Laptop unresponsive

hello,
our toshiba satellite (xp home) was 'on' and running fine the other day, left the room. Came back later and it was 'off'. not the 'flashing' power button like when it's hibernating. when I hit the power button, the light around it came on (solid blue) and the fans sounded like they turned for about 5 seconds, then they stopped. no beeps. no other noises. I hold the power for 5 seconds and it shuts off, otherwise, it sits with the power light still on, and nothing else, the screen never flashes or anything like that. I've unplugged the ac, taken out the battery and let it sit for about an hour, then tried again and got the same response. Are there some other troubleshooting/diagnosing steps I can try?

thanks.

 

have you tried booting the laptop from AC without the battery connected. A malfunctioning battery could be causing this.

 

thanks for the reply...

yes. same result. power light remains on, fan runs for 4-5 seconds, then nothing.

 

sounds like a cooked hard drive.

 

Hi,

Remove the laptop battery from the computer and leave for a few minutes and replace and then try to start your computer

[ You must have no power within your computer = you will find this may possibly will reset the programming]

Hope may help

 

It's a laptop, and some hardware is damaged. Probably part of the power system. I've seen similar behavior in IBM and Dell laptops, and we've always had to mail them in to get fixed. If it's under warranty, contact Toshiba and get it fixed. Otherwise, it will probably cost $500+ to fix. In that case you'll want to take it to a PC repair shot and have them get your data off the laptop and probably buy a new laptop.

 

Nice its thinking like that got me a $1200 computer for $300.00 it turned out that The ram dimms needed to be reset, and it booted fine. (something you may want to try) Pull the memory cover off and pull the chip(s) out then try to boot, see if you get a beep. Then replace the chip or chips. try that.

 

thanks for the replies....

if it's a cooked harddrive, wouldn't I at least get something on the screen before it tried to read from the HDD?

I've tried all the combos of A/C only, take out battery for hours then put back in.

I will try and pull the two memory cards and see if re-seating them helps.

I'm a bit wary of data recovery, are there 'trusted' companies? what should I be on the lookout for?

is it possible to 'hang' a laptop drive off of a desktop CPU and pull data that way?

ugh.

 

Yes, Yes, and Yes.

Yes it is possible for a bad drive to hang a computer, it can create a short and every time it starts the computer blinks on it.

Yes it is possible to pull the data off yourself, you need and notebook to IDE adapter (about $4.00 on Ebay)

Yes there are trusted companies, but I may be biased, as I am one. I do not do data reconstruction, that is a very expensive process. I buy dead laptops and as long as the hard drive is functional, I can get files like Documents, pictures and mp3's off the drive and burned to a disk. Then DOD wipe the old hard drive, so it can be used but the information contained would be unsalvageable. This method is effective at backing up all important files, however you can't back up programs with it.

 

thanks for the info.

I think I'll pick up a laptop>IDE cable today, and try pulling our pix, etc off there.

Is this realistic, though, if the drive won't spin INSIDE the laptop!? will it really function as a slave-drive?

(I know you can't say for sure, but does it even seem likely?)

I appreciate everyone's help with this...

 

If the drive is toast, no it is toast. If there is another problem ie memory, or something else then the hard drive will be in tact. As for the slave, don't do it that way, use it as a master on your second ide channel. Even if you have to slave your burner/rom drive. This will eliminate the need to find out what the jumper should be on the laptop hard drive. sometimes there not marked. This system works very well, I have an old computer setup to do just this, with the rom drive slaved and the other part of the second ide cable open to hook up loose hard drives. One more thing, when you get the hard drive out of the system turn it on to see if that was the problem.

 

well, I was able to get the data off the drive using an IDE > USB 'adapter'. The drive spun immediately and was recognized by another computer, and all the data is fine. so that's good.

any recommendations on continued diagnosis of the whole laptop?

thanks.

 

Did you pull the memory out? and check that. Start the computer with nothing in it, and see if it beeps, as in a no memory beep. Then if there are two sticks, put one stick back in at a time, and see if it boots.

Other then that you are running out of easily serviceable things, then it would be a cooked processor, or mobo.

 

I pulled the ram and then put em back in, had the battery out, and plugged in the AC adapter. The computer booted up, no problems, and operated for about 5-7 minutes before it just went blank. Lights still on, though, and the screen 'glowed' slightly, but it became unresponsive again.

Should I still try starting it without the ram, and see if it beeps?

 

a) i like threads like this because they are informative and help build everyones tech skills.

b) this might help you: On some Satellite A70/A75 and M30X/M35X models, the computer may lock up (hang) or restart, immediately after the computer is touched.

If you experience these symptoms, please have your system tested by the Toshiba Notebook Depot, or a Toshiba Authorized Service Provider (ASP). There will be no charge for the testing or for any repairs.

For further information about how to arrange for shipment to and service at the Toshiba Notebook Depot or a Toshiba ASP in your area please call 1-800-457-7777. To locate a Toshiba ASP in your area, please visit our Global ASP Locator service at http://pcrepair.toshiba.com.