20 Most Recent Gateway MX8734 Notebook Questions & Answers

This model Gateway can support 4Gb of RAM.The RAM you installed may not be compatible with each other.Use RAM of the same make and speed.

If your laptop appears to boot up and the hard disk LEDflashes, then the problem is probably a back light fault. This can be a faultyinverter or a faulty CCFL lamp. Please click on this link and follow myinstructions to identify the fault and possible fix :- http://www.fixya.com/support/r3598095-faulty_laptop_lcd_screen

Hi there,
Your Notebook should have come with a Software Recovery DVD. Just put that into the DVD Drive and reinstall or reformat Windows. Warning: Bringing your Notebook back to factory settings will erase all the content on your HDD. Back it up if you want to save anything.

To be sure it is only the back-light, look at the screen during boot at a sharp angle to see if you can discern any 'ghost' images. If so, then the video circuitry is functional.
The fluorescent tubes do have a finite lifespan but if you saw no warning such as dimming or flickering, it is probably a failed inverter that produces the high voltage for the tube.
These are frequently outsourced, often made by TDK. They are on a small board and not too tough to replace.
Dunno if it is the right one for your laptop but there is one listed on eBay currently:
Back-light inverter
Check the inverter board for an obvious part number to see which you need.

i would reinstall windows personnally will be like new again and i would probally use windows 7 or windows xp as vista is power hungry and will slug your system down

it will most likely be the port where u plug in the adapter ive had that problem alot, so to check to see it it is plug it in move it a little and hold it to see if it charges , and try it in a few different spots

You can call Gateway and see if they can provide you with an OEM Operating system disc and use that to reinstall the operating system. If not, then you can purchase a new copy of Windows and install it. There are programs you can purchase online to help break the password but I have not used any of them so I cannot recommend any, just research them so you don't get ripped off.

its because if its a new labtop it is rebooting itself continuosly and setting up all the softwwares. dont worry.just wait a while and keep checking it. go to the control panel and it should be there

Your ram memory is bad.

Download " Getright" using www.google.com search
(we have used it it 99% good)
and install it .....may be it will help you in saving the download files....
about slowing ........
beforee doing close all applications
press ctrl+alt+del once and check for the performance tab
dont touch the keyboard and mouse

now your CPU should be using 2% approx (will be OK but not more if more bad)
and the PF usage should be approx 300 to 450 for Best performance mabe little more +50 will be OK but not more .(the lesser the PF usage the better the performance )
(so for getting the best performance in the system unistall all un wanted software's )

regards
let me know

I have an MX8734 and it died on me. I have 3 batteries and 2 power adapters but there is a bigger problem at work here!

These computers (almost all gateways) have a big power supply plug (connected to motherboard) defect. They are a $6 part but the moboards are $400!

You can send it to a computer repair shop but beware,,, as some don't know how to fix plug and will tell you its the motherboard. Because its a defect it can happen again after repair. Gateway doesn not repair units anymore as acer bought them and a 3rd party is doing warranties (or not doing them from what I hear).

If I was you I would: A) Have a shop that can fix plug do it.
B) Put it on Ebay for parts (worth about $200),
C) Have a real expensive (but satisfying) target at the ol range.

i had a gateway and that happened. i had a bestbuy warenty. wat they did was replace the drive. if u buy a new one i suggest a hp or compaq cause when best buy replaced my gateway the hp seams to be reliable. dont buy from bestbuy

try a new battery. It might be a bad brand of battery.

If it is plugged into the power cord, it will boot up. Radio Shack and Batteries Plus has good deals on batteries and carries most brands.

how about the power adaptor?

Not enough information to answer. Need manufacturer and specific model number before we can help. Generally, though, laptops come with one of three ways to restore. 1. The manufacturer supplies a restore disk. This can be a self-booting image of the original load, or it can be an OS disk and an accompanying drivers disk that needs to be installed to restore the unit. 2. The manufacturer provides an application on the drive that the user is supposed to use at the time of purchase to create a set of recovery disks. This application is usually a 1-time-only thing and you cannot make multiple recovery sets with the app, but you can burn copies of the disk(s) you make. 3. The manufacturer places a hidden recovery partition on the hard drive that allows the user to restore the original factory image. There is usually a hotkey combination written into the BIOS that will divert the boot to the recovery sector when pressed at bootup. Some manufacturers offer both options 2 and 3. But if you got a set of recovery disks at time of purchase, chances are there is no recovery partition on the drive. Recovery partitions are nice and convenient until the problem is the hard drive itself. If you can provide a specific model number, we may be able to better determine which type of recovery option(s) are available for you PC.

It should be a memory card reader. Press in gently, but quickly and plastic tray should pop out.