Learn to clean a keyboard
10 minutes Replacement cost From £5.99 DIY cost £4.71 Difficulty: For a PC keyboard, unplug before you start; for a laptop keyboard, make sure it is turned off and remove the battery (refer to your manual for how to do this). Turn the vacuum to its lowest power setting and, with the keyboard flat on a desk, brush the keys with the duster attachment from left to right. You should press down hard enough to push the keys down, but not so hard that it is difficult to move the vacuum. Remove the duster attachment but keep the vacuum on. Now use the paintbrush to dislodge any debris from between the keys. Keep the nozzle of the hoover near to the brush as you work so it carries away the dirt before it has time to drop back behind the keys. Clean the brush then spray foaming cleaner on to the bristles (never use water). Give the keys a good scrub and, for stubborn stains, use a pencil eraser. Finish by wiping with a soft cloth. Rating: 1/5 Gadgets Saving money Computing guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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Learn to clean a keyboard
Learn to remove a stuck CD from a computer
5 minutes Professional cost Varies: depends on the problem DIY cost Free Difficulty: PC or laptop Turn off your computer. Bend the end of the paper clip outwards, so that you have a straight section of wire. Look closely at the front panel of your CD or DVD drive – you should see a tiny hole. Push the wire into this little hole: you should feel a bit of resistance, but the paper clip will push in further and the disc tray will eject slightly. Pull the disc tray into the open position and remove the disc. Remove the paper clip and power up the computer. Use the button to open and close the tray a few times. If the tray does not open consistently, replace the drive (see here for how to do this on a desktop PC ). On an Apple Mac There are a number of ways to remove discs from an Apple Mac, so try each of these until you find one that works. Try the following: • Power up the Mac with the eject button held down. • Power up the Mac with the mouse button held down. • If your Mac has an emergency eject hole on the drive, follow the instructions above for ejecting a disc from a PC or laptop. • If you have a MacBook, tilt the machine towards you while trying the first Mac solution. • As a last ditch attempt to remove a disc from a MacBook, turn the machine off and insert a piece of thick (about 300gsm) card a little way into the drive slot.
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Learn to remove a stuck CD from a computer
Learn to fix a loose laptop screen
15 minutes Professional cost Varies: depends on brand and model DIY cost Free Difficulty: All laptops are slightly different, but the design and position of laptop hinges is generally the same across all models. Unless you have a Mac. As Apple puts its products together in a very different way, it's difficult to open up a Mac laptop screen. For more information on how to fix a loose laptop screen on a Mac, visit ifixit.com. Remember: do not attempt this if your laptop is still under warranty as you will invalidate it. Take it back to the retailer to repair. Before you start Turn off the laptop and remove the battery (refer to your instruction manual on how to do this). Open the screen Look at the laptop screen. You should see several rubber plugs in the corners of the lid. There will probably be two plugs near to the hinges, and either two or four plugs at the top of the screen. Pop the plugs out using a sharp knife, and put them to one side. There should be screws underneath the rubber plugs
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Learn to fix a loose laptop screen
Learn to repair or replace a CD or DVD drive
15 minutes Professional cost £49.99-£99.99: drives cost from £20-£70 DIY cost £4.99-£74.99: includes cost of £70 drive Difficulty: If your CD/DVD drive takes more than a minute to recognise a disk, or your burner is starting to fail when you create discs, you need to take action. Fixing a dirty lens Clean the lens using a lens‑cleaning disc: place it into the drive, and play it through, following the instructions provided. If this does not improve matters, you probably need to replace the unit. Replacing a CD or DVD drive in a desktop computer Turn the computer off. Remove the sides of your PC by taking out the screws at the back of the case and sliding the sides backwards (illustration A). The CD/DVD drive will either be held in place by four screws or rail mounted (B). If it is the former, remove the screws. If it is the latter, remove the front of the case by pulling the bottom of the front panel away. There may be plastic clips visible on the inside of the case, holding the front on. If so, unclip them as you pull. There will be two or three cables poking out of the back of the CD/DVD drive. Remember their positions (take a photo or notes if necessary), and pull gently to remove them. If they will not come out, check that there are no clips or blobs of glue holding them in place. Clips should be unclipped, and glue can be removed by prying gently with fingernails or the tip of a slot‑head screwdriver. Slide the drive forwards out of the case. If it is rail mounted, there may be metal clips on the front that need to be depressed before the drive will move. Look at the back of the drive to find out which sort of drive you need to buy.
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Learn to repair or replace a CD or DVD drive
Learn to speed up a PC
3 hours Professional cost £49.99 DIY cost Free Difficulty: Remove useless files Over time your computer becomes cluttered with redundant programs and temporary files. Because these files are difficult to delete manually, software company Piriform created an application called CCleaner, which does the job for you. Download it at tinyurl.com/fileclean • Once downloaded and installed, right-click on the recycle bin and select "open CCleaner"
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Learn to speed up a PC
Learn to get your wireless keyboard and mouse working
15 minutes Replacement cost £17.99 DIY cost £1.79 Difficulty: • Check all of the cables are plugged in: obvious, but try it. • Replace the batteries in the keyboard and/or mouse. • Reconnect the devices by pressing the reconnect button on the wireless receiver, and on the keyboard and mouse. Failing to reconnect wireless devices after changing the batteries is the most common cause of wireless keyboard and mouse failures. • If nothing is working still, restart your computer. If your computer does not have a reset button, then you can shut down your computer by pressing the power button. If the machine still refuses to shut down, try pressing and hold the power button for 10 seconds. • If this didn't fix the problem, try plugging in another keyboard and mouse that works on another computer. If the problem persists, then something is wrong with your computer and it should be serviced by an engineer. Otherwise, your keyboard and mouse are faulty. • If the keyboard and mouse work erratically, then you may be suffering from interference from another device. It is possible for another wireless keyboard, video sender or garage door remote to interfere with the signal from your keyboard. Try reconnecting the keyboard and mouse again, or locate the source of the interference. If all else fails, replace with a wired equivalent. Rating: 2/5 Gadgets Saving money guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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Learn to get your wireless keyboard and mouse working
Rescue a wet gadget
Time varies Replacement cost Varies DIY cost Free to £3.77: includes cost of nail varnish remover, cotton buds and a pack of uncooked plain rice Difficulty: Getting a water-damaged gadget working again is a hit and miss affair. If you dropped your mobile phone into a bowl of water, fished it out within a couple of seconds and immediately removed the battery, then you have a reasonable chance of success. If you have spilled a glass of wine over your laptop and left it over night, it's time for a visit to the repair shop. Wine and other sugary drinks leave a residue behind when they dry, and this can have a corrosive effect on electronic circuitry – even if the device works initially, you may find that it stops working after a few weeks
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Rescue a wet gadget
Learn to repair slow remote control buttons
20 minutes Replacement cost £12.99 DIY cost £5.14: cost includes tape, cotton buds and nail varnish remover Difficulty: Alhough remote controls differ, the procedure for taking them apart is roughly the same: remove the batteries, unscrew, and unclip any plastic clips. Once disassembled, clean the circuit board and buttons using a cotton bud dipped in methylated spirits or similar. Pay attention to the rubber sheet with buttons on (A, pictured) – any grease or moisture will mean this repair doesn't work. Punch the aluminium tape with a hole-punch and collect the pieces that fall out: one for each button. Look at the rubber sheet with buttons – on the side that faces the circuit board, there are round plastic spots that correspond to the position of the buttons. Stick one piece of punched aluminium on to each spot and reassemble. Rating: 1/5 Gadgets Saving money Television guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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Learn to repair slow remote control buttons
Learn to repair broken headphones
30 minutes Replacement cost £17.50-£119: cheapest to most expensive DIY cost £10.37: excludes cost of soldering iron (see below) Difficulty: Diagnose the problem Are they broken at the plug or the speaker? Plug them in, turn the music on and wiggle the wire near the plug. If you hear a crackle (or they go off completely), you probably need to replace the jack plug. Repeat near the speaker – a crackle after a wiggle at that end means you need to repair the speakers. Changing a jack plug Cut the old jack plug off using wire cutters. If your headphones consist of two adjoining cables, gently pull 4cm of the cables apart and strip the same amount of outer insulation from the end of both cables. If you have single-cable headphones, strip 4cm from the outer insulation If you have two cables, one will contain two unshielded copper ground wires, the other will contain two insulated signal wires, the left signal (white) and right signal (red). Single-cable headphones will usually contain one copper ground wire and two insulated signal wires. Use the wire cutters to strip 5mm of insulation from both signal wires. If necessary, twist the two unshielded ground wires together. Regardless of your variety of headphones, you should now have three exposed wires at the end of the cable: left signal, right signal and ground. Use the soldering iron to "tin" (see box, right) each wire. Add just enough solder to cover the wire evenly, not so much that the solder starts to form blobs. Unscrew the case from the replacement jack plug. Slide the outer case along the headphone wire, with the threaded end closest to the solder joint
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Learn to repair broken headphones
Learn to turn slides into digital images
30 minutes Shop-bought cost £99.99 DIY cost Free to 99p: if you need to buy a hand mirror Difficulty: To scan a 35mm slide or a negative you could buy a slide adapter or a slide scanner. However, a significantly cheaper option is to make your own. Making the slide adapter Measure your mirror and draw a rectangle on to the card (illustration A): the longest side of the rectangle should be twice the length of the mirror, plus the width of the mirror. The shortest side is the same as the length of the mirror (for example, a 5cm x 4cm mirror would need a 14cm x 5cm rectangle). Draw two diagonal lines (A) and cut out your shape: it looks like a triangle with its top cut off (B). Fold your card along the diagonal lines. You will now have a pyramid shape that looks like it is missing the bottom and one of it's sides.
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Learn to turn slides into digital images