such as Microsoft Office, Photoshop, etc. as these will need to be reinstalled from scratch if we have to wipe your system.
When & Where
Locations and times
Room 1.17, 2 Buccleuch Place, 1st Floor (Central Area)
Directions: Enter downstairs at Number 2 where the door will be open. Walk up to the 1st floor and follow the signage. If you need further directions please ask at an IS Helpdesk or phone the IS Helpline at (01316)515151.
Moray House Laptop Clinics are held in Room 1.8, Thompson's Land.
Kings Buildings are held in Room 1416, JCMB
Directions: From inside JCMB, go to the bottom of Stair B and turn right. Follow the signs into the 1400 corridor. Room 1416 is the last office on the right.
From outside JCMB, enter via North door on long wall of building. Go straight ahead into the bottom of stairwell B. Follow the signs into the 1400 corridor. Room 1416 is the last office on the right.
Disabled students: Please arrange a laptop check-up via IS Helpline.
For times please see MyEd or the Helpline opening hours page linked below. Please arrive promptly at 14:00 as latecomers may not be accommodated. There is no admittance after 3PM.
How to Book
Spaces are limited and should be booked in advance if at all possible. These are not drop-in sessions and we cannot guarantee that you will be seen without a booking.
You should book your place in advance using the MyEd Event Booking channel (EASE login required). You can usually find the Event Booking channel in MyEd on the Today tab, but more detailed instructions on using it are given below.
How to use the Event Booking channel
- Log in to MyEd then click on the "Help" tab
- Enter "Event Booking" in the Search box under "Channel Catalogue" and click "Search"
- Click "Use now" to use the channel immediately or "Add Channel" to permanently add it to your MyEd layout for future use.
If there are no spaces on your preferred session you can add yourself to the waiting list. Persons on the waiting list are free to turn up, and will be served subject to available space. You may be required to wait at the session because those with booked places have priority.
After the session
Bookings are restricted to one session per student per semester to make the sessions available to as many students as possible. If you have any follow-up questions or feel you need to come to a second laptop check-up session, please contact us and we'll try to accommodate if there is space.
Sign-in Form
You will be asked to fill in a sign-in sheet when you arrive at the session. You must fill this in completely and hand it back before you leave.
If you have any other queries about these sessions, please contact us.
This article was published on Oct 1, 2010