Laptop Woes

[robmcg]

Any IT experts on the forum? I have a laptop which I think may have fried its processor. I put it down on the sofa to make some lunch and came back and it had switched itself off. Powered it back on and the power button lights up, fan runs for a couple of seconds, dvd drive spins a bit but then nothing - zip on the screen at any time. Think it may have overheated on the sofa. Worth repairing? Repairable? It's an Acer Aspire 5536 with an AMD Athlon x2 processor and barely 2 years old.

 

[elton]

How long since you cooked it? They sometimes take a while to recover.

 

[robmcg]

Couple of months - Still no joy!!

 

[elton]

Then the problem could be absolutely anything; processor, memory, power regulation circuitry, battery, anything.

Take it to a shop.

 

[robmcg]

Had the hard disk checked and the RAM modules and they were OK. Have spoken to a couple of places locally about repairs but there seems to be a lot of sucking of teeth and reluctance to even look at it. Not well served for IT repairs out here in rural Gloucestershire.

 

[temptress]

Had the hard disk checked and the RAM modules and they were OK. Have spoken to a couple of places locally about repairs but there seems to be a lot of sucking of teeth and reluctance to even look at it. Not well served for IT repairs out here in rural Gloucestershire.

Could be lots of things - it may be cheaper to buy a new Netbook or laptop but you could try PC world - they offer a repair service.

PC WORLD, UNIT 1, MAGNET RETAIL PARK, EASTERN AVENUE
GLOUCESTER
GL4 3BU

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/s/find-a-store.html

No Connection with them.

 

[Talulah]

Any IT experts on the forum? I have a laptop which I think may have fried its processor. I put it down on the sofa to make some lunch and came back and it had switched itself off. Powered it back on and the power button lights up, fan runs for a couple of seconds, dvd drive spins a bit but then nothing - zip on the screen at any time. Think it may have overheated on the sofa. Worth repairing? Repairable? It's an Acer Aspire 5536 with an AMD Athlon x2 processor and barely 2 years old.

Stick in carrier bag. Place in freezer for 30 minutes. Try again.
I'm not kidding. This is a well known fix for a particular Toshiba Netbook.

 

[CaptainBob]

It could simply be that the boot files are corrupted on the hard disk. Try booting it up with a windows installation disk in the cd/dvd drive. Choose "repair" option if you're bothered about keeping the files on there. Otherwise re-install.

 

[CaptainBob]

Edit: You might need to get into the BIOS to make sure CD/DVD is in the boot sequence. You might need to hit DEL or F2 or F10 or ESC or something during initial boot up to get in. Depending on laptop make/model.

 

[the_branflake]

Do you get anything when you first turn the laptop on and you get the green lights/fan spin up. Not looking for windows logos just the bios post.

Have you tried moving the screen when you turn it on (damaged screen/joints) or connecting an external monitor?

It sounds a little more serious than the above but its worth a try and normally free.

Try the keys above and also try F12.

 

[robmcg]

Unfortunately I don't get as far as the boot cycle, nothing appears on the screen. The power button lights up, the fan comes on for a couple of seconds and then goes off, and the dvd does that spinning thing they all do when booting up the computer but again this stops after a second or two. It's like it can't get any further - I presume because the main processor has overheated. Shame to part it out as it's immaculate and only 2 years old. My neighbour tested the hard drive and said it was fine and the memory ran in another computer. It didn't get dropped, banged or anything spilt on it, just had an idiot leave it on the sofa while it was running. The vent was very hot when I got back to it, hence the thought it may have fried the processor.

 

[Ruffles]

The vent was very hot when I got back to it, hence the thought it may have fried the processor.

If a modern laptop it should shut itself down if it gets too hot?

 

[Talulah]

Symptons identical to the Toshiba Netbook. Try the freezer route and let us know how you get on.

 

[robmcg]

I think it did shut itself off - just now won't come back on. Would the freezer not bu88er up the screen?

 

[sailorman]

Could be lots of things - it may be cheaper to buy a new Netbook or laptop but you could try PC world - they offer a repair service.

PC WORLD, UNIT 1, MAGNET RETAIL PARK, EASTERN AVENUE
GLOUCESTER
GL4 3BU

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/s/find-a-store.html

No Connection with them.

That's where gary glitter went

 

[elton]

Have you tried turning it on with battery removed, powered off the mains?

 

[charles_reed]

Sounds as though an HDD problem.
Try booting with a recovery disk (if you have one) or an OS original. WinXP or Linux.
If neither work it's probably economically sensible to replace the laptop.

Most IT shops are pretty clueless.
I've rebuilt a couple of units and afterlife is never worth the travail involved. You've probably got a non-SATA HDD in there and they're almost unobtainable now.

 

[Talulah]

I think it did shut itself off - just now won't come back on. Would the freezer not bu88er up the screen?

Nope. I guarantee this works in a lot of cases.

 

[Talulah]

Sounds as though an HDD problem.
Try booting with a recovery disk (if you have one) or an OS original. WinXP or Linux.
If neither work it's probably economically sensible to replace the laptop.

Most IT shops are pretty clueless.
I've rebuilt a couple of units and afterlife is never worth the travail involved. You've probably got a non-SATA HDD in there and they're almost unobtainable now.

That was my first thought when I first encountered this problem on other laptops.
However, the laptop isn't even loading up the BIOS so you don't even get as far as try to boot up the OS.

 

[robmcg]

Nope. I guarantee this works in a lot of cases.

What's the theory behind it and do I leave the battery in or out?