Home › Forums › Archives › Computer Support › Computer Support Discussion › Laptop died without warning…is it really dead?
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November 15, 2006 at 8:31 pm #25572OreoMember
I was working on something and IMing with MSN. Everything was normal on my laptop…no programs (of which I”m aware) running that are not normally there. (In fact, I think I had fewer than normal running). All of a sudden, it freezes. I waited for it to unfreeze, nothing happens, so I Crtl-alt-del it…no response. So I am forced to shut it down hard…fully expected it to reboot.
It started to reboot, the Compaq screen showed up I could hear the fans blowing. Then it did not progress past that. I looked closer and the Comapaq image was pixelated near the bottom of the word… kind of like it was stopped in mid-motion. So I had to shut down hard again.
Well, now all I get is a black screen and fans…nothing telling me it’s working. The only thing I did with my lappy today was plug it in before the battery died…I got the warning about 10-15 minutes later to plug it in…but I already had it plugged in so I dismissed it.
The lappy runs XP Pro…right now I unplugged it from the wal and turned in on…I”m hoping to let the battery run down and see if that might do the trick. The battery is a PITA to remove…so I”m trying to hold off having to do that. Any other suggestions?? I really need the document I was working on when it started all of this nonsense. :crying:November 16, 2006 at 1:48 am #154457SpikeMemberIf it’s continually locking up on you, there may be a hairline fracture in the motherboard (we see this a lot at work), but it could be one of many many other things. I’d say if you can’t get a solution from here, take it to a shop or someone who is knowledgeable about computers and will volunteer to fix yours.
If it’s locking up like this, the worst of oyur worries is the document you were working on. 🙁
November 17, 2006 at 1:31 pm #154454OreoMemberWell….stranger things are happening now…I’m determined to figure this out…a hairline fracture sounds like an interesting possibility. I let the battey die, I turned it on and got that page where you can start normally or start in safe mode. I chose safe mode…it started to go through all of these files on the black screen (the one where it gives you the choice) THEN FROZE!
So I left it alone for a few more hours, let the battery die again, started it up got the same screen but started as normal. I even got through the part where I have to enter the password to get the PC started and it started to load programs. All seemed well then POOF! The fans stopped and it went black…(the wireless even connected). I got mad and left it alone the rest of the night.
Any thoughts? Or does my lappy need a cast? (INTO THE OCEAN! :O)November 18, 2006 at 2:15 am #154458SpikeMemberBy the sounds of things, it’s probably not worth trying to figure out myself. I’m scratching my head just a little here, too, but I have a general idea of what’s going on.
I suggest: Taking it to get repaired (probably run you about $200), buying a new laptop (Always a good choice :)) or… maybe it’s still under warranty?
November 18, 2006 at 8:01 pm #154455OreoMemberI am wondering actually if it is not the power supply and/or the outlet…something similar happened to me like this with another laptop and that was a solution. I am going to go out and get a new power supply and see if tha might solve the problem.
November 18, 2006 at 9:22 pm #154456DavidParticipantSome of that sounds like you are having cooling issues, like the heatsink might have seperated from the CPU core, or the fan died. what model laptop is this? have you ever blown the dust out of the fans?
I wouldn’t expect it to be the power supply if the battery still works, since the powersupply constantly charges the battery and the laptop runs off the battery. (That’s why when you unplug it from the wall it stays on)
There is also a chance that your hard disk is failing, I’ve had that happen before and it can do some strange things while its on the way out.
December 30, 2006 at 11:15 am #154459Jon8RFCMemberDavid;210562 wrote:Some of that sounds like you are having cooling issues, like the heatsink might have seperated from the CPU core, or the fan died. what model laptop is this? have you ever blown the dust out of the fans?I wouldn’t expect it to be the power supply if the battery still works, since the powersupply constantly charges the battery and the laptop runs off the battery. (That’s why when you unplug it from the wall it stays on)
There is also a chance that your hard disk is failing, I’ve had that happen before and it can do some strange things while its on the way out.
I concur–sounds like a cooling issue to me. Get a can of compressed air and clear out the fan ports…do it outside though, just a warning! Also, since you said it got pixelated one time, it sounds to me like a graphics heat issue specifically and it’s probably cooled by the same fans as the cpu, so if the cpu or gpu have a problem, the other one probably does too. But yeah, can you throw us a brand & model number, or if it’s a Dell, the service tag, please 🙂 I’m sorry for the late reply, but I didn’t see this post in the past, for some reason.
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