Power No Boot

[is it me??]

:?: Northgate Laptop,,power On = Cooling Fan,,tries To Read Disks (hard & Cd/dvd/rw) But Will Not Boot,, After 2 Attepts Nothing Just Cooling Fan ,,chk'd Processor Good Connection Any Other Ideas Help Plz

[J_Search]

is it me??,

OS?

Windows: Boot into the recovery console using a XP CD. At the command prompt, type: sfc /scannow, then reboot.

J_

[is it me??]

cd disk will not read my xp cd,,, no command prompt on screen,,,light flashes when it tries to read cd but after two tries it stops trying to read it...

[J_Search]

is it me??,

Stubborn huh? Do you know how to get into BIOS and check/change the boot order of your devices? Either way, you’re going to have to provide everything you see while it boots for us to get a good idea of what’s going on. Do you have a dell? If so, this is worth a try: http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim3000/en/SM/adtshoot.htm?c=us&l=en&cs=&s=gen#wp1059100

J_

[is it me??]

no it is not a dell,,,NOTHING BOOTS,,,cd rom spins approx. 10 secs as it tries to access data,,,but nothing on screen,,,,reseated memory card (apacer 512mb),,still nothing,,,held button down 30 sec...tried with battery only,,without battery,,ac cord only,,,with memory card & without,,thats all folks nothing ,,,2yrs TO THE DAY i got it off the shopping network,,

[J_Search]

is it me??,

You may have fried your board. What do you see on the screen?

J_

[is it me??]

Nothing On Screen,,,blank,,,,black,,,zero,,,nil,,,,empty...etc

[J_Search]

is it me??,

It sounds like you fried your board.

J_

[is it me??]

ok thx,,but could it be bad memory card or bad processor or stuck in sleep or hibernate mode?? these were a few other responses i've gotten,,i guess it would just be a process of elimination do ya think?? i'm going to let it sit idle for a couple of days and see what happens next,,then i trash it........thank-you for your input & time to respond

[J_Search]

is it me??,

I would definitely try everything I could to salvage as much as possible. I've never turned on a PC w/out memory, so I don't know if causes similar symptoms. To tackle your memory/processor questions, why don't you grab some memory from someone's PC or buy and then return some from the store? You could try a new processor. You could again use the buy/return from a store trick. Try flushing the CMOS. I'm not sure how hibernation affects the system, so I couldn't intelligently answer your question, but I doubt that's the issue.

Ok, re-reading your posts, I thought of something. What about your video card? The fact that your hard disk spins, but no boot. Would you really know? You can't see the screen. Now how about your cd, you said it spins for like 10 seconds, then nothing. Well if you don't press any keys at the "Press any key to boot from CD..." option, then yes, your cd will spin for about 10 seconds then do nothing.

I say 1st try re-seating your video card, then try your card in someone else’s PC, AND then try a new one in yours. I would say use the buy/return trick again, but you'll probably keep this purchase. See what you find out.

J_

[Catweazle]

Whilst I'd agree that this doesn't sound too promising, I wouldn't go 'trashing' a laptop without first ensuring that it was, indeed, 'dead' and not simply experiencing some small problem.

I'm afraid that you haven't provided enough clarity of detail about the make and model of your laptop for anyone here to adequately provide detailed instructions. "Shopping network" doesn't tell me much, and whilst Google tells me that "Northgate laptop" seems to be a long persevering brand in the US at least, it's not one I've ever come across elsewhere, nor can I seem to locate a manufacturer website. Perhaps it's a 'rebadged' line which is actually another manufacturers product?

Anyways, it'd be best to pay a service fee for a local PC store technician to have a look at it for you and advise you what may or may not be wrong with it.

Should you be able to give clearer identification about the make and model of your laptop, then more detailed assistance may be possible from here.

[is it me??]

well i let it set idle for five days, bought new memory and talked to Geek Squad person there, put new memory in and it booted up to january 2002, only message i got was it went directly to scan-disk, scanned & came on but running slowly.

VALUABLE INFORMATION I UNCOVERED

NOTE 1 - Northgate company out of business. phone number i have cannot be located
NOTE 2 - Seems that this particular laptop does not have the standard laptop/notebook memory system in it, it has a system designed for an upright/tower system that uses a 5 inch memory card 512mb ddr/2100/184 pin dimm - he sold me a 512mb ddr/2700/2100 pc333/266 184 pin dimm for $55.00 with a 30 day return policy (hopefully i will not need to use it)
NOTE 3 - Geek Squad dude stated that it could be a motherboard, processor, or a bad hard drive, not likely the memory and they would run a check on it for $79.00 and that he would like to see this antique laptop because he really didn't believe that the memory card i had came out of a laptop.
NOTE 4 - No bios errors appeared, all set at defaults

So i do not want to shut it down, as i do not really know if it was the memory card or the fact i let it sit for 5 days without messing with it, anything else anybody can suggest to check before i do shut it down and have the same problem.

I WANT TO THANK EVERYONE WHO RESPONDED TO THIS, YOUR INPUT WAS INSPIRING THAT I AM NOT ALONE!

[is it me??]

OH,,,by the way,, i was using the laptop to post this & last message,, if that's any help,,and seems to be working (UNTIL I SHUT IT DOWN ) HAHAHA