Presario 700- won't do anything!

[goodby1]

Well, I bought a used presario 700 laptop about 2 months ago. The owner is a friend who told me that it was not the best computer but I wasn't really thinking of using it for much more than taking notes.

Anyway- i realized that the battery didn't hold much of a charge... it went from holding about 20 minutes to 10 to about 30 seconds. The other day, I tried starting it up PLUGGED IN and it wouldn't start. It gives a sound of about 1 second of the hard drive trying to do something and then NOTHING. Nada. no screen. NOTHING.

Called Compaq tech support (actually "chatted" with them). They said to unplug AND take out the battery and hold the powerup button down for 15 seconds and then replug it back in and try again. Didn't work. They say, now, to take it into the dealer.

Before I do and risk spending more good money after bad... any suggestions?

[borumas]

Unforetunately there isn't alot you can do with laptops, taking them apart is very difficult for the unexperienced and there are not many parts you can replace. Sounds like your motherboard may be bad, most laptops that I have taken apart have the AC power connector on the motherboard and while it is possible to have a cold solder joint that is easy to repair it isn't very likely to be the problem. The battery itself is probably bad, we have alot of Dell and Gateway laptop batterys die after a year or so of use so if yours is that old it more than likely is the problem (especially since its ability to hold a charge has degraded over time).

[goodby1]

My friend has a presario 700 as well.. if the problem is the battery, i could just borrow hers.

I was wondering, if it IS a dead battery, don't you think that the computer would start up with the AC adapter plugged in? Or is it necessary to have some kind of minimum charge in the battery for the thing to start up?

[borumas]

The PC should definitely startup with the AC adaptor plugged into it so that isn't the problem, the battery light when the AC is plugged in is usually orange or red when charging.

[bethy1979]

Well, I bought a used presario 700 laptop about 2 months ago. The owner is a friend who told me that it was not the best computer but I wasn't really thinking of using it for much more than taking notes. Anyway- i realized that the battery didn't hold much of a charge... it went from holding about 20 minutes to 10 to about 30 seconds. The other day, I tried starting it up PLUGGED IN and it wouldn't start. It gives a sound of about 1 second of the hard drive trying to do something and then NOTHING. Nada. no screen. NOTHING. Called Compaq tech support (actually "chatted" with them). They said to unplug AND take out the battery and hold the powerup button down for 15 seconds and then replug it back in and try again. Didn't work. They say, now, to take it into the dealer. Before I do and risk spending more good money after bad... any suggestions?

Hi - did you find a solution to this problem? My presario 700 is doing the exact same thi8n

[goodby1]

Actually I sent my computer in to Compaq TWICE. The first time they couldn't replicate the problem (I couldn't start my computer for 2 days and then it got to their lab and it started up just fine!). The second time the found a bad sector on my hard drive and fixed it but then said that they couldn't be sure that that was it. Anyway, in the end, they sent it back saying that they didn't find conclusively what the problem was. Their options were

1) That the battery was so dead that somehow it was effecting the start up (even though it was plugged in)

2) That it was something software related so they recommended wiping the hard drive and starting all over.

3) or, that it was something that could be found and eliminated with Adaware and SpyBot but they didn't know exactly what.

So, after they sent it back (this time it started up for them AGAIN) I bought a new battery (about $120). I am going to wipe the hard drive soon and start all over and hopefully everything is okay. What's frustrating, I'm sure, is the inability to start it up. For some reason, once my computer hit their lab table, it started up. For me, though, it wouldn't start up for days.

Anyway- Radio Shack sends it to Compaq for $39. That's all they charged me since they couldn't find the problem...

Sorry couldn't be more help.

[jbean]

Actually I sent my computer in to Compaq TWICE. The first time they couldn't replicate the problem (I couldn't start my computer for 2 days and then it got to their lab and it started up just fine!). The second time the found a bad sector on my hard drive and fixed it but then said that they couldn't be sure that that was it. Anyway, in the end, they sent it back saying that they didn't find conclusively what the problem was. Their options were 1) That the battery was so dead that somehow it was effecting the start up (even though it was plugged in) 2) That it was something software related so they recommended wiping the hard drive and starting all over. 3) or, that it was something that could be found and eliminated with Adaware and SpyBot but they didn't know exactly what. So, after they sent it back (this time it started up for them AGAIN) I bought a new battery (about $120). I am going to wipe the hard drive soon and start all over and hopefully everything is okay. What's frustrating, I'm sure, is the inability to start it up. For some reason, once my computer hit their lab table, it started up. For me, though, it wouldn't start up for days. Anyway- Radio Shack sends it to Compaq for $39. That's all they charged me since they couldn't find the problem... Sorry couldn't be more help.

I am curious.. as this seems to be very common.. I also have a presario 700 that does the exact same thing... try to turn it on.. and only the green light comes on... where you have to hold it to turn it back off.

Did the give you an answer as to whether in fact a battery does need to be in the slot ?
Or did you replace yours and have any luck ?

thanks

[phedge]

Hi,

As a disappointed owner of a Presario 700 I can offer the following advice.

Restart your computer using the discs provided (put the 1st disc in and switch it on and follow the instructions)

With any luck you will now have a "virgin" 700. Let it remain so. i.e. don't update windows.

Somewhere in the windows updates an incomptability exists. I reconfigured mine at least a dozen times before I realized that it would work just fine until I updated.

Hope this helps.

Pete

[jbean]

Hi, As a disappointed owner of a Presario 700 I can offer the following advice. Restart your computer using the discs provided (put the 1st disc in and switch it on and follow the instructions) With any luck you will now have a "virgin" 700. Let it remain so. i.e. don't update windows. Somewhere in the windows updates an incomptability exists. I reconfigured mine at least a dozen times before I realized that it would work just fine until I updated. Hope this helps. Pete

I understand what you are saying.. however.. I am unable to use the discs as it won't start at all.

:)

[aug]

Hi

I had the same problem with a 700C...and needless to say it has been driving me nuts. Will not power up...tried reseating the processor, removing the BIOS battery to reset the BIOS...nothing....removing everything I could...leaving it unpowered...nothing helped.

What I ended up doing is pulling the HDD, and trying to boot sans HDD...and that worked. Now it seems to be OK...so perhaps the HDD is starting to die...who knows....

Now I know about a bunch of these machines....

Hope that helps
[email="[e-mail]"][e-mail][/email]

[steosaur(oWn)]

Haha I have a presario 2100, but im poor now. I've heard that batteries and touch pads are the first things to go.

[on_the_border]

I've had the same problem with my 701z Presario. It's been on-going for the last 2 years.

I've been able to get it to start up again by tapping on it with my fingers and turning it upside down a few times. It doesn't always work, but seems to work right before I throw it out the window in frustration! I also open and close the battery slot and try putting the battery in and then taking it back out again.

At first I thought it was the battery, but now think it's a loose connection somewhere. I've purchased an additional battery to see if that was causing the problem, but it doesn't matter.

I almost always have to take the battery out of the computer before getting it to work after it's been dead. In fact, I usually just run it without the battery.

It seems to shutdown after any slight movement of the computer. Not completely sure though. It seems to always happen when I'm using it.

At first I thought it might be over-heating and auto shutting down and tripping a switch, but not sure. It seems to happen after any slight movement, possibly movement to the power cord. I'm afraid to experiment with it since I don't want it to shutdown again. Sometimes it takes hours/days to get it to come back up again. Sometimes it takes just minutes to get it to come back up again.

When it does *decide to start working again, Windows starts without any error messages. It thinks it shutdown normally.

Any ideas?..

[RudeDoggy]

I seem to have a similar problem. My friend's laptop would not power up. When pressing the power button, the green light would go on, but no fan would turn on or anything. He took it into a shop and they determined that the CPU was fried. (Now, how accurate this is, I don't know, although my friend said they were an authorized Compaq Service Centre, for what it's worth...) Basically my question is: how likely is it that the CPU is fried, and if that is not the case, what else could it be? It's not a dead battery since he has an almost brand new battery (bought maybe a month or so ago).

[on_the_border]

That's exactly what mine does. No Fan - No Boot Up - just the green light for a second.

I know for a fact that my CPU is working - It usually starts working again after shaking and tapping and turning upside down and inserting the battery and taking it out, etc.. Eventually it starts working again, just like nothing was wrong. Like I said, it might be a few hours or several days before it works again.

The last time it wouldn't boot-up, I had been using it and someone brushed the laptop while I was using it and it went down. I really think there might be something loose causing this. What I don't understand is why Windows XP thinks that it was a normal shutdown. This makes me wonder if it's not some kind of suspend mode that's occuring.

Everytime I use the laptop I hold my breath and try not to move.. Jeez, you'd think a $1600 laptop would work better than this! It's only 2 1/2 years old!

[TKS]

Did you send in the AC/DC cable converter for plugging into the wall WITH the Presario when you sent it back to compaq? If not, I'd say that the cable is your culprit...they wouldn't have been able to duplicate the problem...and perhaps they didn't even use your cable when you sent it. I'd get a digital multimeter and continuity check your power cable.

[RudeDoggy]

Actually, I managed to open the laptop and I think the CPU is the culprit. Here's a pic of the CPU. Notice the damaged resistor in the upper-left corner of the CPU. http://individual.utoronto.ca/cmike/temp/fried.jpg

So I'm going to get my hands on another CPU and hope that that will fix the problem (and not have any other problems like AC connectors or whatnot).

[jbean]

Nice to see that others are having the exact same problem ... green light comes on but nothing else..I suspect a loose ribbon cable or something inside.. I am about the pull it apart and have a look..

As a side note anybody know what roughly the current market value of these things are so that I know how much I am about to *iss away if I can't get the puzzle back together.

thanks

[TallCool1]

As a side note anybody know what roughly the current market value of these things are so that I know how much I am about to *iss away if I can't get the puzzle back together.

You could always do a search oneBay or uBid.

[dhurrell]

I bought three of these machines for work in a hurry about two years ago and they were fine for a year or so until two of them stopped booting altogether with the same symptoms you're all talking about. I never bothered trying to get the two machines that wouldn't start working again as I replaced them with thinkpads as soon as their garuantees ran out anyway (oh, the luxury of having a company pay your hardware bill!) but it recently dawned on me that the first ten chapters of a book I was writing are on the HDD of one of the machines so I'm going to tear the good one apart and see if I can brik-a-brak one of the broken ones together.

I'm pretty sure it's not the power cable as my office is power cable city and I've tried various cables including the one from the machine that works but no luck.

I'll start with RudeDoggy's suggestion as I too believe this to be the case. I think the CPU was fried due to overheating as the first time I ever experienced this problem was when I stupidly left one of the machines on, plugged into the mains but trapped inside the carry bag (I'm a professional, I know what I'm doing, ok!). It beeped non-stop for a while but by the time I got to it, powered it down and tried to start it up again it was dead.

Will let you know tomorrow if I manage to pin-point the problem but I suspect RudeDoggy's picture says it all.

[on_the_border]

Other than something loose inside, I've also wondered if "over-heating" might be causing the problem. It's interesting that I've always (knock on wood) been able to get it to *eventually* boot up again after shaking/moving it.

I'll be waiting to hear if you have the same problem as RudeDoggy. If so, I'll pull mine apart to see what's going on.