Laptops have now become essential in an individual’s life. Whether you are doing a job or studying, it has become an essential part of an individual’s life. Especially during this lockdown, the laptop has become the ultimate source of education, income, marketing, and whatnot.
Personal laptops are close to one’s heart. And it becomes an emotional time for an individual when something happens to their computer. If you had been through such a situation, you could understand how hard it becomes for an individual to accept the truth. Not just it adds stress, but the cost of repairing or replacing it on an individual.
That’s why it is always advisable to take proper care of their laptop and provide time-to-time repairs to provide long life to your work partner. However, if your laptop has broken or is no longer working, there are a few ways in which you can at least retain some cost that you have incurred on it.
Additionally, you will not want to lose the precious data is stored on your laptop. However, it requires some tech knowledge to retain some cost and all of your data from your broken laptop. But if you lack such knowledge, we have come up with this detailed article to tell you about all the things you can do with your broken laptop.
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What to do with a broken laptop?
Broken laptops are heart-shattering. But did you know there are ways with which you can retain some of the value, even out of your broken laptop? If you don’t want to lose the data from your laptop, then there are a few ways to restore at least some of the data stored on it.
1. Confirm that your laptop is completely dead and beyond repair
As soon as your laptop stops working, the first thing that one should check is whether there is even the slightest chance of repairing it. Then, you can either visit some local store to find your laptop’s situation and make sure whether it is repairable or not.
In some cases, if your laptop is still under warranty, you can contact the manufacturing company of your system to get to know any further steps you can perform to get your laptop repaired.
If your laptop is not working because of some physical damage, then you might have been aware of the reason why it has stopped working. But if it is because of some internal issue, like some issue with its battery, motherboard, or storage device, you can ask for a replacement.
All-in-all, the reason behind saying this is to make sure that there are no chances that your laptop can become functional again. If this is the case, you can think of another way to find some way to benefit from your broken laptop.
If you are willing to rent a laptop by the time some professional assists it, you can click here to go to a laptop renting website.
2. Turn it into a PC
After being assisted, if you find out that only your computers’ external hardware like the Screen or keyboard is broken, but its processor and memory card, the motherboard is still working fine.
Then you can show some creativity to turn your laptop into a standalone PC by explicitly attaching a mouse, keyboard, and monitor to it. If you are a tech-savvy person, then you might have been aware of the steps you might need to follow to reuse your laptop efficiently. But if you are not, then you might need to do a quick research before doing so.
You can even ask for a professional to turn your broken laptop into something useful, but he will charge you for this easy to perform a process that you can do on your own without many efforts. You can even use YouTube or Google to find how you can efficiently use the existing processor and memory.
This way is most useful if you had a powerful processor, storage device, and RAM in your laptop. You will not want to let them go in vain when you can use the same notebook and specifications smartly.
3. Using the display as a standalone monitor
Another scenario could be that your processor and drives are damaged, but your keyboard, mouse, or Screen is still working fine. In such a way, you can attach a CPU to your laptop and use its LCD screen as a standalone display.
These are just ways to make the best use of your existing broken laptop. You can even use its Screen as an Adhoc monitor on your PC. In this way, you will be able to enhance your productivity by multitasking.
It is not a smart approach to throw your broken laptop away when its Screen and other hardware are working. Although you will need to go through the steps with which you can turn use the display of your laptop on another PC, it didn’t require any rocket science or specific knowledge to do so.
You will need some cords with which you will be able to do so. Or you can remove the LCD screen of your laptop and attach it to the controller board of the CPU. It again is a smarter way to use your laptop if only a single of its hardware functions.
4. Reuse the hard drives
If your laptop has physical damage, you can check whether the hard drives are safe or not. For example, imagine a situation where your system stops working, but it has some essential information stored on it, which you don’t want to lose in any case. In such a case, if your hard drives didn’t have any damage, you can quickly restore all your data without much effort. All you need to do is open your laptop’s back case, remove the hard disk and RAM from there.
Place them on another system and access all your data. Whether you have some essential data stored on your hard disk or not, you can still remove it and use it for further data storage. It is not smart to throw such a massive data storage device only because your laptop has become non-functional.
Similarly, if your gaming laptop is broken, you can even remove the graphics card out of it and use it on another PC.
5. Sell the parts
If you are not interested in any of the above ways, you don’t want to make a standalone Laptop or display out of your broken laptop. Then the last thing you can do is to resell its parts. There are many buyers available in the market, looking for a particular part for your laptop model.
You can sell the individual part of your laptop at a reasonable price. Although it is impossible to retrieve the full cost of your laptop, something is better than nothing. Instead of just throwing your laptop in the garbage, you will be able to recover some of your investment out of it. Did you know, Electric waste has been increasing day-by-day?
Thus, it is always advisable to try to reuse or recycle electronic waste as far as possible. For example, if you have some of the functional parts on your broken laptop, why throw them away when either we or some other person can reuse or recycle them to create something new.
But one piece of advice always removes your laptop’s hard drive before either selling its parts, donating them, or recycling them. Otherwise, anyone can get your data and use it for something illegal, which you won’t expect.
Frequently Asked Questions
What can I do with a broken laptop?
If the display works, use dual monitors. Make the old hard drive into an external hard drive. Donate to the computer science teacher at the local school. Consider selling parts to a computer repair or rebuilding shop. You can sell it online for cash. Locate a suitable e-cycling area near you.
Can broken laptops be fixed?
If the laptop lid is hit while it is closed or if the lid is accidentally opened or closed from one corner, the screen may be damaged. If your screen is physically cracked and the panel behind it is damaged, these fixes will not work. The only way to repair a physically cracked or broken screen is to replace it.
Is it worth fixing a broken laptop?
If fixing your laptop will cost as much as or more than buying a new one, you might want to get a new one, especially if it is more than a few years old. Your laptop may be worth fixing if it is only one or two years old.
How often should you replace your laptop?
Most experts say that a laptop will last between three and five years. It may last longer than that, but it will be less useful as its components lose their ability to run advanced applications.
How much is a replacement laptop screen?
Depending on the brand and model of your laptop, replacing a screen with the manufacturer can cost anywhere between $200 and $600. Users may be charged for parts, labor, shipping, and taxes. Costs can be less if you choose a reputable repair shop, but they can still be between $150 and $300.
Verdict
I agree that your lifestyle will change a lot when you can’t access your broken laptop. The good thing is that nowadays each task is possible with the help of mobile. Still, nothing can replace a laptop. In such a situation, you can even head towards renting the laptop for a while.
Meanwhile, you can also think about what to do with your existing laptops. All the ways mentioned above will help you reuse your current laptop or recycle it for something good. I hope you will now be able to decide better about what to do with your broken laptop. Just don’t lose hope and start thinking about how you can reuse it or make something best out of the best.
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