Sending notebook to Sony for an examination

I may have had a thread for this earlier, but recently the temperature for my FZ has been higher than normal, both when it is idle and its being used for gaming. I am going to take to a Sony service center in the weekend so that Sony can have a look at it, while it is still under warranty.

What should I do before I take it in? I will definitely back everything up but what else. I feel I should remove ntune even though I have never used it to overclock (I have only used it to check temperatures). I also make sure I have a video driver direct from sony installed instead of one from laptopvideo2go.com.

Should I go to the effort of activating the recovery partition and removing all traces? I think that might be incriminating myself, even though I can say its in the interests of privacy.

Anything else you guys think I should do before I take it in?

 

get an image of your drive using norton ghost and the likes. reformat your laptop

 

Yup, that's the foolproof method. Image your drive so you don't have to change anything manually, then just use the recovery partition/DVDs to put back the factory settings.

 

Image the entire drive, including the Recovery partition. Don't just image your C partition.

If you already have Ghost, use it. If not, if you must buy something anyway, I recommend Acronis True Image Home. I find it easier to use than Ghost, and it also used to be more reliable.
(Acronis is still reliable, but I haven't used latest version of Ghost so Ghost may have improved and thus it's not fair for me to say that Acronis is still more reliable than Ghost. It may be, but I don't have recent Ghost experience to know.)

 

So I really do have to image the whole hard drive? I was thinking of going a recovery from the partition once I got the laptop back.

 

I see no need to image the entire drive. You do not need to image the recovery partition at all. It will still be there after you use it to restore the machine to out of box state and will be there after Sony finishes whatever they do.

Gary

 

Definitely back it up. You don't necessarily have to image it if you don't mind re-installing everything. (fresh installs are almost always faster)

Write down all the important information that you can use to identify the computer should they lose it or swap it on you (product key, computer serial, etc..) Remove any flash media (memory stick) or any other add-on cards; there is no need to send these in. If you've upgraded the RAM you might want to tell them that so you don't get reverted back to the stock specs. (it happens unfortunately) Likewise with the drive.

Use the recovery disc to get everything back in-line with what Sony expects. They'll probably end up doing this anyway if you've tweaked everything yourself so you might as well save some time.

Reset the bios passwords (if you've changed them) to something easy. This way you won't end up compromising your passwords should they ask you for this information.

Be vigilant with tracking information. If you're mailing it make sure you insure it with the Post Office. Look at it this way. If they lose it you can buy a brand new one. If you don't insure it and they lose it - you're up a creek.

(optional, highly recommended)
Take some pictures of your notebook from different angles. Make sure you get good shots of the screen. If for any reason you get one back with dead pixels (meaning they've swapped it) you'll have proof that it was returned in worse condition than it was sent in. Don't be afraid to use the macro mode on your camera either.

(optional)
I like to mark all the removable inside components too to verify what has been replaced/swapped out after it's returned. You need to be comfortable with dismantling your computer; I would not recommend this unless you have prior experience.

(optional)
If you think that there's the possibility that they'll swap the drive it needs to be securely wiped. Even after the recovery disc is used all of your old information, emails, orders, websites, etc.. can still be recovered.

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About your original problem with the overheating. When I read your post I immediately thought of a couple of things. I'll just throw some out there.
- graphics driver. some run hotter than others. what version are you using?
- how old is it? how often is it used?
- when was the last time you used canned air to clear the vents?

(bonus)
Not everyone will do this but every 6 months or so I open up the notebook to clean the insides. You'd be surprised at how much (crap) accumulates even after your best attempts at clearing the vents. I use my notebook A LOT so the condition varies with use. (maybe i'll post some pics next time for illustration). Anyway, aside from cleaning I also try to gauge how the fan is holding up. My last Vaio had a dedicated ATI card in it. It ran really warm when playing 3D games. When I noticed that it was getting hot I opened it up that weekend to check it out. It had been a couple of years since I purchased it and my assessment was that the fan was going. (the noise was more audible with the case opened.) Anyway long story short (sorry) I ordered a replacement fan from parts & services. That notebook lasted 5-6 years and is still running strong. Adding higher quality thermal compound also has helped in the past. On some of my notebooks they've been extremely sloppy in this regard. It has improved since then and they actually have careful instructions in their service manual for it's application.

GOOD LUCK!

 

Sony will generally format your HD and re-image it. They did this when I sent mine.

 

Ok I have decided that I will do the following:
-I will go through and preform a back up of all my files, I only really have to worry about is my Call of Duty 4 profile and my university work. I keep a dvd-rw of the all drivers I download and important (and large) software updates I download such as vists SP1.
-I will take out the 1GB of ram that I have added. (or could I just tell them I added the ram?)
-I will then go through and take pictures of all significant areas, notably the screen, the casing such as lid as well as the bottom of the notebook recording down any every number written there.
-Activate the recovery partition.
-Take into a Sony solution center myself so they can't blame a courier for any damage plus I can tell them what I think is wrong with it.

To address what iisdev has asked about:

Graphics driver: I originally started having trouble with a 175 series driver. So I used driver sweeper to get rid of it and I went back to 167.43 the driver that had worked well for me for so long. The problem continued with it as well, so I used driver sweeper once again and went back to stock sony drivers. The temperature still stayed and if anything increased.

The laptop is turned out at 8 in the morning and will get turned off at 11 at night. It will be used for about 2 hours total of gaming each day and it is not used constantly even for minor tasks in the time that it is on (for example I don't take it with me to class). The higher temperatures start from the moment it is turned on and become frightening in Half Life 2 and Call of Duty 4.

I have made my FZ since July 29th last year and no I have not cleared out the vent with compressed air but it has been brushed and deer I say it had a going over with a vacuum cleaner.

 

The cooling system in the FZ series is inadequate. You may want to look for ways to control fan speeds(key combination). You may also need to clean out the air vents. The fans are probably working harder to cool your notebook, especially when gaming and your GPU is under load, causing the overheating problem.