Advent 7040 Laptop

Specification

* Use the button to the far left of the Power button to switch wireless lan on/off.

** May have a Hitachi Travelstar HTS541040G9AT00 drive fitted instead.

Drivers

Your laptop should have a backup copy of all the drivers, you can find it by browsing to the c:\applications\drivers folder.

Memory Upgrades

The two memory slots can be accessed by removing the memory compartment cover underneath the laptop (see Bottom of Laptop section below). There seems to be two versions of this laptop, one which uses PC133 SDRAM and another which takes PC2700 DDR, so I would recommend double-checking before buying.

Bottom of Laptop

Function Keys

Fn + F3 - Mute. Enables or disables the built-in speakers
Fn + F4 - Power Saving. Set to power down by default
Fn + F7 - Toggles the external monitor output on/off
Fn + F8 - Decrease brightness
Fn + F9 - Increase brightness

The functions of the buttons P1 & P2 (next to the power button) can be changed using the EZButton utility. To access this utility click on Start / All Programs / EzButton System / EzButton.

In the Box

Disks Supplied

• Advent system recovery CD version 2.1
• Microsoft Worksuite 2003 DVD (Product key on CD sleeve)

Items Supplied

• Advent 7040 notebook
• Mains power adapter
• Mains power cable
• UK modem cable
• BT phone connector

Documentation Supplied

• Advent user manual
• Advent troubleshooting guide
• Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition "Start here" guide
• PowerDVD XP 5 CD Key card

Recovery Disc

Due to the nature of the recovery process you should not use FDISK or any other partition management software to delete the partition on your Advent computer. Doing so will prevent the recovery from functioning correctly. If the recovery asks for a second CD you will need to obtain an Update CD from Advent.

To recover your Advent PC you will need your Advent System Recovery CD.

• Place the CD into the DVD drive and restart your computer.
• Press R on the keyboard when prompted.
• The recovery will load and display a menu of options:
  • Non-destructive recovery: This option will restore Windows, supplied applications, and drivers. This option will not destroy your documents or programs. These will be backed up along with the registry. These are restored at the end of the recovery process.
  • System Recovery - No format: This will reinstall Windows, supplied applications and drivers. It will move your files to a folder called "My old disk structure". Any applications (except those supplied) will need to be reinstalled.
  • System Recovery - Quick format: This option will erase your hard drive including your personal files. Windows, supplied applications and drivers will be reinstalled.
• Select the Non-destructive recovery option and press Next.
• You will be informed about System Restore in Windows, click Yes.
• The recovery will begin. Once this is complete you should eject the CD and click Restart.

Additional information.

Press the ALT and D keys at the recovery menu to access a command prompt. This will allow access to C: drive. The command prompt will default to E:\i386\system32 where you can run a variety of tools including CHKDSK.EXE.

Reinstalling applications

From version 2.x of the recovery system onwards you can install applications from the c:\applications folder. Drivers can be installed from the c:\applications\drivers folder and utilities from the c:\applications\tools folder. You will still need to install Microsoft Works from the supplied CD.

FAQ

Realtek 8139 Network Card Not Connecting

Some machines fitted with a network card based on the Realtek 8139 chip will fail to send and receive data correctly. This can happen if the autodetect feature of the card is not detecting the connection properly. To get round this the connection speed of the card must be set manually

• Right-click upon the My Computer icon and select Properties.
• Select the Hardware tab and click on the Device Manager button.
• Click on the + next to Network Adapters.
• Select the entry for Realtek 8139 from the list and double click upon it.
• Select the Advanced tab.
• Select the entry for Link Speed / Duplex Mode.
• Change the Value setting from Auto to one that is appropriate for the connection (often 100 Full for a connection directly to another PC and 10 Full for a broadband connection).