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 23rd, 2009 at 7:47 am
I have a Toshiba old model. When the laptop is plugged the led for the adaptor is ok. When i press the power button the leds are flushing like a normal boot for a second and then they shut down. Without any result on the monitor, funs or anything.
May 18th, 2009 at 11:03 am
Raduta Iulian,
If you replaced laptop memory with another known good memory and it didn’t fix the problem, most likely it’s bad motherboard. I guess the repair shop is correct.
You cannot replace the video chip, you’ll have to replace the whole motherboard.
May 14th, 2009 at 5:08 pm
I have an AMILO Li 1705i ,now is black dead.Problems has started early with freeze desktop on more than 1h run on AC at end no boot at all, wi-fii led on ,power led on (green) fan run at full speed and no image (black screen)no POST screen.batery is ok tested on another AMILO Li AC is ok my friend was testing all of my laptop ,HDD is ok ,memory is ok an external video does not have image.At warranty ppl say video onboard chip (burned!!!) no chance to fix .
what means wi-fii led(green) on on eroors? Thanks.
May 4th, 2009 at 5:52 am
This about a HP DV2000 series laptop. When the AC adapter plugged in, all the blue LEDs light up, no need to press the ON button. Ad nothing happens there after. I did try what I found on this page to no success. The peculiar thing in my case is that the power tuns on just by plugging in the AC adapter without having to press the ON button. Can you help. Many thanks
April 28th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
Lukas,
If the laptop video fails on both internal and external screens and reseating/swapping memory modules doesn’t help, most likely you have a faulty motherboard.
I don’t think so.
April 28th, 2009 at 8:23 am
Hello, I have tried today your tips but still the same, when I try the external display it’s still random boot or not, i have two modules of RAM, so I tryed first module ine first socket – still random, fisrt module in second socket – still randfom, second module in first socket – still random, second module in second socket – still random. I noticed today so my left hinge i very loose, has it anything to my problem??
April 27th, 2009 at 8:34 pm
Lukas,
Did you have a chance to test your laptop with an external monitor?
If the same happens with the external video (intermittent video), you problem could be related to the memory. Do you have two modules installed? Remove them one by one and test the laptop with each one separately. This way you can find a faulty memory module.
If the external video works all the time but the internal screen works only intermittently, take a closer look at the screen when it fails. Is it really black? Can you see a dim image on the screen?
April 27th, 2009 at 11:48 am
Hello, I Have HP laptop Pavilion 9094, few weeks ago my problem started, I mean when I press turn on button my laptop sometimes boot sometimes not, I remove battery – nothing, I cleared CMOS – nothing, Leds after turn on blink, hard disk works, fans work, but my screen is black, after few restarts it works correct, What is the porblem
Cheers mate
April 26th, 2009 at 9:38 pm
hi
I have a vaio laptop it’s about two years old but I haven’t used it
in almost a year. now I’m trying to turn it on and there is yellow flashing
light when it’s plugged inbor on battery. when I press power the normal
green and blue lights go on and the hard drive starts spinning but only
for about two seconds tops then just shuts down. there I’d nothing on
the screen, my charger had been tested, I’ve tried removing the battery
and that for a few minutes and it doesn’t work. if you could tell me
what you think is wrong that would be great
thanks a lot
April 20th, 2009 at 3:45 am
I HAVE LAPTOP CALLED DELL C600 BUT THE PROBLEM IS THAT AM TRIYING TO SWITCH ON BUT IT SHOWS NO RESULTS BUT LAST TIME IT WAS WORKING WELL IT SHOWS ME ONLY GREEN LIGHT FOR CHARNGING.