Jason Stark
If your laptop simply will not boot for any reason, congratulations, you have come to the right place. I will give you here a general checklist of actions to perform to maximize your chance of getting your laptop back and working. Laptops are complicated pieces of machinery packed tightly in a small package. There are many things that can go wrong with the laptop. And the prices of laptops have come down sufficiently that the price of a professional repair of a laptop can rival the cost of a new one. Yet new laptops aren't cheap either.
So many laptop users with laptops that will not boot find themselves in a bind. The dilemma they face if they can not help themselves is whether to send the laptop in for a possibly expensive repair or simply to buy a new laptop. And when they do go ahead and buy a new laptop, they still have an older laptop that they want to bring back to life. Either way, this checklist will help you get to the point when your chances are high of getting help that can save you hundreds of dollars in repairs. You can just imagine how nice it would be to have your old trusty laptop brought back to life with all its data and installed software intact.
This checklist is written with a laptop running Microsoft operating system in mind, such as XP, Vista or Windows 7. Many of the items will apply to a Mac or a Linux laptop as well. Here is the checklist:
1. Grab a pen and paper, we will document the situation first. The better the description, the faster we can get help.
2. Write up new Software/Hardware/Operating System changes: Write up everything that has happened with your laptop just prior to it not being able to boot. What happened before it got shut down the last time? Did you install any software or new hardware recently? Was there an automatic system upgrade that you recall? 3. Write up the external hardware changes: Did you recently attach any new device, such as USB mouse, ThumbDrive, or similar?
4. Try to recall and write down these answers: Why did you shut your laptop down? How long was the laptop shut down?
5. Write down any changes in the environment: Did laptop go through any substantial temperature or climate changes? Did it experience atmosphere with smog or particles such as during fires. Did it experience high humidity?
6. Now that you have described exactly the recent circumstances of your laptop, it is time to focus on the booting process. We will not do anything fancy for now, just become very observant and detail oriented. Turn the machine off, and turn it on as usual. Except, this time, take a careful notes of everything you see, hear, even smell.
7. Record all light flashes. The lights are usually located by the keyboard. There might be a light on the CD/DVD drive as well.
8. Record anything that appears on screen during the boot. No need to write down the detail, just the title of the page you see on the screen, if you see anything.
9. Record any sounds you can hear. Do you hear the fan noise? Do you hear what you could interpret as a hard disk drive noise? Can you hear the CD/DVD drive trying to spin?
10. This may be funny but also relevant, can you smell anything coming out from the laptop when the fans start? Write it down.
11. Touch the laptop on the bottom. What do you feel the temperature is? High, normal, low? Write it down.
12. Now that you have done a thorough job recording anything and everything you can see, hear, smell, or touch, shut the laptop down and restart it. Confirm all the observations. Take a note of how long it takes before you notice no further changes in the boot process.
13. Jot down the make and model of your laptop and its operating system.
14. Next, time to collect the notes and head over to another computer that is connected to the internet.
15. Pull up google and search for "laptop won't boot, blank screen" or similar. Basically, describe as best as you can from your notes the situation of your laptop.
16. You will likely land on a thread of a friendly computer forum where people like you are seeking advice and others are replying with their suggestions. Read the threads and search for a description of the problem that is most like yours.
17. Have you found a suggestion that seems relevant, solved the same problem someone's problem and you haven't tried yourself yet? Time to take a good note of that and try it out. It just may work for you too.
18. If not, now it is time to put your notes to work. Open a new thread in the forum, and describe your situation in detail. Also tell what you just tried and how it didn't work. Then wait. It could be hours or even minutes before someone responds. Because you did give a detailed description of your situation, chances are high that someone knowledgeable will be able to help.
Jason has been writing articles about internet marketing for six months. Not only does this author specialize in internet business and computers, you can also check out his latest website on bedside alarm clock which reviews his favorite nature sounds alarm clock with its gentle way of waking you up.
About the Author
Jason has been in internet marketing field for over 10 years now. He enjoys writing articles about computers and electronic gadgets as well as spirituality.
Jason Stark may be contacted at http://bedsidealarmclock.org.
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