Laptop won't boot: Any suggestions or good repair shops? (credit card, neighborhood)

[Archan]

Originally Posted by floyd242

Did you see this?

HP Limited Warranty Service Enhancement - HP Customer Care (United States - English) (http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&docname=c01087277 - broken link)

Thanks for the info. Sounds like the problem that I am having. Unfortunately, I think I'm over the warranty period, but it's nice to know that they've identified the problem.

[floyd242]

Is it more than 2 years old? It's an extended 24 month recall warranty for that issue. If it's not you'll have to replace the system board which honestly you might as well buy a new laptop at that point unless you can do it yourself. I would call them anyway, it can't hurt.

[Archan]

Originally Posted by floyd242

Is it more than 2 years old? It's an extended 24 month recall warranty for that issue. If it's not you'll have to replace the system board which honestly you might as well buy a new laptop at that point unless you can do it yourself. I would call them anyway, it can't hurt.

I think I will call, thanks! I can't really remember when I bought this. I'll have to look for the reciept.

Thanks again!

[Antiz]

This is going to sound dumb as ****, but try it anyhow.

Take out the battery and try booting with the power cord plugged in, but the battery out.

A bad battery is a pretty common problem that causes those symptoms.

[Archan]

Originally Posted by Antiz

This is going to sound dumb as ****, but try it anyhow.

Take out the battery and try booting with the power cord plugged in, but the battery out.

A bad battery is a pretty common problem that causes those symptoms.

Thanks for the suggestion! I did try that and it still didn't work. I ended up called HP and it sounds like I have to replace my motherboard. They are going to give me a special "deal", but I'm still not too happy about it.

[Mishap]

Sounds like the nVidia bump material failure. It was a really big problem that hit Macs, Dells, and HP's pretty bad. My Dell failed twice within a few months due to that. Luckily my company dropped the cash on the Dell Gold warranty and they came to my house to replace the motherboard both times.

If it's more than a couple hundred dollars to repair, I would get it back and simply buy a new replacement. If the old computer is in good shape, it's worth a fair amt on ebay for parts. I've gotten over $200-300 for every old laptop I've sold and all were upwards of 4 yrs old. Resellers buy it to part out since trim pieces, keyboards and screens can work out to $500+ in parts easily. Something new similar in size to what you had w/ a dual core processor is probably under $600 these days.

Good luck either way.

[Archan]

Originally Posted by Mishap

Sounds like the nVidia bump material failure. It was a really big problem that hit Macs, Dells, and HP's pretty bad. My Dell failed twice within a few months due to that. Luckily my company dropped the cash on the Dell Gold warranty and they came to my house to replace the motherboard both times.

If it's more than a couple hundred dollars to repair, I would get it back and simply buy a new replacement. If the old computer is in good shape, it's worth a fair amt on ebay for parts. I've gotten over $200-300 for every old laptop I've sold and all were upwards of 4 yrs old. Resellers buy it to part out since trim pieces, keyboards and screens can work out to $500+ in parts easily. Something new similar in size to what you had w/ a dual core processor is probably under $600 these days.

Good luck either way.

Thanks! Your input is much appreciated.

[DONNIEANDDONNA417]

speaking of computers....can porn sites tear at your computer?

[blondandfun]

stay away from geeksquad. They charge $200, so you're better off getting a netbook with that money.

When you turn on machine to boot keep pressing F8 to see if you get a system screen, then see if you can repair windows or boot into safe mode. If you have a installation disc you can also use that and reinstall windows.

I reinstall windows about once every six months, and 99% of my work I save to an external hard drive.

PS, dont' get windows 7. You have a laptop, so it's doubtfull windows 7 will work with the laptop components... Trust me, I tried to upgrade on my ONE year old laptop and there are lots of problems.

[Mishap]

Originally Posted by blondandfun

stay away from geeksquad. They charge $200, so you're better off getting a netbook with that money.

When you turn on machine to boot keep pressing F8 to see if you get a system screen, then see if you can repair windows or boot into safe mode. If you have a installation disc you can also use that and reinstall windows.

I reinstall windows about once every six months, and 99% of my work I save to an external hard drive.

PS, dont' get windows 7. You have a laptop, so it's doubtfull windows 7 will work with the laptop components... Trust me, I tried to upgrade on my ONE year old laptop and there are lots of problems.

I got Win7 running on my 5 yr old laptop w/o any major problems. I did have to trick a video driver but this computer is from '05 so it's a given. It's a stopgap until my new laptop shows up. You really shouldn't need to reinstall that often. My workstation PC didn't even slow down under Vista for 2+ yrs and runs Win7 like a champ. Even my Mac Mini ran Win7 great (far better than OS X). Driver support does vary for various models so check the support website before attempting. Most manufacturers have tested their computers against Win7 so you shouldn't run into many issues. It beats Vista easily so I definitely recommend it on any new computer.

The problem that Archan described is a well known manufacturing defect that hits nVidia powered laptops and likely the screen doesn't work or stops working as the computer heats up. Basically the chip connections crack from heating/cooling cycles and it can't be physically repaired. I'm seriously surprised there haven't been more class action lawsuits against nVidia as it affected millions of computers. Nothing can really be done except replace the logic board which gets into short supply since the failure is a matter of time for most of these computers. Best to save off any data and buy a new computer and hope nVidia learned their lesson. This killed a ton of high end Macs as well as Lenovos, Dells, HP, etc so no brand was immune. It instead comes down to how the manufacturer treated you following the failure.

Geeksquad is definitely a waste on any hardware problems. They can fix your wifi, install a stick of RAM, or try to remove a virus but they ship all computers to depots for repair work which you can do on your own w/o their added cost.