Laptop appears dead, what's next?

One day if the laptop does not start or it starts but does not boot properly, it's possible that you can get it fixed at home instead of asking for help from a repair center, which may be costly.  Here are some troubleshooting tips.

Case 1

Laptop appears to be dead when the AC adapter plugged in as normal but none of the LEDs (power light, hard drive light, battery charge light, etc) light up and the laptop has no response whatsoever.

If you have a multimeter, you can test the output voltage with a voltmeter.   Normally this is out of reach because I really don't think a multimeter (voltmeter) is a common equipment at home.  Alternatively, you can also find a known good AC adapter (from your friend or your neighbour) and use it for testing the laptop.

It is possible that the AC adapter is dead, thus the battery is discharged.  If you know that the AC adapter is working properly and it outputs correct voltage but the laptop is still dead,
most likely you have a power issue on the motherboard (or power board on some laptops) and it has to be replaced.

Case 2.

AC adapter plugged in as usual, both the power and battery LED lights up, however, when you try to press the power button, nothing happens.  The unit seems to have no output to the LCD nor external monitor.

Since the power LED lights up, this means the laptop is able to get power from the AC adapter OK, if you wish, you can get a voltmeter to test it out.  Now the first thing you can try is, remove the battery and wait for 1-2 minutes.  Then plug the AC adapter and try starting the laptop again.  Sometimes this trick will fix the problem.

If this doesn't help, you may try to switch the memory module - remove the memory slot on the motherboard and install it back.  If you only have one memory module but you have 2 slots, put in the vacant slot.  If both are occupied, remove the module one by one to test the laptop with one memory module installed.

If the laptop starts fine with one memory module in both slots, but will not start with the second memory module in both slots, the second memory module is faulty. Replace the module.

If the laptop starts fine with both memory modules when they are installed in the slot A,
but will not start with both memory modules installed in the slot B, the slot B is faulty and you'll
have to replace the motherboard or use only one memory slot.

Case 3.

When switching on the power, the laptop makes a series or short and long beeps and won't start up. There is no output on the LCD screen.

In this situation test the memory module as I described in the case 2. If you have access to a known good memory module, please try it.  A beep error is usually due to a faulty memory.

Case 4.

The laptop sounds like is booting normally (hard drive LED is flashing) but there is no video output on the screen

You may try to test the laptop with an external monitor. If the external screen works fine however, no video output was on the laptop LCD, if the laptop has been in service for about 2-3 years, it may be the LCD need to be replaced. 

Case 4.1

How to test if the LCD is bad or the built-in fluorescent tubes(known as backlight) is bad? 

You may try to flash a beam of light from one side of the laptop on the LCD by a torch (US term: flashlight).  If you can see the video output with the external light, then the fluorescent tubes are bad and need to be replaced.

Case 5.

The laptop makes repetitive clicking noise or grinding noise at start up time.

This is most likely due to a faulty hard drive. To verified whether the hard drive is bad, you can remove the hard drive and start the laptop without it.  If the noise is gone, the hard drive is your problem, get it replaced asap.

If the laptop makes clicking or grinding noises and you still have video output on the screen, you can run a hard drive test utility. I usually use Hitachi's drive fitness test. This test is can be download free, it's reliable and easy to use, it will be able to tell you approx. how long before you need to replace your hard drive completely.  The life span of a hard drive is approx. 4-5 years.

Case 6.

The laptop boots up Windows and works okay for a while, but after that it shuts down by itself without any reason or warning. You restart the laptop but the same problem appears again

Most likely it's a heat related issue. There are a couple of things you can do, you may install a USB cooling fan, however, I think this may not be a complete solution, the cheapest thing you can do is, get a cooling board, it works pretty well most of the case in cooling down your laptop, except when you are using this board on the bed, if you frequently use the laptop on bed, make sure you get one that is especially designed to be used on the bed (it need to have enough air ventilation on the side, not only at the bottom)

Also this problem might appear because of a faulty memory module, try some tips from the case 2.

The laptop still boots and you still can see the screen, so you can run the memory test. I usually use Memtest86+. Run the memory test and if it fails, replace the faulty module.

Additional benefits of using a cooling board

It helps your laptop to be tilted at an angle to be able to use it eaiser.  As a result, it will help the user to achieve a better siting position (back straight), thus can fulfill better ergonomic principles while working at the laptop.

Ergonomic research is performed by those who study human capabilities in relationship to their work demands. Information derived from these studies contributes to the design and evaluation of tasks, jobs, products, environments and systems in order to make them compatible with the needs, abilities and limitations of people.  From the diagram above, there are a few key factors in improving the work place ergonomics.

In order to achieve an angle of 90 degree, the keyboard should be slightly tilted so that our body won't need to bend when using the keyboard.

Case 7

The laptop starts normally but video on the screen has noise (horizontal lines running on the screen), some strange characters or other defects

It could indicate a problem with the laptop LCD screen, video cable, graphics card or motherboard.  If the graphic card is an on board graphic card, it is most likely that the motherboard need to be replaced.  Most laptop if sold for US$600 or less most likely has an on board graphic card.

Case 8

I drip a full cup of hot liquid (eg.hot coffee) on the keyboard, how to rescure my laptop from damaging by the hot liquid?

You need to quickly avoid the hot liquid drip down further into the unit and damaging the mother board as well, please follow these steps...

1. Remove the power immediately.

2. Turn it on the side so that the liquid can drip out of the unit for an hour. 

3. If you know how to disassemble the keyboard, do so to clean up any liquid inside. 

It is suggest you order a new keyboard since it is most likely the keyboard will be damaged.  However, as soon as you get your new keyboard, your laptop is ok again!!!  I hope you never need to try this, but it's out of my personal experience...