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I have an HP G61 That ran Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit. For the past couple of months it would make a buzzing noise that sounded like it was coming from the hard drive. I would have to hit the laptop on the left side beside the touchpad before it would stop. Rebotting it wouldn't fix it. Within the last few weeks, a new symptom appeared. The laptop would unexpectedly freeze up and when I did a hard shutdown, then turned it back on, the screen would be blank except for two thin blue lines. The fan would kick on like normal and the DVD drive would make noise, but nothing from the hard drive. I would have to remove the hard drive, then put it back in before it would finally boot up.
I thought the hard drive might have been failing because it sounded like the noises were coming from it. But today when I got on the laptop, I woke it up and from the very beginning it was lagging badly. It had been in sleep mode all night and most of the day. It suddenly made a very loud rattling noise like something had broken or the hard drive had a catastrophic fail or something. I shut it off and rebooted it and I got the black screen with the blue lines again. The fan came on and the DVD drive came on as well like before. No unusual noises this time either. I removed, then put the hard drive back in like before, but this time nothing happened. The black screen remained.
On a hunch, I put my hard drive in a different laptop and it booted up just fine. I put a different hard drive in the laptop as well and got the black screen still.
Any ideas what would cause it to do that? And is it worth repairing or just parting out?

A bit more info:
About two months ago, my brother broke the screen. There is a hole in the middle of the screen (it doesn't go all the way through the screen), and the screen is no longer plugged in. I'm not going into details on how he broke it so badly.
Also, the battery is giving me problems. The laptop won't power up for several minutes if the battery dies and the charger is plugged in. And the laptop won't turn on unless the battery is plugged in. The battery won't hold a charge for more than 10-15 minutes.

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by rubberman

Dani AI

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Short expert summary: given the swap test reported by (the original drive boots elsewhere while a different drive still fails in this chassis), the fault is much more likely to be in the laptop’s power or logic path than the hard disk itself. Possible culprits, in order of likelihood, are the DC-in/charging circuitry, a failed motherboard/SATA controller, or a short caused by the damaged display assembly. ’s high-level advice to consider repair vs. replace is reasonable; the checklist below helps narrow which.

Common diagnostic checklist (safe, low-cost checks first):

  1. Verify the AC adapter with a meter or a known-good compatible adapter (voltage and center-pin condition).
  2. Power-source isolation: try AC-only (battery removed) and battery-only (charger unplugged). Results narrow DC jack/charger vs. battery/board problems.
  3. Minimal POST test: remove HDD/optical, leave one RAM stick, then power on. Look/listen for POST signals or display on an external monitor.
  4. Reseat and inspect: reseat RAM, HDD, and cables; inspect the DC jack and nearby solder joints, and check for bulging caps or scorch marks.
  5. Display isolation: with the internal screen disconnected (if it isn’t already), attach an external monitor to confirm whether the machine is actually POSTing. A damaged screen/cable can short and block boot.

Interpreting results and next steps:

  • Boots with battery but not AC-only → suspect DC-in or charging circuitry.
  • No POST but fans spin, or no beeps/LEDs → motherboard/power-IC or BIOS failure.
  • External monitor shows activity → internal display or cable only.

Repair vs. part-out guidance: motherboard/board-level power repairs often approach the value of an old mainstream laptop. If the repair quote is a large fraction of a working replacement, parting out is sensible: keep the proven-working HDD, usable RAM, charger and any intact modules; recycle the failing battery.

Safety note: avoid powering the machine with the case open unless ESD and safety precautions are in place; battery/board work and soldered DC-jack repairs are best left to a technician.

Member Avatar for rubberman

Sounds like it's time to either replace or repair it.

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