Laptop does not start. Fixing the problem.
If your laptop does not start at all or it starts but will not boot properly, it’s possible that you can fix the laptop at home without taking it to a repair center. Here are some troubleshooting tips for you. I’m not sure if I can cover all situation at once, so I will update this post as more examples come into my mind.
Situation 1.
The laptop appears to be dead. You plug the AC adapter but the LEDs (power light, hard drive light, battery charge light, etc…) do not light up and the laptop will not react at all if you press on the power button.
First of all in this situation check the AC adapter. You can test the output voltage with a voltmeter. If you cannot do that, find a known good AC adapter and use it for testing the laptop. It is possible the laptop appears to be dead because the AC adapter is bad (and the battery is discharged). If you know that the AC adapter is working properly and it outputs correct voltage but the laptop is still dead, most likely you have a power issue on the motherboard (or power board on some laptops) and it has to be replaced.
If you have to replace the AC adapter, make sure you use a correct one. The output voltage must be exactly the same as on the original adapter. The output amperage has to be the same as on the original adapter or higher, but not lower.
When you plug the AC adapter the power LED and the battery charge LED light up. When you press on the power button the laptop powers up but will not start. There is no video on LCD or external monitor.
If the power LED lights up it indicates that the laptop is getting power from the AC adapter. Most likely there is nothing wrong with the adapter but just in case test it with a voltmeter to make sure the output voltage is correct.
Also try this. Unplug the AC adapter, remove the battery and wait for 1-2 minutes. After that plug the AC adapter ans try starting the laptop again. Sometimes this trick helps.
It also could be a memory related problem. Try reseating the memory module, just remove it from the slot on the motherboard and install it back. Try installing the memory module into the other slot (if it’s available). If you have two memory modules installed, try removing them one by one and start the laptop just with one memory module installed.
If the laptop starts fine with one memory module in both slots, but will not start with the second memory module in both slots, the second memory module is faulty. Replace the module.
If the laptop starts fine with both memory modules when they are installed in the slot A, but will not start with both memory modules installed in the slot B, the slot B is faulty and you’ll have to replace the motherboard or use only one memory slot.
Situation 3.
When you press on the power button, the laptop makes a series or short and long beeps and will not start up. There is no video on the screen.
In this situation test the memory module as I described in the situation2. Try installing a known good memory module. Most likely you are getting a beep error because of a faulty memory.
Situation 4.
You start the laptop. It sounds like the laptop is booting normally (hard drive LED is flashing) but there is no video on the screen
In this situation test the laptop with an external monitor. If the external screen works fine but there is no video on the laptop LCD, most likely there is a problem inside the laptop display assembly. Go to my previous post witch covers laptop video problems in more details.
Situation 5.
You start the laptop and it starts making repetitive clicking noise or grinding noise.
Most likely you hear this noise because of a faulty hard drive. You can remove the hard drive and start the laptop without it. If the noise is gone, the hard drive is your problem. Replace it.
If the laptop makes clicking or grinding noises and you still have video on the screen, you can run a hard drive test utility. I usually use Hitachi’s drive fitness test. This test is reliable and easy to use.
Situation 6.
The laptop boots into Windows ans works for a while, but after that it shuts down by itself without any reason or warning. You restart the laptop but the same problem appears again
Most likely it’s a heat related issue. Listen for the cooling fan, make sure it works.
Also this problem might appear because of a faulty memory module, try some tips from the situation 2.
The laptop still boots ans you still can see the screen, so you can run the memory test. I usually use Memtest86+. Run the memory test and if it fails, replace the faulty module.
Situation 6
The laptop starts normally but video on the screen has lines, some strange characters or other defects
It could indicate a problem with the laptop LCD screen, video cable, graphics card or motherboard. Here’s my previous post witch covers troubleshooting bad images on the screen in more details.
Related post: How to troubleshoot dead laptops.
Entry Filed under: Laptop Tips and Tricks
190 Responses to “Laptop does not start. Fixing the problem.”
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Pages: « 19 … 18 17 16 15 14 [13] 12 11 10 9 8 … 1 » Show All
April 23rd, 2008 at 10:02 pm
Kurt,
Remove the hard drive. Try starting the laptop without the hard drive installed. Do you get video? Will it POST?
Test the laptop with an external monitor? Do you get external video?
April 22nd, 2008 at 3:37 pm
1.5 Yr Old Compaq V3000 suddenly restarted last night. Upon reboot the HDD light flashed briefly as if loading, but no post screen or OS boot and no HDD activity after those initial flashes. AC Power light on and appears to be working. I re-seated both 1GB sticks of RAM to each position and replaced in original slots with no result. Am getting a laptop SATA to USB to retrieve data off my HDD. In the meantime, any other ideas how on what to test?
April 20th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
Jason,
Did you try reinstalling Windows?
April 20th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
Robert,
First of all, did you test the AC adapter?
April 20th, 2008 at 10:01 pm
k1ndd4,
Did you test memory modules? Could be memory related problem. If you have two memory modules installed, remove them one by one and test the laptop with each module separately.
Did you try reinstalling Windows?
April 20th, 2008 at 10:28 am
I have an issue where my Dell 700M will not boot the OS. It powers on, boots the BIOS, then hangs at a black screen.
I have tried the power fixes, the result is the same, on battery, or power, with or without battery. I have tried removing the DVD drive and booting. I have removed the hard drive, and have connected it to another computer (via USB box), and the drive works fine.
I ran the Dell Diagnostics from the Boot menu (F12), which checks BIOS, CMOS, memory, and everything passed.
Anyone have any ideas as to what may be the issue?
April 17th, 2008 at 5:02 am
Also, does the graphics card need to be in for it to get anykind of power? Dont know where the card is, fan does not even turn on.
April 16th, 2008 at 8:50 am
Working on dc jack Compaq V2000, the voltage is on& off from output of jack going into board, I still think one side of the jack is internally defect.
When it is running, is the fan supposed to come right on? I left the fan assembly on, I can still desolder it that way without taking it all apart, is the fan supposed to come right on once the voltage reaches the board?
April 12th, 2008 at 1:30 am
I have problem with satellite a135, when i turn it on, everything goes normal until few momment and hang, i try to disconnect, modem, wifi module, harddisk and dvd drive, and then try to start again. it look booting in few momment and then hang again. what wrong with this laptop?
April 9th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
Andrea,
Did you notice if the popping sound was coming from the power adapter or from the laptop itself?
Unfortunately, you cannot tell until you test the laptop with another working power adapter. At least, you can test the adapter with a voltmeter and find out it it outputs correct voltage.
Try this. Unplug the adapter, remove the battery. Wait for a few minutes then plug the power adapter and try turning the laptop on again. I had a similar problem with my Sony laptop in the past (only without popping sound) and removing adapter/unplugging the battery helped.
Also, try this. You mentioned a popping sound and It’s possible this sound comes from the hard drive. Try removing the hard drive and starting the laptop without it. In some cases a faulty hard drive might halt the whole system from booting. Can you boot the laptop with video when the hard drive is removed?