Member Avatar for Helpmeplease110

Hello,
I am pretty sure the answer for this is here... however I am not sure if it directly applies to my situation and I just want to confirm what my problem may be...

I reformatted my laptop reinstalled Win XP... and the laptop was left alone for a few weeks... Now when I go back to power it up it powers up and I can hear the fan working... however it doesn't seem like the cpu is working or starting up.

I tried to leave it on for sometime, thinking it needs to warm up or something like a car however no luck...

Mind you this has happened in the past... but usually it would start after some tries... however now it doesn't seem to be doing anything...

Any ideas? ... thanks.

  • 4 Contributors
  • 3 Replies
  • 107 Views
  • 1 Month Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by mackone

Dani AI

Generated

A few focused checks will narrow this down quickly. , and have pointed toward power, boot and the button, which are good starting points — run a short, methodical POST-style checklist before digging deeper.

First, look for POST indicators: any LED blink patterns, HDD activity LED, or speaker beeps when powering on. Those patterns often map to specific faults in the service manual for the model. Do a cold power reset (remove all power, press and hold the power button for 30–60 seconds to drain residual charge, then try again). Remove all external devices (USB, cards) and try a minimal hardware boot: leave only the motherboard, CPU, one RAM stick and the video/display system connected. Swap RAM sticks into each slot one at a time to rule out a bad module or slot.

Next, check physical things that cause intermittent starts: firm seating of memory and drive connectors, the DC jack for play or broken solder joints, and any obvious swelling or leaking caps on the board. If the screen stays black but fans spin, try an external monitor to differentiate a GPU/display issue from a full no-POST condition. If a multimeter is available, verify the adapter output and center pin continuity — a marginal adapter or intermittent jack can power fans while failing to supply stable logic voltage.

If there are no LEDs, no beeps and no change after the minimal tests, the fault is likely on the motherboard (BIOS, southbridge/VRM, or solder joint failure). At that point, model-specific BIOS recovery procedures or professional board-level diagnosis are the practical next steps. If warranty is active, contact the vendor; otherwise weigh repair costs against replacement. Always disconnect battery and AC and observe ESD precautions when opening the laptop.

Recommended Answers

All 3 Replies

Member Avatar for mechbas

Best bet here is defective power adapter and/or batt.

Member Avatar for Beastmanh

See if it will boot from the winXP install cd, to make sure its not a driver locking up...

~Mike

Member Avatar for mackone

First thing is check for faulty contacts on the power button.

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.