Heeeeelp needed please from the IT wallahs…. My lappy won’t boot. Power ok, fan starts, sounds like disc whirring, black screen. Won’t respond to keyboard/trackpad etc and continues even if lid shut (usually goes into hibernation).

Tried it on an external screen but nothing just inky black. No devices connected, inserted etc.

Any clues please?

key stuck down?

Have you got a recovery disk?
If so, stick that in and try a reboot.

First try, if you have a removable battery pull it out and stick it back in. If not then hold the power key for 10 secs and release.m that sometimes forces a proper restart

Also, reseat anything you have access to. Memory, HD etc.

Any beeps? If so, how many and long/short mix?

No beeps. Tried battery out, off/on etc. Tried recovery disc, won’t boot off it. Cd spins up, access light on but no go and nothing on screen.

I’ll try reseating (I’m on the sofa at the mo, I’ll move to the dining room 🙂 ) and I’ll see if I can read the hdd from a caddy.

Any other suggestions please?

My money is on the MoBo having failed. (sorry for your loss)

Pezza’s probably right based on what you’ve said thus far.

A recovery disc isn’t going to help if you’re not getting anything at all on screen.

Pull the battery and the power, press the power button to discharge any residual current, then refit both and then power it up. What happens? Do you get anything at all on screen or is it totally blank throughout?

Does it look like it’s booting with no display? Ie, is the hard disk light flashing away, can you hear the drive being accessed?

Look closely; is the screen black, or is it really really really faint?

Also, remove any USB devices (Bluetooth mouse, SD card, etc)

Tried either F2 or DEL (depends on the exact laptop) to see if it’ll boot into BIOS?

The good news is, if the disk sounds like it’s spinning, you can get the data back. The bad news is lappys are rarely (economically) worth repairing.

What;’s the exact model of it?

Thanks gents. No hdd access light activity, can’t detect any spin up. Fans are on, DVD access light flashes, screen black. No devices of any kind connected or inserted. The caps lock key light flashes a few times tho… I suspected the mother (ferkin) board as well 🙁

Ah well, better build the PC I bought last December when I thought I’d lost this one….

The HDD is fine, just put it in a caddy and all is well. For once, I was prepared with all my data backed up via Sugarsynch/Skydrive/Dropbox. Makes a blimp in change 🙂

Thanks everyone.