Advent 7056 Laptop

Specification

* There is very little official information available on Advent memory upgrades and while I've done my best to make sure this page is accurate I would recommend double-checking before buying. One way is by running a system scanner like the one provided by Crucial Memory (shameless plug for advert below).

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

Drivers

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

The 7056 is basically a rebadged Medion WID2010, you can also download the drivers and user manual from the Medion website. To find the correct drivers for your laptop search using the 5-digit MD number printed underneath your laptop.

Laptop Layout

Open Case

1. TFT Display
2. Status LED Indicators (see below)
3. Hotkeys (see below)
4. Power ON/OFF
5. Keyboard
6. Touchpad
7. Touchpad Keys
8. Palm Rest
9. Fan Slot

Status LED Indicators

1. Wireless LAN activity
2. Power/Battery
3. Stand-by mode
4. Hard disk activity
5. Battery charging
6. Caps Lock
7. Num Lock

Hotkeys

1. Launches the email program
2. Launches the internet browser
3. Enable/disable the tv-out option
4. Switches between different screen resolutions (640x480, 800x600, 1024x768)
5. Enable/Disable the wireless LAN

Left Side

1. PC card Slot (PCMCIA)
2. PC card eject button
3. Optical Drive
4. Activity LED optical drive
5. Disc eject button
6. Stereo Speaker
7. Disc emergency eject
8. Compact Flash Card reader
9. IEEE1394 (FireWire)
10. USB Port
11. 3 in 1 card interface

Right Side

1. Stereo Speaker
2. Infrared Port
3. Kensington lock

Rear View

1. Power Socket
2. Serial Port
3. PS/2 Port
4. TV/Video Out (S-Video)
5. External Monitor (VGA)
6. USB Ports
7. LAN Port (RJ-45)
8. Modem Port (RJ-11)
9. Microphone/Center Subwoofer
10. Loudspeaker Out/SPDIF
11. Audio In/Speaker backwards

Bottom View

1. Memory compartment
2. Battery lock/unlock latch
3. Battery bay

Function Keys

Fn + F1 - Hot key help menu
Fn + F2 - Sleep button
Fn + F3 - Display toggle. Switches between LCD, external monitor, and both LCD and external monitor
Fn + F4 - Screen blank. Turns the LCD backlight off to save power; press any key to resume
Fn + F5 - Speaker on/off
Fn + F11 - Num lock
Fn + F12 - Scroll lock
Fn + right arrow - Brightness up
Fn + left arrow - Brightness down
Fn + up arrow - Volume up
Fn + down arrow - Volume down
Fn + PgUp - Home. The cursor on the screen will skip to the start of the line.
Fn + PgDn - End. The cursor on the screen will skip to the end of the line.

In the Box

Disks Supplied

• Advent system recovery CD version 3
• Microsoft Works 7 CD (Product key on CD sleeve)

Items Supplied

• Advent 7056 notebook
• Mains power adapter
• Mains power cable
• UK modem cable
• BT phone connector

Documentation Supplied

• Setup topsheet
• Advent user manual
• Advent troubleshooting guide and support information
• Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition "Start here" guide
• Cyberlink PowerDVD solution product 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.

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