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.
Situation 2.
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.
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May 31st, 2008 at 2:27 pm
Ed Miller,
The power button on this laptop is located on a separate board – 7 button board on the right side of the laptop. There could be a problem with the power button and the board has to be replaced. I cannot tell you what is wrong with your laptop without testing it with another power button board.
May 31st, 2008 at 12:50 am
My Toshiba m115 laptop suddenly stopped turning on. No LEDs light up. AC adapter seems to be OK. Could it be something easy to repair or most likely the motherboard is dead?
Thanks,
May 26th, 2008 at 2:13 am
I have a IBM model:
here are my problem
My laptop can not boot when i plug the hard disk drive. even it can not go to cmos setting.
i removed the hard disk drive then i can go to cmos setting.
i think it has a problem with my hard disk drive. i replace with another one but problem can not solve.
please tell me how to solve this problem
May 25th, 2008 at 3:11 am
My Laptop boots properly, Windows gets loaded but after that the scree is blank and the desktop doesnt appear. Also, all the lights are on but the keyboard doesnt seem to work
May 22nd, 2008 at 7:37 am
I also forgot to mention that I have done some searching and found that Compaq has an update for the bios. It just so happens that this is suppose to fix some of the problems that are happening here. I just wish that I could have been forewarned about this earlier. I can’t access my bios at the moment and I’m going to guess that some of the others can’t either. This is a problem. I am trying my hardest to fix this but any help or insight will help. Thanks… Oh I don’t know if I mentioned this or not but I have a V3000 series Laptop.
May 22nd, 2008 at 6:08 am
I have a Compaq Presario V3015NR that is about a year old. I am having some weird problems that are leading me to believe that it might be something with the power jack on the Ltop. I was on my Ltop and all of a sudden the screen freaked out and quickly showed lines all across it and then went black. Not to mention that my Ltop is a vegetable. It will show that the power is on but will not do anything else. It also will do something that I have never had any experience with what so ever. It will be off completely off, and if I touch my reload or refresh button at the top of the Ltop it will magically come back on. Weird Hugh? The reload/refresh button isn’t really a button it is one of those new static buttons where you just lightly have to touch it. But anyway, this is all pointing to a power problem if you ask me. Oh, and I should mention that when it comes back on it will be in its vegetable state. No picture, completely black and it will be on with the power lights all lit up but it wont function at all. Nothing, no hard drive no nothing. The cd/dvd drive will open but that’s it. I was just wondering if I could get some other opinions and ideas. This is all beneficial in fixing a problem like this. I will appreciate all of your insight…
Thanks, Luke……
May 19th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
A Toshiba Satellite M55 does not start when I hit the power button. The left LCD at the front is on, which probably indicates that the power supply is working. Are there any known problems with this laptop? Sometimes, every now and then it starts up and works normal.
May 18th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
david wolff,
Can you tell where does the “click” sound come from? Does that sound come from the hard drive, from the DVD drive or from the motherboard?
Remove the hard drive and DVD drive and try turning it on again. Can you start the laptop now?
Maybe that sound comes from the cooling fan because it’s blocked by something? Check the fan.
May 18th, 2008 at 9:20 pm
pete,
I don’t think this is related to viruses, sounds like a hardware failure.
Clean the optical lens inside the drive with cotton swab and alcohol. Try again.
You can try reseating the DVD drive. Just remove it from the laptop and then install back. It’s possible the connection between the drive and motherboard is loose. Reseating the drive may help.
May 18th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
Luke,
Try to boot in Safe Mode and then use Windows System Restore utility. Restore it back to the time when the laptop was working fine, it might help.
If you still have the same problem, back up all personal file and reinstall Windows from the recovery disc.