Hello,

I have a M-Series Gateway W650i laptop that will no longer boot when the power button is pressed, nor do any of the LED indicators display, such as the laptop receiving power, when the power adaptor is plugged in. I've tried several methods to combat this issue, such as removing the dust inside the laptop and the ATX method (I belive that's what it's called) - removing both the battery and laptop power adaptor, holding down the power button for a full minute and plugging the power adaptor back in. There is nothing wrong with the power adaptor, as I have tested it with another laptop and other outlets; however, whenever I plug the power adaptor into the unbootable laptop, I can hear a faint, continuous beep, as long as the power adaptor is plugged in, from inside the computer.

If the worst case scenario where to be that I'm unable to get the laptop fixed and working, would I still be able to access the files - pictures, movies, etc. - from the hard disk drive or are they completely lost as well? If possible, how could I go about doing that?

Thank you for your time in reading and answering my question and I appreicate all and any help.

hello, if there was a lot of dust inside you may have fried something on the motherboard ,from it overy heating ,i would try removing the ram from the laptop ,unplug from power and remove the battery first ,if it has has 2 chips then put one back in and try turning it back on again .it may or may not help .
as for files on the harddrive they will likely be fine as long as the harddrive didnt die .you would do this by removing the harddrive and connecting ( either by connecting it inside a desktop computer or using a usb harddrive connter cable ,)it to anther computer to get at the files

Thanks for the reply caperjack. I tried what you recommended, but still couldn't manage to get the computer to boot.

Most likely I'm going to purchase a usb harddrive connector cable to see if I'm able to access my files, as I doubt I'll ever get this laptop working again. Thanks for the tip.

You don't need a usb hard drive cable. You need an appropriate docking bay for the drive. Most current laptops have sata drives. You can get one for about $25-50 USD for one that will work with your drive. You remove the drive from the system, plug it into the docking bay, and attach that to another system, either via eSata port or USB port (some bays support both). Then you can backup your data. I do this for my customers frequently, especially when they have been infected with malware.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.