Laptop Hardware Troubleshooting

On Saturday afternoon, my HP notebook computer was impeccable work. On Sunday morning, the machine would not start. The power would Flash up and go out just as quickly.

If I could held the power button in the position I hold the power indicator and others lit LEDs from the machine, but nothing would happen: no power-on self test, no BIOS message, and definitely no Windows.

My first thought was that it was a power glitch. I unplugged the machine and tried starting it on battery power,for example,Dell 1X793 battery,Dell M9014 battery,Dell 312-0339 battery,Dell G5266 battery,Dell YF976 battery, but not to go. I removed the battery and tried with AC power only, but that did not help. I replaced the battery and tried it again. Still nothing.

Next on my list of the suspects was a bad memory module. The machine was only 18 months old, but it's been on a couple of dozen car drives already, so it was jostled and subjected to temperature changes quite a bit. The installation of a new storage engine had no effect.

I drew my attention to the hard disk. I could boot from my system CD, from a Windows installation DVD. I went so far that a replacement drive order, but unfortunately the notebook remained inert, even with a new drive.

I was not prepared to accept the fact that this machine was toast, although the result was more and more difficult to deny. I took the laptop on my local PC workshop - definitely the last resort for me. The repair person breaks down the machine and found that the System Board has been fried.

It helps to know that HP tablets vulnerable for motherboard failures. My machine is well outside of warranty, and 18 months old, it is probably not worth $350 for a new system board. I travel quite a bit for my work, so I rely on my notebook. For this reason, I have bit the bullet and bought a new computer (Sony).

What is bugging me more than a year to see and a-half old laptop in turn in a doorstop, notebooks have become as difficult to repair. In fact, I think at the beginning of the machines as a closed-box systems. In the past I've replaced several notebook hard disks, memory modules and other components, but fixing this HP Tablet was a real challenge.

Ultimately, I needed the help of a professional PC to diagnose the problem. This not, you should throw the towel, if you technical problems with your laptop experience, though.

You'll be a great notebook Guide to troubleshooting the developer to find shed site. The InformIT website has a useful chapter on troubleshooting portable PCs. Finally, there is an enormous amount of technical details on laptop problems in this excerpt from the laptop repair workbook by Morris Rosenthal.

I just hope the search for a solution for your notebook suffering has a better result when mine was.