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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August 15th, 2008 at 9:38 pm
shinta,
Try this. Press CTRL+ALT+DEL keys, it will open Windows Task Manager. Go to File – New Task (Run..) and type explorer.exe then press OK. It should bring your desktop back.
August 15th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
My Laptop boots properly, Windows gets loaded but after that the desktop doesn’t appear no start menu, only screen saver appear.
quick response pls….
August 14th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
Casey Cabmuco,
As I mentioned in the previous comment, it could be memory related problem. Try reseating or replacing memory with another known good module.
August 14th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
larry miller,
First, I would check the memory module. Try reseating memory. If you have only one stick installed, move it into the empty slot (if you have any). If you have two modules, remove them one by one and test the laptop with each module separately.
Also try this. Unplug power, remove battery, wait for a few minutes. Plug in the adapter and test the laptop.
August 14th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
Mat,
1. Could be bad memory stick. You can run Memtest86+ utility to find if you have bad memory module.
How to make and use memory diagnostics disc to test laptop RAM
2. Could be bad hard drive. You can test it with Hitachi’s drive fitness test or any other test.
3. Could be software related error. Try reinstalling the operating system from scratch.
August 13th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
i have a compaq presario m2010us and it wont start up at all. i plug in the ac adapter and it’s getting power, as displayed by the led, but i press the power button and i hear a click then absolutely nothing happens. help me please. thank you
August 8th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
hello guys and gals… i have a compaq x1000 i bought a new a/c adapter for it and it was workign fine til one day my son was using it and he was surfing the net and the lcd went blank but the power light and wifi light was on and i hooked up to an external monitor and nothing shows up.when you turn on the laptop u hear the fan spinning for a sec or 2 and then stop you think the video card as gone bad inside it?
August 2nd, 2008 at 10:51 am
When I booted my laptop today,
it ran into the “windows did not boot up normally” menu, i tried all the options and they all end up with the same problem: it goes to the windows booting screen, then a there is a blue flash (there is some text but it disappears too quickly) and then it restarts.
have any ideas?
July 31st, 2008 at 8:53 pm
David Surgenor,
I don’t think it’s overheating. Even if the heat sink is completely clogged with dust you should be able to turn on the laptop, at least for a short time.
If the laptop doesn’t react at all when you press the power button, there could be a problem with the button. But if the laptop turns on (you can hear HDD noise, DVD dive noise, etc…) them most likely it’s not related to the button.
You can try minimizing the system as much as you can. Remove hard drive, DVD drive, wireless card, modem, one of the memory modules (if you have two), etc… Try turning it on again. If the laptop turns on but will not start (no video on internal or external monitors) probably there is a problem with the motherboard.
July 31st, 2008 at 3:25 pm
cj2600,
Thanks but I have tried all that. Still get all the same results. Is it possible the problem lies with the circuit board which the power button is connected to ie. the button cannot send the correct message to come out of standby or maybe there is no power getting to the motherboard? overheating maybe?
Thanks Again.