Troubleshooting Laptop

[Impious 1,476]

My laptop was asleep, I wake it up and it shows the log in page for a second then flips to the first startup screen like it rebooted, which shouldnt have happened.  The status bar at the bottom of the screen gets about 75% across then freezes.  I shut it down manually and now it will turn on and the cd drive will make its normal start up noise but nothing happens past that....no start up screen, just black.

Seems like I had a similar problem years ago on my desktop and the problem was dead RAM.  If i put my ear to the HDD it sounds like its running.

Sound like a ram problem?  Any ideas on how to troubleshoot this POS?

[shizzzon 461]

when you first turn it on, after your branded welcome screen.. like Compaq or Dell, etc.. as soon as that goes away, rapidly hit the F8 key until a selection screen appears.

Choose Last known good configuration or something along those lines.

If it does NOT boot up properly, then redo the process again except this time choose Safe Mode.

Let me know the progress of which route worked.

If safe mode worked, we will then need to do some troubleshooting.

Don't worry though, there are still several things that can be done still without losing any information.

Also, about RAM, let's leave the hardware faults alone for now as most problems on computers are software related.

If ram was the culprit, RAM fault(s) generally cannot be duplicated at the exact same spot during operation in your case, booting up at the same progress level.

If all else fails, I'll walk you through burning a cd to test your RAM.

Windows 7 DOES come with a RAM tester but i have noticed it reports incorrect results many times so i will not advise you to use it with accuracy.

[Tirefryr 1,742]

My previous two laptops did this. The second one, the one I am on now, I just replaced the motherboard on. Mine went into hibernation and just as yours, worked for a second, then went stupid. According to my numerous Google searches, it got hot somewhere and melted a solder joint. People have had luck by blocking the heat sink vents and letting it warm back up in hopes of reflowing the solder, then shutting off and letting cool again. I tried this to no avail, so I was forced to buy a motherboard.

[Tirefryr 1,742]

when you first turn it on, after your branded welcome screen.. like Compaq or Dell, etc.. as soon as that goes away, rapidly hit the F8 key until a selection screen appears.

Choose Last known good configuration or something along those lines.

If it does NOT boot up properly, then redo the process again except this time choose Safe Mode.

Let me know the progress of which route worked.

If safe mode worked, we will then need to do some troubleshooting.

Don't worry though, there are still several things that can be done still without losing any information.

Also, about RAM, let's leave the hardware faults alone for now as most problems on computers are software related.

If ram was the culprit, RAM fault(s) generally cannot be duplicated at the exact same spot during operation in your case, booting up at the same progress level.

If all else fails, I'll walk you through burning a cd to test your RAM.

Windows 7 DOES come with a RAM tester but i have noticed it reports incorrect results many times so i will not advise you to use it with accuracy.

It's not booting or anything so he won't be able to do any of this.

[shizzzon 461]

oh.. yea, with no screen at all... you can try this-

Flip the laptop over, unscrew the panel housing the ram sticks.

Test the computer by turning it on with only 1 stick in at a time and test EACH slot per 1 stick.

If no combinations of 1 stick in any slot work, it's definitely hardware related internally.

It could be what tirefryr said, or it could be a bad video chipset.

Another thing too..

If the Ram tests do not do anything advantageous, remove ALL sticks and turn on. If the laptop doesn't beep, you have a motherboard malfunction.

remember, do all ram tests by turning off laptop and removing battery before pulling or inserting any ram sticks.

Yes this is time consuming but failure to do this in between combinations of ram and slot tests can result in killing the motherboard if it's not dead already.

Also, a tip to all for future use-

Microsoft has acknowledged a while back that it's hibernation feature iswas never fullproof.

It's compatibility with all computers out there is severely lacking.

Nothing on the level of hardware failure but many times the computers will crash (software-wise) from unable to wake.

[Impious 1,476]

RAM test was a fail. Tried both sticks in both locations, still not booting....no screens at all. I also tried with no RAM installed and its behavior didnt change at all. It didnt beep with no RAM...just powers on, fan starts, cd rom spins briefly then dead silence and black screen....same as its done every other time.

Ryan, overheating might have been a problem, this thing has ran hot for more than a year. Battery life was non-existant as well. Not sure if its connected to this failure. One of the USB ports had died also...motherboard might have finally given up?

What say you Shizz?

[Impious 1,476]

Also if it is a mobo failure suggestions on where to find a replacement board for a good price would be appreciated. Its an acer aspire 5515

[Tirefryr 1,742]

I just googled. Got my HP board from Ebay with free next day shipping for $100. The Gateway board was a bit more and harder to find.

Before you buy, let me check my dad's stash. People scrap fully functional laptops all the time and he often has hundreds of working laptops.

[ssh 924]

Try unplugging the power cord, disconnecting battery, and then hold down the power button for 60 seconds.

[Impious 1,476]

I'll be damned Stefan, that worked. Back up and running.

So, what exactly does that mean?

[StreetLegal 119]

Draining the system completely?

[Tirefryr 1,742]

Can't be that. Cmos has it's own battery.

[ssh 924]

Can't be that. Cmos has it's own battery.

That resets the cmos.

[Tirefryr 1,742]

Thought that could only be done by battery removal. . . good to know, thanks!

[shizzzon 461]

im not as experienced with hardware in laptops as i am with desktops.. that was a new one on me too.

Interesting as to what could have changed in the Bios to even think of resetting the cmos.