Bizcom Electronics, Inc.

A Leading Notebook Services Company

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. Where can I get the latest drivers and updates for the notebooks?
  2. How do I flash the BIOS?
  3. Will my AC adapter work, or do I need a power converter when I travel overseas?
  4. Will my notebook work with Unix, Linux, Windows NT, or OS/2?
  5. Why does my computer play Mpeg movies very slow with Mpeg card?
  6. Why can't my system go to suspend mode?
  7. Why is the serial mouse not recognized when connecting to the external serial port?
  8. How do I install a USB device?
  9. What can I do if the touch pad is too sensitive?
  10. How can I disable the touchpad when an external mouse is connected to the system?
  11. Why the touch pad acts very erratic?
  12. Why the mouse pointer always stops for 2-3 seconds and moves really slow repeatedly?
  13. Can a notebook with DVD-ROM play DVD discs without Mpeg card?
  14. Why can't the system boot to Windows under Normal mode, but no problem under Safe mode?
  15. Why can't the system screen resume after turning off by Advanced Power Management?
  16. Why my notebook gets really hot and the fan did not turn on?
  17. What do I do if I'm getting General Protection Faults?
  18. What should I do if I have a problem with an application that I suspect is caused by the display driver?
  19. After restarting my computer, Windows warns that the graphics card is not configured correctly. What's wrong?
(1) Where can I get the latest drivers and updates for the notebooks?

Ans.: If you have Internet connection, please check on our website at www.bizcom-us.com/support and download the drivers.


(2) How do I flash the BIOS?

Ans.: Boot your computer to a floppy disk that contains Phlash.exe utility, a .BIN and .ROM files provided by manufacturer, and type phlash /B=xxxxxx.bin xxxxxx.rom /X at the command prompt. Restart system after completing this process.


(3) Will my AC adapter work, or do I need a power converter when I travel overseas?

Ans.: The AC adapter with your notebook has auto-switching between 100-240 volts automatically. However, at times a converter may be required to adapt the U.S. plug to the power outlet of country you are visiting.


(4) Will my notebook work with Unix, Linux, Windows NT, or OS/2?

Ans.: Yes, the notebook will work with Windows NT, Unix or Linux, but only Windows NT has the drivers supported from us.


(5) Why does my computer play Mpeg movies very slow with Mpeg card?

Ans.: By design, your computer hard drive and CD-ROM are connected by a single IDE bus. When a slower device is in use, such as a CD-ROM, the performance of the IDE bus slows down. Microsoft has an updated file IOUPD.EXE, which can correct this problem. You can download this file from Microsoft website, or its BBS at (206) 936-6735.


(6) Why can't my system go to suspend mode?

Ans.: Be sure you enable the power management settings. If you select to use suspend to disk function, make sure that you have the save to disk partition created in your HDD. See the PHDISK utility on notebook user manual for further information. In addition, certain programs listed under your startup group and Win.ini entry may search your HDD to update information continuously that will cause your system not to go into suspend mode. You need to remove these entries. Also, if you have a CD-ROM inserted then you need to disable the auto insert notification function in the System/ Device Manager/ CD-ROM under Control Panel.


(7) Why is the serial mouse not recognized when connecting to the external serial port?

Ans.: Because the system is pre-configured to search for a PS/2 pointing device but not a serial pointing device, you will need to install serial mouse manually. The built-in touch pad is considered a PS/2 device. To configure the system to search for serial mouse: Under Control Panel, double click on Add New Hardware icon. Make sure you connect your serial mouse to the serial port at this point. Let Windows searches for any plug-n-play devices and installed driver. If no serial mouse was found, click on No, the device is not in the list and select Mouse. Choose Standard Serial Mouse and click on OK to install the driver. If it is still not found, make sure the serial mouse is working, and there is no IRQ conflict.


(8) How do I install a USB device?

Ans.: Simply plug the USB device to USB port and Windows will auto detect the USB device and ask you for the driver disc.


(9) What can I do if the touch pad is too sensitive?

Ans.: The touch pad is operated on static energy as your finger glides over the pad. If your touch pad is overly sensitive, you may tune down the sensitivity in the control panel under Mouse icon. If it is still too sensitive for you, you may wish to use an external mouse.


(10) How can I disable the touchpad when an external mouse is connected to the system?

Ans.: Set the Internal Touchpad option in CMOS settings under System Devices to Auto Disable. For 30I machine, please upgrade the BIOS to version 1.08 or above, since the older BIOS does not support this option in CMOS setting.


(11) Why the touch pad acts very erratic?

Ans.: Please install the Synaptic Touch Pad driver for Windows.


(12) Why the mouse pointer always stops for 2-3 seconds and moves really slow repeatedly?

Ans.: There might be a problem with the software that you installed in your system, which continuously monitors, searches or updates in the background and takes up the CPU time and memory resources. Press down Ctrl-Alt-Del keys together and highlight a task and press End Task to close a program to see if it solves the problem. You might want to try closing one task at a time to find out the real problem. You could close all tasks except Systray and Explorer.


(13) Can a notebook with DVD-ROM play DVD discs without Mpeg card?

Ans.: Yes, but you need to purchase a copy of software DVD player. Be advised that you need to meet the minimum requirement for your system in order to play DVD movies smoothly. The best suggestion is a Pentium II 366 CPU or above, at least 64 MB of memory and 8 MB of Video memory.


(14) Why can't the system boot to Windows under Normal mode, but no problem under Safe mode?

Ans.: This problem always occurs due to a corrupted device driver (mainly video driver), or Windows configuration error. In Safe mode, go to Start/Settings/ Control Panel/ System/ Device Manger and check all the devices, including CD-ROM, disk drives (usually only 2 devices were installed), display adapters, floppy disk controller, hard disk controller (usually 3 devices were installed), modem and sound, video and game controller. Make sure there are no strange or unknown devices installed. Remove them if there is any. Restart the system and see if it solves the problem. If not, you might want to reinstall Windows as an alternative and the fastest solution, unless you are comfortable to work with Windows settings.


(15) Why can't the system screen resume after turning off by Advanced Power Management?

Ans.: This behavior can occur if any one of the following conditions exists:

(1) The 3D Maze screen saver is currently running

(2) Your display resolution is set to 800x600 or higher

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Windows 98. Please visit Microsoft site at System can't resume from standby for more information.


(16) Why my notebook gets really hot and the fan did not turn on?

Ans.: The fan will turn on only when the temperature of CPU exceeds its preset value, and will turn off when it cools down to under preset value. Usually the temperature of CPU is preset in between 66 C to 77 C degrees (Celsius) from manufacturers. The system will stop functioning when the temperature reaches 90 C degrees. If you suspect that the fan has problem and never turn on, please contact your reseller immediately.


(17) What do I do if I'm getting General Protection Faults?

Ans.: General Protection Faults or Illegal Operations are usually caused by software conflicts. If you started to get them after installing a new program, you might try uninstalling it. Corrupted video drivers are very frequently the source of the conflict. If you change your driver to VGA, and the problem seems to clear up, you might need to install a new driver. Something else to try: Pressing Control-Alt-Delete will show you a list of all currently running programs, and the 'End Task' button will let you close whichever one is highlighted. If closing a program fixes the problem, that program may be the cause.


(18) What should I do if I have a problem with an application that I suspect is caused by the display driver?

Ans.: You can try using the application with the standard VGA driver. To restart in VGA mode, simply open the Display Properties dialog box (right-click on the desktop background), and change the Display Type to VGA. You will have to reboot.


(19) After restarting my computer, Windows warns that the graphics card is not configured correctly. What's wrong?

Ans.: You may have a conflict because of previously installed display drivers.

(1) Click Cancel if Windows prompts you to start the Add New Hardware Wizard. (If you start the Wizard, it will not detect your graphics card)

(2) Right-click on the My Computer icon on the Windows desktop.

(3) Click on the Properties menu item - Device Manager tab.

(4) Click on the plus sign to the left of the Display adapters and Other devices items.

(5) Delete all listed display adapters (by selecting each, then clicking the Remove button).

(6) Restart your computer and reinstall the VGA drivers.