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Resolved Question

How to diagnose a laptop that wont star?

Jan 10, 2015 6:17AM PST

Hi guys,
I m new here and need help diagnosing a laptop that wont start(boot?). It happened today, i was using it then put it to sleep for a while and when i tried ti wake it up the fan started like usually, the lights blink(power indicator, wireless key, tab key) but the screen stays black all the time.
What I tried:

1) Shut it down by holding the power key for a while, powered it back the same thing, black screen, lights on/blink..

2) i suspected a boot problem because i dual boot lubuntu and windows so i puled my win 7 cd and tried to boot from it, same as above. Tried to boot from USB flash drive( i got lubuntu on it), no change.

3) removed the battery, unpluged the power cord, held the power on button for 3 minutes, pluged the battery and cord back in. The same thing again.

4) i don t know if this matters but i connected this moble device in a usb port and it started charging normally.

Some other things i noticed that might be(or not) related with the problem a kind of "knack " sound on the left hinge of the display(can t say for sure it started today though) and i can t hear a light grinding of the haed drive as could be heared when it was starting after shutdown (there was no such grinding sound when it woke up from sleep though).

My laptop is a Compaq pressario CQ56 V140.

Any reply appreciated. Thank you.

Discussion is locked

Bart_HS has chosen the best answer to their question. View answer

Best Answer

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This model looks to be about 99 bucks on ebay.
Jan 10, 2015 6:36AM PST
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-Presario-CQ56-115DX-15-6-250-GB-AMD-V140-2-3-GHz-2-GB-Notebook-/131396820785?pt=Laptops_Nov05&hash=item1e97dc5f31

The symptom is pretty much along what you see with dead motherboards. I see you tried a lot but since it doesn't have a boot screen, you try it one more time without any WiFi card, HDD, ODD and one stick of RAM to see if it's some other bit.

Remember that a new board is more than what we can replace it for.

The 250 buck laptop at http://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Computers-Accessories-Laptop/zgbs/pc/565108 (currently #1) would be quite the step up.
Bob
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I live in a godforsaken place.
Jan 10, 2015 7:04AM PST

Thanks for the reply. Here, where I lieve that 250 bucks laptop costs more than 300 € (350 $). Besides noone ships here, amazon, ebay...noone. Plus I m broke as fuq ar the moment but anyway, thanks for the link too.
Another question do you think i could somehow get some ebooks i had on it s hard drive?

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I use USB HDD cases to copy/access such things.
Jan 10, 2015 7:11AM PST
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Is the hdd dead?
Jan 10, 2015 7:22AM PST

Maybe i didn t express myself clearly enough. The question was more like is it s hdd dead, how can i verify if it s still working (if possible at all). I can t hear it spinning, but it couldn t be heard when it was working either, so is there a way to test it (hdd i mean).
Thank you.

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To test it I have to put it into a working case or PC.
Jan 10, 2015 7:51AM PST

I'm sure you have some PC repair shop or person somewhere. Or else there would be no PCs in your area after a few years.
Bob

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lol
Jan 10, 2015 8:00AM PST

Thanks for the tip Bob. I just asked so that the people at the repair shop don t rip me off. And yea, there are some computer/repair shops around.

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Over the years
Jan 10, 2015 8:05AM PST

Now remember I ran some repair shops long long ago. So I have my own bag of kit to address, test, recover and fix some common problems.

There are folk that are not in a position to have things looked after but thankfully here there is Craigslist and I see free desktops there all the time. Yeah, they are usually old pentium dual core things but it's better than nothing.

Got a craigslist in your area?
Bob

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Here s not even enough electricity in this pigeon-hold
Jan 10, 2015 8:16AM PST

let alone craigslist (had to google that). Anyway thank you for your time. Looks like imma have to fork out some 300 € for a new laptop. Happy

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whatever you do
Jan 11, 2015 12:19AM PST

pull your hard drive from the other and save it, you may recover data on it later.

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data retrieval
Jan 11, 2015 12:18AM PST
Another question do you think i could somehow get some ebooks i had on it s hard drive?

Download an ISO of a Linux distro and burn to CDR or DVDR. Boot from it. See if the Linux file manager can see the hard drive and access files from it. If so, then you can copy off to a USB flashdrive for storage. Since you are in a bad place and probably limited supplies and internet bandwidth, use Lubuntu. It can be loaded to a CDR, not requiring a DVD like most Linux distros today.

http://lubuntu.net/

http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/lubuntu/releases/14.10/release/lubuntu-14.10-desktop-i386.iso

Booting from Lubuntu
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAS1kJ2adiU

How to create a LIVE CD.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Dy6OlXhWVk

Burn ISO image file to disc
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Already have lubuntu on a thumb drive
Jan 11, 2015 2:39AM PST

I m concerned that maybe the hard drive is dead too. Is it possible to plug that hard driven in any other computerr so that i can test it or does it only work on similar laptops?

Thank You.

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Re: hard drive
Jan 11, 2015 2:52AM PST

You can mount the hard drive in any other computer with the right (SATA?) connector on the motherboard or in an external USB-enclosure.

Kees

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ok
Jan 11, 2015 3:12AM PST

I know what SATA is. I ll try to find a usb enclosure as you call it and recover what i can.
Thank you very much.

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so, boot to it.
Jan 11, 2015 9:00AM PST

You can see if it will mount the volume on the hard drive. If so, then the drive is OK, especially if you can see the file structure on it.