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.
If you find this article useful, please consider making a donation to the author. Thank you!
March 31st, 2009 at 9:58 pm
kamlesh,
The first think to check will be the RAM module.
Do you have two modules installed in the laptop? Try removing them one by one and starting the laptop with each module separately.
This problem also could be caused by a faulty memory module.
March 31st, 2009 at 9:54 pm
Rhonda,
Apparently one of the capacitors on the motherboard had blown up. It’s necessary to remove the top cover and take a closer look on the motherboard. Usually you can spot a damaged capacitor relatively easy.
March 30th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
Hi,
I have a Dell Studio 15 laptop and I was surfing the net while running a scan on the computer. Suddenly I heard a loud noise like something popped and then my computer shut down and since then I am unable to restart it again. The battery is fully powered but when the adapter is plugged in the LED light does not come on. However when I leave the adapter plugged into an electrical outlet which I have changed several times, the light comes on for a few minutes and then comes off again. When I plug back the adapter into the laptop the light immediately comes off but the laptop is not coming on with the battery alone. what may be wrong?
March 28th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
hi
I have an acer aspire 5570z laptop from last two months i m facing starting problem. after power on all LEDs are and fan also start to spin but nothing on display and could not open dvd drive also. if i keep laptop in power on condition after 30 min or some time one hour there is one sound like something going to attached and laptop start normal way.
sometimes after power on laptop start normally but after 10 min windows is going to be hang even crusher also not moving and i have only one option and that is power off
if somebody can suggest what is the wrong with mt laptop
REGARDS,
KAMLESH
March 25th, 2009 at 7:29 am
Thanks so much!!! The power light on my Toshiba Satellite A85 laptop came on, but none of the other lights came on. I removed the battery, plugged it in and it came on. Is it ok to operate the laptop without the battery or will the insides get too dusty. I am so glad I found your site. Thanks for what you do!!!
March 24th, 2009 at 9:49 am
Hi cj2600,
I was wondering if you could help me please mate. I have a Fujitsu-Siemens Esprimo V5535.
It has suffered from liquid spillage and after careful inspection and a replacement power button, it is a little more alive.
When the battery is installed and the ac adapter is plugged in I will get a green “charge light” LED.
When I press the Power button, the power on LED lights up for a couple of seconds and then dies.
Obviously the board maybe dead, but I have got it to do more than it could previously and wondered if I can get it to work properly again!?
I hope you can get back to me mate. Cheers
Chris
February 28th, 2009 at 7:32 am
hi, i have hi-grad laptop and i want repair my laptop ,i think the motherboard has problem because i ask my friend about it and he said the problem in the motherboard i want ask how can replacement with new one or repair the old one , please give my advice what can i do and all cost and what the price for repair and send me all thing by my email . thanks
February 12th, 2009 at 1:53 am
My laptop will not boot properly. It sounds like the hard drive and fans start ok and then 10 seconds later it switches off and then it tries to restart itself and it does this repeatedly. At no tme is there any image on the screen.
The only way I can get it to start normally is by holding the on off button to shut down and then continue holding it for 10 seconds. Then I go for a restart and repeatedly push the F2 button. The laptop then asks me to choose the operating system and then starts normally.
January 29th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
Dude, Situation 2 got us scratching our head for several hours on 2 different laptops!
Thank you so much!
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:09 pm
Thanks so much. You saved my laptop.