Question : Problem: Disabling LED's

Is there a simple way to disable LED's in laptops (BIOS etc?)short of opening it up and cutting wires.

I have a Compaq Presario R3000 laptop which has very bright orange LEDs for various things. I can't watch a dvd or even post without it distracting me or causing me to wince (its very bright).

I've tried various stuff to lesson the effect but its shines through 5 sheets of A4,
Atm I've got White 'Bluetack' on all the LEDs, but i'm looking for a permenant solution.

My rhetorical question (without any points on offer) is why stupid designers put them in computers anyway? They are a real annoyance.

Answer : Problem: Disabling LED's

If you are happy to open your laptop and do some soldering, you could probably replace your current LEDs for less bright variants. (People are "modding" the LED's in phones and all sorts these days to get that cool new look or distinctive colour). However, this is not for the feint hearted, but could vastly improve your user experience, without ruining the saleability of the machine in the future (as long as you don't knacker it in the soldering process!). Fortunately, the LED's are normally on a separate small circuit board in the case, which would probably cheap to replace on Ebay if you messed up the soldering. You would need to find a size match for the LED's though. You could pick your favourite colour, and make sure you bought the dimmest available. This isn't as drastic as just cutting the wires, as you'll still have the feedback they are desiged to provide, and eveything will be fully functional.

If you are looking for a neat but less drastic option, you might find one or two coats of dark nail varnish, suitable dims (or completely obscures) to your taste. Ok, it is more permanant than electricians tape, but if applied neatly, will look more professional too! The steadier your hand the better. You could also maybe mask the area with papertape before painting with just a small hole to paint the LED through. This will stop you daubing it all over the place by accident.

(However on a downside.... If you paint your LEDs with a colour that matches your laptop case as closely as possible, then whilst it will substanially dim the light output and look neat and professoinal, it might also start to look like you are a boy racer wannabe, with it looking like those rear light clusters on cars that are painted the same colour as the bodywork, and "nearly" let some light through when they brake!!!)  ;O)
 
Mike