I'm working on this HP Compaq Presario F700 laptop & when I recieved it to check it out it would merely not bootup & all power was good on the keyboard & frt. power & hdd light's when battery is fully charged & not by the 12 power supply. Would hit the Ctrl. (which would keep it powered up) & F10 & wouldn't go into the bio's but got it to finally stay on when hitting the ctrl,f10 or f8 key's. The f8 key when pressed would not go into the option's menu.
It was when I powered it up would just turn on & off by it's self at random. Found out that it was a low battery issue & my friend had a weak 12 volt power supply & let the battery go low which was causing it. The 12 power supply just wouldn's supply enough power to keep it & going long enough when the battery was low, so it just merely tried to keep power to the hdd & other componants, but couldn't. Left it plugged in all night & the next day it booted up but only when I reset the boot options in the bio's to boot from the hdd & not the floppy (which it did not have one) but does have a dvd drive & wireless capability & the dvd drive will not working properly either but will power up & open at my command. Wireless lite stay's amber also. Now i'm curios why it will only bootup from the hdd & not by the default setting within the bios. Maybe somehow something got changed somehow but I do not know how.
My friend who owns it play's alot of games omlin on it & does not know a whole lot about how to manage it's settings so I have to do it for her. So what can I do to see why it has a booting issue. Thought at first it had a bad hd fixing to go down. When first boot at default bio's setting it just has a dark screen with the cusor flashing in the upper left hand corner & no error messages like "no hdd detected".
I'm still trying to figure it out & at no avail at what's causing it.
Thank's for any tips in getting it setup right.
David
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Jump to PostOn the bottom of it or under the battery it will have a sticker stating it's power requirements. It should be 19 volts, not 12 volts, and 3.16 amps or more.
If your friend has a 12 volt supply then it's the wrong one.
On HP machines (Compaq was bought …
Jump to PostThe recovery cd will only be any good with it's original hard drive. If the original hard drive is a dodo then the cd is useless as all it does is access the recovery partition on the hard drive.
Check the label on the power supply for output voltage …
Jump to PostI would still like to know the output of the power supply and the power requirements of the laptop tho!
Jump to PostAre you sure it's 1,500 rpm? I have never heard of one that slow!
Jump to PostIf you have to get a new HDD, get a 7200rpm one. It will make the laptop quicker and you will look good to your friend! :)
I run a small computer repair shop and that's what I do as often as I can! ;)
All 32 Replies
On the bottom of it or under the battery it will have a sticker stating it's power requirements. It should be 19 volts, not 12 volts, and 3.16 amps or more.
If your friend has a 12 volt supply then it's the wrong one.
On HP machines (Compaq was bought by HP) if you use a non original power supply you stand a good chance of damaging the power socket in the laptop as almost all power plugs have a constant diameter whereas HP use a stepped diameter plug so that the tip is narrower than the barrel of the plug.
In short, he needs the correct power supply. A cheapo replacement one will not do, he needs an original HP one.
The cheapo one's do not have the step in them so can damage the socket and are prone to blowing and doing serious internal damage to the laptop when they go.
I run a small computer repair shop and have seen first hand the damage cheapo supplies do. Saving money by buying one will cost a heck of a lot more than the price of an original one when the cheapo one blows and burns the tracks off of the motherboard! Replacing a motherboard gets into the hundreds of pounds.
Thank's for your response back Rik.
The power supply is the original one that came with the laptop.
Has a label on it stating to replace with HP spare 40208-001.
It appears now i'm having an issue with the drive when I have it connected to my usb external hdd device it has no sata lite lit & the usb lite is lit.
Once before both lights were lit.
It started the problem when I had it installed in the laptop it would boot but couldn't access the Vista PW & with the owner's permission of course I trid to hack it by the cmd procedure with special cmd prefixes on the cmd line to get it & that's what's wrong now when I hook it to the usb device. At one time I did have it hooked up the usb device & did manage to get the pictures & music off of it.
When I reinsatlled it back in the laptop it wouldn't let me access the administrators files cause I had no way to do it.
One time I could go into the bio's & change the boot up options to boot to the hdd & not to the floppy which it doesn't have one & it booted up to the Vista hdd into Vista with no problem.
Now it appears it has locked me out for good.
If I could just connect it abck into the laptop & fix the problem changing the cmd order I think I might be able to access it again if I knew how.
When I connected it back into the laptop I had the problem the HP bio's hdd test came up to replace the hdd code #10000 & it spinning hooked up to the usb device but can't access the files now & the SATA lit is not lit.
That's where i am now trying to decide if the test is being fail proof or not.
I goofed up somehwere causing it not to light up & access it on the usb device I assume.
I did a boo boo trying to tweak it trying to get the password the hard way.
I guess the owner will have to get another hdd & I did purchase the recovery cd kit from hp for $16.00 but have to reload the other programs & driver's the hard way now.
I goofed up somewhere!!!
Long writeup huh.
Sorry!
The recovery cd will only be any good with it's original hard drive. If the original hard drive is a dodo then the cd is useless as all it does is access the recovery partition on the hard drive.
Check the label on the power supply for output voltage and amperage then do the same for the laptop and post exactly what each says on it.
Another idea, try removing it's dvd player. I had a lappy in last week that had a faulty dvd drive and it wouldn't boot with it installed. It's worth a go!
Thank's!
I know the power supply is weak but it will power up with the main battery inserted & has pleanty of power to kkep it power up. I just got through reinstalling back in the laptop disconnecting it from the usb device & see what happens. Wen to HP support & has some thing's I can do to try to recover the hdd.
All I want to do if I can get it to respond again is do a system recovery of all files & such. I'll see what happens.
Still going to get another hdd anyway & if ican get the other one to respond I will have it for a temporary bkp.
I would still like to know the output of the power supply and the power requirements of the laptop tho!
I retried to access the hdd using the hp suport methods an all f1.2.3.10/11 & the esc butons. command's & it came up with the laptop turning off & on at random like it did the first time I got the laptop to repair it for my friend.
The esc & f10 causes the laptop to stop powering off & on & stays running
with a black screen. The hhd & causing to not be able to access to the bio's agin now but did before.
It would at one time when I pressed the f2 button at bootup it went into the system check screen & asked me to do the test & then came up with a solid blue screen & not the BSOD. I hate when that happens!!
Getting a new hdd & then go from there.
OK! The power supply is a 65 watt. The output-18.5 amp(18.5V) 3.5 amp(3.5 amp).
This is whats specified on the psu itself.Have no DVOM at the present to test the outout state If thats what you are referring me to do. It's powering up fine with both the psu & main battery installed. I may be mistaken about the power supply problem & it might just be the hdd causing this to all happen in the first place.
Found some new 1500rpm & a 7200rpm hdd's on EBay for less then 50.00 & are new & not refurbished.(Don't like used or refurbished one's).Not trust worthy. This one specify's it as being a LBA WD 1500rpm 120gb hdd.
Thank's
Are you sure it's 1,500 rpm? I have never heard of one that slow!
OK! The power supply is doing it's (Along with the main battery for now real well) job with the power plug indicates a blue light & the keyboard & frt. side lights lit up at boot. The wireless light is of course amber like it suppost to be untill one boot's up to the Vista OS.
It was working before when I could boot the OS.
Gosh!! I'm sorry a 5200rpm. Where's my head!!! This thing has got me baffled for sure & it's way too early in the morning for doing these tests.
If you have to get a new HDD, get a 7200rpm one. It will make the laptop quicker and you will look good to your friend! :)
I run a small computer repair shop and that's what I do as often as I can! ;)
Sorry again!! It's a 18.5 volt & not a 18.5 amp as I stated it wrong above.
I told you it was too early
I myself have my own computer workshop here at home & do small side jobs for now for my frinds & relitives cause i'm semi-retired & stll working at my same job part time now. Do most of my work on desktop's & not laptop's but it is the same procedure for all when this happens. Don't you agree?
Have bult two systems from scratch for gaming purposes for two of my friends.
Made some money doing it too. Just tooka while to do it.
I love working on them but my wife hate's it cause I don't have much time for her.
I wouldn't say it's the same procedure for diagnosing laptops and PC's really.
On my own website I am in the process of writing 2 guides to diagnosing PC problems and will be doing 1 for laptops and one for PC's.
PC's generally run from mains straight into the back of the machine and laptops use an external power supply. There are some exceptions to that but not many!
Because of this, diagnosing power related issues require different methods!
Agree!
Also, I recently discovered that a faulty sata dvd drive can interfere with a sata hard drive and make the hard drive look faulty on laptops but have never seen this happen on a PC so far!
No! But I do remember him saying he was having a problem with the dvd drive not playing cd's or dvd's. I noticed that as wall when trying to install a bootable repair cd (W98 or Linux cd's)to do a test on the system to see if it would respond.
It just blinked off & on & stopped reading the disk installed.
Nothing popped up on the desktop either letting me decide what to do with the cd.
I forgot to go into Device Manager to see if it was any driver conflics or a failing drive that stopped reading all together.
It definately has power to it though.
Should have also gone into the event viewer to see if their was any error reporting messages.
You could have point there Rik about the dvd drive causing a concern.
I can't it to even boot to the bio's now (F10) like it did when I first got the laptop to repair.
Maybe I should just remove the drive from the bay & see what happens then.
It does stay running though when I either press the ESC or F10 key's, not if I just let it power up & not touch any key's. It does just like I mentioned earlier rin my posts.
Yup, on the laptop I was working on it wouldn't go into bios until the dvd rom was physically removed from the machine!
Yeh! Will give it a try sometime tonight.
Put the HDD back in the freezer like I did before to try to recover it & it works.
That was when I didn't hear it spin up while attached to the usb device though.
Now when I have it attached to the usb it spinns up & runs' fine but not recognized on my HP Vista desktop machine.
It did before when it spun up.
I'l bet something locked me out like a configuration reset I di trying to hack into the administrater's password using the cmd line prefixes.
It started this when I was trying to recover the OS.
Good thing though! I can get into the bio's & have all the F-commands functioning when I reboot.
It still goes off & on unless I press the esc or f10 buttons then it will stay running with the black screen.
Hey Rik! Are you posting today or spending valuble time with your loved one's?
If you could answer something for me if you can.
I'm Shopping on EBay for another new HDD for my friend's laptop i'm working on. Purchased the Recovery cd's just so he will have them in case of another HDD problem.
The HDD's i'm looking at are 7200 rpm 120 & higher. Going for a 7200rpm only & not a 5400rpm. I wanted to know if this laptop will accept a larger GB HHD. The one that went down was a 120gb WD LBA model 5400rpm. Told him he needs one that can handle as much storage as possible being they have ton's of pics & video on it. The only thing I could get off of it was the pics & video's & had to do it by copying & pasting them from the usb device to a set of dvd's cause they were quite large but now they have them for transfer. Couldn't get any programs or favorites to the dvd's cause it would opt me out not allowing me to so being I had to login to the admind. account with the PW for some of the stuff. That's where I had to stop. I was just wondering if the system would allow a larger HDD. They told me go ahead & get one if it will work or I may have to settle for a 120 OR 160 GB & no higher than that. Let me know if you can help me. Ive read & researched where some computer's have to have some type of program installed on a second partician to allow a larger HDD to be accepted. Be on my computer most of the day messing around. Still have the HDD in the freezer for a sencond time & has been there since yesterday morning before i went to work. Going to give it another shot today & see I can get more off the HDD. It worked for me the first time I had it in the freezer. I know it's impossible to transfer Window's programs but some other's can. Hope to hear from you sometime today. If I can't get any i'll just have to use the HP recovery cd's & install fron the new HDD the hard way & then install all the driver's needed.
Thank's! David
Is it an ata or a sata hard drive? If it's sata then it should be able (in theory) to handle any size hard drive. The higher rpm will be fine. The battery life will be a bit shorter but the machine will run quicker to compensate!
It's a SATA LBA 5400 rpm 120 gb drive. Never heard of one of those 7400 rpm's useing up more battery power but I guess it would make sense though.
Do you tinker around with MOBO'S any? I have 3 that went down on me & are in the closet after replacing two that were OEM's & one an Asus board put in a Non OEM system. An Emachine. The computer i'm on now I had to install a new Foxconn board for going down for no unknown reason. Purchased the Hp M465E machine from EBay knowing the machine was not working cause it is a nice looking sleek black machine & I repaired it myself after hour's & day's of testing it. Knowing what causes a board to go down is easy but knowing what went wrong inside on the componants is another thing.
That's what I intend to do with the other board's in the closet some day. I want to fix them & sell them on Ebay someday. I read where alot have blown capacitor's but the one's I have look great. I just thought you might know a bit about the componant's that go out on one. I've done some research on it but haven't come up with much. I love to solder thing's & can't wait to get my hand's on one to throughy test them once I find out how & what to look for that causes them to go out that still have power to the board's.
Thank's for you help on the other question.
Yup, I repair both PC and laptop motherboard's.
On the Emachine, replace the cheap crappy power supply, especially if it's a Bestec 250 watt as they are absolutely the cheapest and worst designed PSU's I have ever seen.
1 Bestec PSU I tested was putting out a massive 46 volts into the 12 volt rail. It fried the mobo, the hard drive, the opticals, and the CPU. The ram and the case were the only things that survived.
With PC mobo's, the capacitors are the things to look out for and on laptops, the GPU is the most common failure!
On PC's, the mobo caps will often bubble up and/or leak. Replacing them gets things up and running 8 times out of 10.
Gosh! The Emachine I replaced the board with an Asus still has the 250 watt PSU in it & the mobo fixed it. I'd better get another psu for it before it goes out again. It belongs to my Dad & what happened was he didn't have a surge protector attached to it & I scolded him for that. He had it plugged directy into the outlet. He had a storm with lot's of lightning & that's what knocked it out. Can you believe it! The psu survived? Usually the psu is the first thing that goes in this event. When testing it for bad caps they all looks great with no bulging what so ever.
I've read where the board's have a soldered fuse on the board somewhere. I posted this problem on some of my computer forum sites for support a long time back & responded back with the fix. DanuWeb is one of those site's. Oh!!! I'm on here now! LOL!! Just a joke!! Emachine site was another one. Their owned by Gateway now you know & been that way for year's now. I put one on HP support for my HP desktop when I replaced the OEM board.
Thank's for that bit of info friend.
Sorry! The HP is not a M465E you most likely caught that i'll bet. That one is for my Gateway laptop 15" screen duel core & it's a great laptop. Purchased it also off EBay used & had it for about 3 1/2 year's now with no problems what so ever. You wouldn't catch me ever purchasing any HP laptop cause as you mentioed they all ahd problems with the NVidia chipsets solder coming off it seat. That part i'm not too comfortable at doing as of yet but would like to challenge it sometime. Never ever tore into the mobo's on a laptop. Too small & so many small screws that can get lost or misslocated in the wrong holes. Watched alot of YouTube video's on them though with step by step instructions on the soldering procedure.
Internal fuses can be very hard to spot as they are almost always surface mount. Having said that, locating and replacing an open circuit one can often get a dead machine going again.
Recently, I discovered that back-light inverters also have fuses and that replacing them gets a majority of them working again.
The only thing with replacing fuses is that it isn't always the fuse that is the root cause, sometimes the new one will blow immediately if the fault is elsewhere. On the other hand, sometimes the fuse is the root!
On inverters, to anyone reading this, DO NOT WORK ON THEM LIVE. They output around 2,000 volts and a shock from one is very painful and potentially lethal if you have a heart condition!!!
Ouch!! Would also cause a heart problem if that person survives the shock. I got hit one time from the main pole at the outside meter at our farm one time & it didn't feel good at all. Knocked me back against the outside a/c unit in the back yard digging under the trailer to find a water leak with a shovel digging under the dirt for the leak. Hit the 3 large cable's hidden under the dirt. Shovel even had a wooden handle & it right through the handle up to me. Hands might have been wet is what may have happened.
I have a multimeter to check all the circuits & also a large anlog meter professional use & I also use it to check house current with.
Wow, you were extremely lucky. Mains shocks outside are often lethal!
My trusty multimeter gets a heck of a lot of use too! ;)
We have 3 oscilloscopes too but I have had very little experience with them. We need to buy a good capacitance meter at some point, not a cheap bit of kit though!!
Oscilloscope would be nice but I would have a time trying use one. We use one at work on our IDS Ford car's to test them that has a "Rotunda VMM" that connects directly into the usb port for testing componants like alternator ripple tests wave lenth patterns & much more. Also has a "Rotunda VCM" That connects directly into one of the usb ports & into the veh's DLC port on the veh for pulling codes & more thing's. That machine can do it all & I am of course the one that has to keep the "Panasonic ToughBook" up & going in case of a failure. Loads IDS updated calibration patch files all the time on a daily bases when it needs it.
You can post back now if you want. Going to get off soon. Going to Crackle.com to watch a movie like I do every Sunday. If you are a movie buff like me you would like that site. "HULU" is another one. Full length movies all the time & for FREE. I'm not much of a Torrent user to upstream movies & file's, too many Viruses out there. Have to be careful unless you have a good Virus protection software to protect your system.
Catch you later computer dude!
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