My dad's laptop is fucked. It runs XP and when he starts it up he says it beeps and then shuts down.

I have already reccomended a power problem but thats been dealt with.
I'm about to start with fixing it but would like suggestions of things I may have missed. I don't want him to have to waste money by taking it to a computer store for them to recover and/or completely erase the computer and reinstall XP.

I am going to try fixing it with CCleaner, Clamwin, and AVG Free.


Also, could someone please tell me how to clear everything on his computer and reinstall XP. He already has a backup of his important files.

 

Does your dad have a second working computer? I'm assuming you either know or don't know why its shutting down?

Another idea is to put the hard drive into another computer (and make it a slave), then see if it shuts the other computer down still. If you've already tried this, disregard my input.

I'm also assuming you've replaced the power supply? And does it still shut down after replacing it? It might also be a board in the computer short circuiting. I've had this happen with an old TI-4600 where the fan finally gave out after 4 years of use, and would no longer let the computer start-up.

 

How far into the boot up process does it get?

 

Jump into the BIOS at Boot time. Reset to Default settings. Check CPU temp, fan speeds, etc.

Take a spare external HDD with you to backup the original data before fucking around with it.

Try booting from a Linux LiveCD. If you can't even do that, then your hardware is borked. Wipe the hard drive if you can, then send it in for repairs.

If it's an irrepairable software fault: Nuke drive; Re-install.

 

I have had that happen twice to my really old laptop, except i get a BSOD with unmountable boot volume. I could not fix it but what i did was boot up using a Linux live-cd, backed up my files and then reformatted and installed XP. I wouldn't suggest sending it in for repairs, in most cases they will just take your money, make a backup, and reinstall xp for you.

 

Never mind. I went to turn it on and it doesn't even turn on when I press the power button.

 

Ehhh, it either sounds like a power supply problem, or something's short circuiting. Common problem with hardware.

 

It could be something as simple as a broken power cord, try using a different one.

If you don't have a spare laptop cord, take the laptop to a computer store that does repairs, tell them you think the power cord is broken but want to check before buying a replacement. They should be fine with that.

There's an older thread in Tech Support on buying and making laptop power cords if that is the problem.

 

Hm, First thing I would do would be to crack open the laptop for a look inside. You may have burned out a section of the motherboard. If that checks out then I would check all the periphial and hardware connections because it could also be a POST error. If that all fails then flash the bios. The next thing would be to boot of a UBCD into a preboot enviroment and run the standard battery of tests. If all else fails call tech support of whoever built and ask the for the engineers since the first tier guys don't know shit.

 

Unplug the computer from the power and remove its battery, then press the power button for 10 seconds.

If you try to turn it on and NOTHING happens, it means you got a dead main board. CPU/RAM failures would be shown with POST beep codes.

Good luck mate!

 

My money is on a dead board. I'd almost guarantee that it's not a disk problem, since a computer will start without a working hard drive (you'll get an error like "No boot devices found"). Since you didn't make it that far, your problem is upstream.

Is the laptop battery charged? If so, and if the machine is plugged in too and it still won't power up, then you probably don't have a power problem. As I said, the most likely culprit is a dead mainboard, which means game over unless you're still under warranty.

The bad news is that it's probably going to be cheaper to buy a new machine than to "recover" the old one--unless you feel like replacing the board, which is not much fun in a laptop.

The good news is that your data is probably just fine.

The good news is that your data

 

It's all good advice. It's all a month out of date.

OP: 29th May 2008