Instructions for the ACER Laptops

Transcription

1 20 Manor Road Ruislip Middlesex HA4 7LB Telephone: +44(0) Website: Instructions for the ACER Laptops Always, after connecting to a projector, switch the projector on before the laptop. ON THESE NEW LAPTOPS, THE OUTPUT SETTINGS ARE LOST IF THEY HAVE BEEN USED WHEN NOT CONNECTED TO A PROJECTOR. Do right click on desktop, left click properties, settings, monitor 2, click in square box to left which says extend desktop and OK. Laptop resolution is 1280 x 800 Note: it is important to regularly back up the hard drive using and external USB chard drive which are now only 70. It is important connect to the internet to update the Norton Anti-virus software, and update Windows. Also regularly defrag your hard drive by doing: Programs, Accessories, and System Tools. We suggest it is done even though it says this is not needed. RS232 Control use USB right looking from the rear. Coms port is labelled and is number on SongPro. Contents Page o Hard Disk and RAM 2 o Power Management 2 o Multimonitor Mode 2 o PowerPoint o Mirror Function (Or clone) 3 o DVD Using in mirror mode 3 o DVD Using in multi-monitor mode 3 o SongPro Song Software 4 o CD Copying 4 o Backing Up your Data (USB Data Link) 5 o Disaster Recovery 5 o Tips 6 Note: unless specified otherwise click refers to clicking the left mouse button on an object or button. If you get into trouble that you cannot easily get out of (the laptop freezing or crashing for example), then wait until the laptop comes to a pause in its thinking (it stops whirring and the hard disk LED stops flashing) then hold down the Ctrl, Alt and Delete

2 keys which should bring up a menu allowing you to terminate disruptive programs. If you press Ctrl Alt Delete a second time, then the laptop will restart. (If Control, Alt, Del does not work, do a Soft Re Boot by holding the power button on for 5 seconds.) Hard Disk and RAM The hard disk of the laptop may appear to have a smaller hard disk than is listed in the specification. In modern laptops the disk is usually partitioned into several imaginary sections. When opening My Computer you will see that two hard disks are listed; these are actually two different sections of one physical disk. If the capacities of the two sections do not add up to the expected size of hard disk that you ordered, there will be a third section of the disk (usually about 3Gb) that is hidden from view. To see this hidden partition right click My Computer, then click Manage. You will now be in the computer management facility, click Disc Management to see all the partitions, including the hidden one, in the top-right window. It may also appear that the computer has less RAM than expected, (e.g. 192Mb instead of 256Mb), this will be because the laptop shares its RAM with the built-in graphics card. Power Management The laptop has been set to not switch off when connected to the mains. The hard drive has been set to one-hour standby time. (Also set system standby to 3 hours and turn off monitor to 2 hours). This is so that it does not go off during a service or presentation. However it will go into sleep mode when powered by its battery if there is a lack of activity. If you want to change these settings click on my computer icon (in the start menu), then control panel and then power options. The desktop has had a black background imported so that if you need to restart the laptop during a service you get a blank screen ASAP and not the Acer Desktop. (Be careful to switch the projector off at the right time, as the image on the projection screen will be black). Multimonitor Mode To change the operation of the laptop to Multimonitor (dual screen) mode, connect the projector (or other external display) to the laptop and switch it on. Then switch on the laptop. It is vital that any external devices are connected to a computer before it loads up. This is simply to ensure that the computer will recognise those devices. When the computer has loaded up right click on the desktop (any blank area of the screen), click on personalise, settings, and right mouse click on Monitor 2, then click attached, ok. The colour of the background of the desktop will be on the projector or external monitor but not the icons. You will now be able to move the mouse cursor from one screen to the other.. Mirror Function (Or clone) This function displays an exact copy of the laptop screen onto an external display or projector. This is not so important as this laptop has a 15" screen, but it may be still useful to use an external monitor keyboard and mouse and switch off the laptop screen

3 for a greater display area. Also this function is needed to show a DVD on a projector or TV screen. (Note: use Power DVD and not Windows media player). One of the reasons for buying an ACER compared with some other laptops is that worship software can be used in multimonitor mode and the laptop can be changed to Mirror mode without restarting the laptop. It is therefore useful to be proficient in doing these changes rapidly. To activate mirror mode right click on the desktop then click personlise, settings highlight the external monitor (2) by clicking once and uncheck the extend my windows desktop onto this monitor box by licking in the square, then click apply, ok. You can then switch the main display between monitor 1, 2 and both by holding the Fn key and pressing F5 (Do this twice). If the second display does not look as you expect, then try adjusting the resolution and colour quality. In order to return to multimonitor mode follow the instructions for multimonitor mode as above. DVD Using in mirror mode If you want to smoothly show a DVD during a service press escape to remove the display image of SongPro. Minimise SongPro. Press F3 to blank the projector screen. Then follow the above instructions to change to Mirror mode. (You will need to press F3 again) When you insert the DVD a box should pop up allowing you play the DVD using Power DVD. Once you have selected this it is fairly obvious how to proceed (if for some reason this does not happen then click Start, All Programmes, Power DVD then click the play button). At the point when you are ready for the DVD to be seen on the screen press F3. Using in multi monitor mode For dual screen after putting the DVD in make sure that it is not full size and click and hold the left mouse button on the DVD screen top tool bar while in multi monitor mode and drag the DVD screen all the way over to the right onto the projector screen. When the DVD screen is showing on the projector screen press F11 to make it full screen. On the laptop screen use the control panel to get to where you need to be and do pause. If you want to smoothly show a DVD during a service press escape to remove the SongPro display image and then click on the DVD Icon on the bottom tool bar to start the DVD SongPro Song Software and Projector Control Cable For SongPro go into view, then options, and hardware and then set to dual screen. If you have all the 1,200 Songs Fellowship songs then to be legal you will need to buy Songs of Fellowship Book two which has the original floppy disc. This is also necessary if you only have Presentation Manager song software. (Obviously if you have both you will need only one book). Remember SongPro will have come with my

4 detailed instructions and hints. All of our laptops are supplied with a USB converter to allow our specially developed control cable to be used with SongPro for reliable, user friendly, and remote projector control. The following procedure will have already been followed by us but if the hard disk has been wiped clean will need to be followed again. First the codes and settings must be entered into the SongPro options (see additional instruction sheet for details). Turn the laptop on and CONNECT TO THE INTERNET. Attach all of the leads including the control lead (this comes in two parts, the USB converter and the main control cable; this must be connected the left port looking from the rear). The laptop should now say new USB device found you must now wait until it searches the web. you must open SongPro and click view, options, and projector control. You must change the port setting until it is one that the computer recognises. Finally turn on the projector, display an image on it and test the control by pressing F3 (BLANK). CD Copying To copy a CD click, Start, All Programs, NTI CD-Maker 2000 Plus, NTI CD-Maker 2000 Plus, CD Copy. Then set the source drive to D: (the CD writer) and the target drive to NTI CD image writer. Insert the CD to be copied into the CD drive (if it auto starts close any programs that pop up). When the CD drive has settled down click Step 2. Save the CD image in a memorable place under a memorable name (note: this file can be very large so make sure that you have plenty of disk space). You should now get a message saying The CD was recorded successfully, click OK. If when you try to save you get a message saying file IO error, try closing the program down and restarting it (you may have to do this several times, or even restart the laptop). You should now eject the source CD. Now set the source drive to NTI CD image writer and the target drive to D: (the CD writer). Insert a blank, writable CD into the CD drive. If the CD is good a line of text will appear displaying the amount of empty space (this should happen fairly quickly). If you encounter problems here (such as the laptop not recognising the CD or the laptop thinking forever) then the problem is probably due to the blank CD being damaged/slightly written/or of poor quality. To rectify this fairly common problem you will have to use another blank CD. A box may now pop up saying Windows can perform an action Click, take no action then OK... Now click Step 2, you will be prompted to open an.ncd file, select the one that you have just made and click Start. The data should now be written to the blank CD. Next the CD should eject and you should get a message saying The CD was recorded successfully, click OK. If you don t want any more copies of the CD then you may want to delete the.ncd file that you created. Note: if you encounter problems not covered in this guide or the NTI CD-Maker 2000 help function then try clicking, Start, All Programs, NTI CD-Maker 2000 Plus, Troubleshooting Guide for some useful information. Backing Up your Data (USB Data Link) we now use memory sticks and external USB hard drives. Disaster Recovery In case of severe repeated problems (such as an indestructible virus or totally

5 inaccessible computer) you may want to return your laptop to its original state (warning: you will lose all of your data and programs if you use this method, make sure that you back up all of your data regularly). Anyway, if for whatever reason you wish to return the laptop to its original configuration then you will need to use the following disaster recovery process. In setting up your laptop we will have created two DVD s. These will be in plastic holders labelled Recovery Disc. Press the new e button on the top left of the laptop or the E toolbar and select Acer erecovery. Put the six zero s in unless someone has changed that. (A good idea to change it if there was a malicious person around). Select recover system from CD/DVD Backup. Press the enter key. Use the arrow key to move to OK and do the enter key After this process you will need to reinstall the following software: Norton, RS232 to USB adapter, SongPro and the RS232 control software under view, options on SongPro. If you are unable to use the Acer erecovery press F2 when the laptop is starting to go into the bios Tips Never rush a computer, this often causes crashes and problems (if the laptop is whirring and LEDs are flashing then the laptop is working). Try not to do too many things/run too many programs, at once as this slows the laptop down and can cause it to crash. Always try to shut the laptop down properly (start, turn off computer, turn off). If you switch it off while it is in the middle of doing something you may damage it. When restarting the laptop, click start, turn off computer, turn off. When the laptop is off wait for 5-10 seconds before switching back on. This ensures that your restart will have the proper effect. The majority of problems can be solved by regularly restarting your laptop in this way whenever you change anything. Save files regularly (you never know when something may go wrong). Backup files regularly (you never know when something may go really wrong). Virus Evasion The best way to avoid viruses is simply not to open suspicious or unexpected s (even from people that you know), just delete them straight away. Also do not download software that you have any doubts about. However Norton Antivirus which is supplied with this laptop is a very capable program and as long as it is regularly updated and running all of the time you should have no problems. You can check if Norton is running by hovering the mouse cursor over the Norton symbol (a PC with a red cross next to it) which is to the left of the time (you may have to click the < arrow to see all of the icons). If a box appears saying Norton antivirus auto-protect enabled then you are protected. Bill Upchurch

6 October 2007