Nearly all laptops have lousy power supplies with floating ground systems. All he needs in a ground defeater plug for the power supply's AC plug and the problem will be solved. Ground defeater plugs are available in any hardware store and most sell for under $2.
Cheers,
Gary
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Travlin' Easy
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PSR-S950, TC Helicon Harmony-M, Digitech VR, Samson Q7, Sennheiser E855, Custom Console, and lots of other silly stuff!
K+E=W (Knowledge Plus Experience = Wisdom.)