Member Avatar for voracious

Hello,
I saw another thread in this forum about an HP Pavilion ze4500 that wouldn't turn on, but this case is a little different: previously, this laptop's battery would not hold a charge, so we had to keep in plugged into the charger every time we used it. Recently, however, it has begun holding a charge and lasts on it's own for about 1 hr and a half.

Today, it suddenly turned off, but was charging. Soon the light indicated that it was fully charged, so my sister unplugged the adapter and tried to turn it on. The light flashed for a moment, the hard drive seemed to start (buzzing noise) but then it didn't start. So we plugged in the adapter again, but no light came on to show that the laptop was on AC power...nothing. When we tried to turn it on this time, no response at all. It's completely dead.

We've tested it with many other adapters, same problem. My question is, should we buy a new internal battery? Is it possibly the motherboard that needs replacing? And if so, is there any way to recover the data on there?

Thank you for any help!

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by majestic0110

Dani AI

Generated

As reported and as and suggested, the obvious suspects are battery or mains power, but there are other common failure points and safe steps to try before buying parts or assuming a dead motherboard. The priority is: isolate the power path, avoid further stress to the hard drive, and recover data if the drive might still be healthy.

Quick diagnostics (low cost, in this order):

  • Verify adapter output with a multimeter (confirm correct voltage and polarity). If no meter is available, try a known-good, compatible adapter or have a shop check it.
  • Remove the main battery, disconnect AC, hold the power button 30 seconds to discharge residual power, then connect AC only and try to power on.
  • Inspect the DC jack for looseness or movement and try gently wiggling it while the adapter is connected (do not force). A broken jack or loose solder is a frequent fault on older Pavilion models.
  • Try a minimal boot: reseat or try one RAM module at a time and attempt to power with HDD removed. Watch for any LED activity, fan spin, or beeps.
  • Look and smell for burnt components or bulging capacitors; if present, stop and seek pro service.

Data-recovery workflow (safe first steps):

  1. Power down, remove AC and battery, open the drive bay and remove the 2.5" laptop drive.
  2. Identify the connector type by the drive label (SATA vs older PATA/IDE). Use the matching 2.5" SATA/IDE-to-USB adapter or an external enclosure to connect the drive to another PC.
  3. If the drive is detected, copy important files immediately. If the drive makes clicking noises, fails to spin, or is not recognized, stop trying and consult a professional data-recovery service to avoid further damage.

Summary: cheap checks (metered adapter test, DC-jack inspection, battery-out power attempt) are worth doing first. If comfortable, remove the drive and recover files before attempting motherboard repairs—motherboard replacement is often not cost-effective for an older laptop.

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Member Avatar for sittas87

Hi there
By reading your post its most likely that your internal battery was malfunctioning for a while before it just gave up on replacing the internal battery you might find that it was malfunctioning indeed.Worse case scenario say your mobo is kapoot you can still get your data since it is on your hard drive

Member Avatar for majestic0110

Good advice there sittas87. Is it possible that your mains adapter has blown? I have had a laptop mains adapter that the fuse blew on...

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