Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Laptop Sound Fix

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If you're like me, the biggest problem on your laptop computer is the volume knob. It's always getting in the way when the computer is in your lap, changing the volume way up or down without you knowing. And mine is even worse because for whatever reason, it's messed up and turning it both to the right AND to the left will increase the volume. There's only one choice: to destroy it.

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The main issue here is that it's way in there and hard to get at, so you're going to need a few tools to do this. Pliers may seem like what you need at first, but they're just too big for this job, so you should get your hands on some curved arterial forceps. You might think to move down to a thin tweezer like from a swiss army knife, but those just won't provide the kind of grip that you'll need even though they're just about the only thing that's going to fit in there.

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So what needs to happen is to cut open some more working space around the top and bottom of the volume knob. A wood saw is pretty good at removing some of the plastic, but you might want to file it after you're done to get rid of any jagged edges. Once you've done that, just take your forceps and get a good grip on the knob, then bend and pull until you bread off enough pieces of it. You're probably not going to be able to remove the core of it unless you actually open up your laptop, which may not be an option for you if you're already ground out the screws on the back in a previous operation. Also, opening up the back will probably mean you should turn the power off first and we want this to be a simple outpatient procedure.

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After you're satisfied with how much you've torn apart that volume knob that has been causing you endless torment all these years, it's time to close up the wound. Caulk might be a good choice, but chewing gum is a lot more prevalent, in fact you probably have some in your mouth right this second, so just take off a piece of that and fill up the hole you've made. Once it's dried up, you'll have a nice battle scar to impress chicks with.