Thread: Ack! Emergency Laptop Help?

Working at client site in Oakland right now...all of a sudden, my laptop won't boot up this AM. BAD timing for this - I am stuck without my CPU.

It sounds like it's trying to boot, but it stalls...and clicks, but won't "turn over." If it was a car, I'd say it was the battery or starter motor. It connects, but won't "fire" up.

I am plugged in to outlet...not using battery. Any ideas?

weird...

popped the battery out and back in, gently shook and patted the baby - I mean laptop - tried again, no luck. Did that a few times, went and chatted up the cute about-to-be-married gal in the next office over, came back, did it again, and it started right up.

any ideas? (Besides backing up my shite as fast as possible).

control panel -> administrative tools -> event log -> system

list anything bad in there.

Similar thing happened to my thinkpad 2 months ago - it was an electrical problem with the computer itself, not the hard drive. It slowly got worse and worse, until finally the computer just gave up. It got a new laptop and put the old hard drive in, and it all turned out fine. Though, I backed everything up just in case.

Are you seeing ANYTHING on the screen when you boot-up?

flakey ram going bad maybe?

Originally Posted by pechelman

flakey ram going bad maybe?

Actually, I think that might be it. Little by little, I've been having CPU "freezes" and memory-related slow-downs/problems. The machine is 3 years old, and has had a hard life of road warrior consulting work and super memory intensive large-scale optimization model runs, along with the associated input/ouput data burden...

I didn't know if memory crapping out could be the cause of this same boot-up thing (because it looked more Power related), but I guess so. This thing is on it's last legs...

Man, I just need it to make it through the week till I'm back home...

anti-jinx!

hmm
I might have a coupon for some crucial ram around here somewhere in my email. let me know if you need me to look\dig it up.

If you do not see any video when this happens, then it could be the following:
loose power connector or plug (battery does not charge) and without the battery computer does not run at all
main board (especially if it has integrated graphics)
memory - this would likely result in an error code or beeps though
video card - if there is a separate one on the computer (most laptops have the video on the main board though so back to the top of the list)


If there is a display and video then:
memory problem
hard drive issue (run the chkdsk or tools to verify the drive- some manufacturers have the tools to download and run on their web sites- Seagate, etc.)
loose connector between the main board and video display (easy to verify by plugging into a standard monitor through the external video plug)

Now that the unit is running- diagnostics on the memory, hard drive, CPU etc. can easily be done. If you have access to the internet there are many free tools that you can download to test this unit- one of the best is the Ultimate Boot CD which has most of what you may need to troubleshoot easy stuff like a bad memory module, etc. The harder ones are the intermittent errors and lock-ups that happen randomly.

If need memory ASAP. There is a CompUSA in Emeryville, which should only be 10-15 min drive from downtown Oakland.

If CompUSA does not have what you need, Fry’s in Concord or Fremont. Traffic is pretty bad coming north out of Fremont after 3pm.

Sounds like you have some custom apps, otherwise I could loan you my back up notebook while you are in Oakland.

Good luck

thanks all
made it through the week, now I'm in Austin, TX; one more gig to do, doesn't really require my machine, so I've got the next couple weeks to get it straightened out at home.
I'll try a couple of those diagnostic ideas...much appreciated

pull the memory access door, and check to be sure it is seated. Take the RAM out, put it back in. Make sure your grounded well.

There's a slim chance it could be a power issue. Flash the bios to the newest version.

Yoss, my old Dell Lat 810 did the very same thing before I lost my harddrive about 2 weeks after first symtoms. I had ONE day left on warranty!

Back up!!!