Advent 7011 Laptop

Specification

* According to emails I've received some Advent 7011s may have had a 20GB drive fitted instead.

** May have a Matshita UJ-811B fitted instead.

Drivers

Your laptop should have been supplied with a "Utility and Driver CD" which contains a backup copy of all the drivers.

The 7011 is basically a rebadged Gericom N35AS1 (you should see this printed on the underside of the laptop) so you can also get the drivers, along with the user manual, from the Gericom website.

Memory Upgrades

Many thanks to John Thomson for the following info.

Remove the keyboard by releasing the 3 retractable clips at the front of the keyboard with a small screwdriver (these should be below the 'Fn', the 'Alt Gr', and the 'Down Arrow' keys). When removing the keyboard be careful not to damage the strip cable at the back.

Undo and remove 2 small screws securing memory cover plate (on right hand side). Remove cover plate.

Insert the upgrade into the free slot at a slight angle (The slot in the PCB edge showd the correct way). Make sure it is fully home in the connector before applying downward pressure to secure it into the retaining clips. Refit cover, clip K/B back in.

Reboot M/C, and right click on My Computer, General Tab, and check that M/C has picked up the extra memory

Adding RAM is the most cost effective way to boost your computer's performance.

Bottom of Laptop

1. Hard disk drive
2. Battery pack
3. Battery pack release
4. CPU access
5. CPU fan

Function Keys

Fn + F1 - Enters Suspend Mode
Fn + F3 - Turns Battery Warning Beep on or off
Fn + F4 - Changes Display Mode: LCD-only, CRT-only and LCD&CRT
Fn + F5 - Turns Speaker Volume up
Fn + F6 - Turns Speaker Volume down
Fn + F7 - Increases Display Brightness
Fn + F8 - Decreases Display Brightness
Fn + Num Lock - Enable/Disable Numeric Keypad

In the Box

Disks Supplied

• Advent 7011 recovery CD x 3
• Nero burning ROM CD, version 5.5 OEM (serial number printed on rear of CD sleeve)
• PowerDVD CD, version 4.0 XP (serial number on front of CD sleeve)
• Microsoft Works Suite 2002

Items Supplied

• Advent 7011 Notebook
• Mains power adapter
• Mains power cable
• UK modem cable
• BT connector

Documentation Supplied

• User manual
• "Windows XP start here" guide

Recovery

A Bootable Recovery CD is supplied with these machines. To recover the system:-

• Insert CD into the drive.
• Reboot the PC.
• A warning message prompting the user to backup data before proceeding.
• Press Y to continue.
• A final warning that all data will be erased is displayed.
• Press Y to continue.
• Finally a message "Remove CD-ROM when prompted" is displayed.
• Press Y to continue.
• The image file will load. Once complete the user is prompted to remove the CD and press CTR + ALT + DEL to restart.

Driver CD

The notebook is supplied with a Utility CD. This can be used to restore corrupt drivers. The folders on the CD contain the following -

• Driver: Drivers for all the hardware.
• Manual: This folder contains individual PDF files for each chapter
• Utility: Flash BIOS Utilities, HDPrepare, QKey

Useful Links

Repairs and Spares

All official service and support is handled by Knowhow (basically "The Tech Guys" under a new name), their website is http://www.knowhow.com/. If you laptop is covered under warranty then you need to contact them for repairs.

There are also plenty of other companies that do repairs or supply spare parts, here is a selection -

TechnoMart - http://www.techno-mart.co.uk
DriveMyLaptop (replacement drives) - http://www.drivemylaptop.co.uk
Laptop Solutions UK - http://www.laptopsolutionsuk.co.uk
PartMaster (spare parts) - http://www.partmaster.co.uk

FAQ

Is This Laptop Compatible With Second Life?

According to the Second Life website their software isn't compatible with SiS graphics cards so it won't run on this laptop. More information can be found here - http://secondlife.com/corporate/sysreqs.php

How Do I Remove the DVD Drive?

Thanks to Tony Castles for the following info -

• Remove HDD
• Lift out keyboard (see "Memory Upgrades" section above)
• Remove large screw in centre of plate
• Push CD/DVD drive out using the side exposed under the HDD
• CD/DVD fascia secured by single (black) screw, then pull off

How Do I Access the CMOS Battery?

As far as I know to get to the CMOS Battery you need to remove the hard disk drive.