Gateway Solo 1450 Troubleshooting

This page will help you troubleshoot some problems with the Gateway Solo 1450.

The laptop gets unusually hot or even attempts to itself down.

The fans within your laptop might be faulty or damaged. Replacing them or using an external laptop cooling pad may prevent any further overheating.

Overtime the internal components of your laptop will accumulate dust. Letting your laptop gather too much dust and your cooling fans may get blocked or clogged and internal components may be insulated from any cooling. Using compressed air, a vacuum, or cleaning the internal components will prevent any further dust build up for some time.

Letting your laptop run for long periods of time, running strenuous programs, or running too many programs at once may lead to your laptop overheating. To avoid this shutdown your laptop when its not in use and avoid overwhelming it with work.

Devices connected through ports are not being picked up by the laptop.

There is a chance that over the years dust and debris have accumulated in the port and is preventing the laptop from making a hardwire connection with the inserted USB or devise. To fix this issue use a cotton swab and clean the exposed metal parts until bare metal is exposed. If this does not do the job you can dip the swab in alcohol for added cleaning power. If using alcohol make sure the laptop is off when doing so and leave off for a couple hours afterward to ensure there are no issues.

It is possible if you are running an older version of the laptops software the ports may cease to work. In this circumstance the best way to tackle the issue would be update the laptop the the current version of the software. This will likely fix the issue as well as many other issues you may be experiencing.

The image on the laptop’s screen is distorted by bars, dead pixels, or a haze.

Your Windows software may be corrupted or your resolution setting may not fit your laptop’s needs. To fix your resolution, right click, click “display”, click “adjust resolution”, select the recommended option, and the apply and save.

Your video card’s driver may be out of date which may cause some display issues. Updating your driver should fix the issue.

To determine if a faulty video card is the cause of your display issues, connect an external monitor into your laptop’s display port and then press the “function” key to toggle it. If the external monitor also has a distorted display then your video card is faulty, which means it will have to be replaced.

If the issue showed up after the laptop was recently damaged through something like being dropped, then your screen may now be faulty. Searching for any visible damages on the screen or back case can confirm this. If you do intact have a faulty screen then it will need to be replaced.

Keys aren’t responding when they are pressed.

If a key is missing from your keyboard then you will have to replace it.

If your keys are stuck in place then there might be some form of dirt or grime caught underneath it. To fix this, carefully remove the stuck keys, clean underneath them, and snap them back into place. Regularly cleaning your keyboard may prevent any further keys from getting stuck.

If the entire keyboard doesn’t work then it most likely is faulty. To fix this you will have to replace the entire keyboard.

The laptop will only power on when its being charged.

A lot of the time, especially on older laptops, batteries will tend to stop working. One reason that the laptop will only work while plugged in is due to a old or faulty battery. To fix this issue replace your battery.

The laptop periodically freezes up and or shuts down.

The RAM card(s) within your laptop might either be overheating or corrupted. If your RAM overheats it can fail and cause damage to it. Damaged RAM can also lead to corruption, later causing unpredictable crashes within the system. Check your laptop’s cooling system for damage or any dust that may be heating the RAM. You should also run the Windows Memory Diagnostics Tool to ensure your RAM isn’t corrupted. Replacing corrupted RAM and repairing your laptop’s fans will prevent further RAM failure.

The laptop’s CPU may not be being adequately cooled by the fans within your laptop. Cleaning out any dirt or dust and repairing any damaged fans will fix any overheating that you may be experiencing.

The laptop doesn’t charge when plugged into its charger.

Make sure that the ports are clean. Being a portable device the laptop is often exposed to dirt, dust and grime. This can build up in the ports on the sides of the laptop preventing the wires from completing the electrical circuit to charge the battery. The majority of the time this can simply be fixed by spraying compressed air in the port until it is free of debris. Another option is to use a cotton swab and rubbing alcohol. When using this technique it is best to leave the laptop off for a few hours afterward to prevent any possible issues.

Charging cords undergo a lot of stress in their lifespans. While a simple dent or small kink may not seen like it will cause an issue it may have caused more damage than initially visible. Internally it may have caused the cables to break or short circuit preventing charging. In this case it is necessary to get a new charger, these are rarely a fixable component of a laptop.

Another possible issue is that the vents on the laptop are blocked. This will usually cause the laptop to get warm. But when charging the battery will generate extra heat and this may cause the laptop to prevent charging to protect the laptops internals. To correct this place the laptop on a flat surface, taking care to make sure all the vents are clear.

The laptop doesn't read any DVDs or CDs put into it.

A possible issue to your laptop's failure to read DVDs and CDs could be from outdated optical drive firmware. To update your drive, go to the Microsoft Windows website and download any new updates.

If your laptop continues to fail to read DVDs and CDs then your optical drive may be faulty. A faulty optical drive may be caused by general wear and tear, dirt, or any possible recent damage. To gain access to and possibly replace your optical drive, follow this guide here.