Problem 01: Laptop doesn’t turn on to all.

Problem description:

 When you plug the AC adapter into the laptop, there are no lights turning on at all. When you push on the power button, nothing happens. The laptop appears to be completely dead, makes no sounds, no indications of life.

Possible problem:

1.    AC adapter failed and the battery discharged completely. First of all, test the AC adapter. If it’s dead, replace the adapter.

2.    DC jack separated from the motherboard (or DC jack broken) and the laptop doesn’t get any power from the AC adapter. In this case the DC jack has to be replaced.

Problem 02: Laptop turns on but screen is blank.

Problem description:

 The laptop turns on, LED lights on the laptop turn on, cooling fan works but nothing appears on the screen. The screen is completely black and blank.

Possible problem:

1.    This problem could be related to the memory failure. It’s possible one of the memory modules failed and the laptop doesn’t turn on because of that. In this case you can try reseating memory modules to make sure they are making good contact with the slot. You can try removing memory modules one by one and test the laptop with only one memory module installed. You can try replacing memory modules with new modules.

2.    If reseating/replacing memory modules don’t help, try removing the hard drive, DVD drive, modem, wireless card, keyboard, etc… In other words, disassemble the laptop to bare minimum and test again. If the laptop still doesn’t turn on, most likely you have failed motherboard or processor.

Problem 03: Laptop turns on and off repeatedly.

Problem description:

The laptop turn on without showing any image on the screen. After a few seconds the laptop turns off by itself. Then it turns on and off again. It continue turning on and off repeatedly until you power off the laptop completely.

Possible problem:

Most likely it happens because of some kind of motherboard failure. You can reseating/replacing memory as I described in the Problem 2. If it doesn’t help, I would say this is motherboard related failure. In most cases it’s not worth replacing the motherboard, better to buy a new laptop.

Problem 04: Laptop makes noise while running.

Problem description:
The laptop turns on and everything works fine, except it makes some constant weird grinding or rattling noises. Some laptops make noises all the time, other laptops have them intermittently.

Possible problem:
In most cases this noise is coming from the cooling fan or laptop hard drive. You can turn on the laptop, wait until it starts making noise and after that listen closely on the bottom of the laptop. If the laptop starts making noise when the cooling fan starts running, most likely you have a failing fan. Replace the cooling fan.

If the laptop makes noise even when the fan not spinning, probably it’s coming from the hard drive. Back up all personal data from the hard drive as soon as possible, it can fail any moment. Replace the hard drive.

Here’s another technique to figure out if the noise coming from the fan or hard drive. Remove the hard drive from the laptop and stat the laptop. Wait until it warms up and the fan starts spinning. If the laptop still makes same noise even when the hard drive removed, most likely its bad fan.

Problem 05: Laptop shuts down while in use.

Problem description:
The laptop turns on and runs properly but after a while it freezes or shuts down without any warning. When it happens, the laptop feels hot on the bottom. Also, the cooling fan works harder than usual.

Possible problem:
Most likely this is heat related issue. It happens because the cooling module gets clogged with dust and the laptop cannot “breath” properly. The laptop shuts down or freezes because the processor (CPU) overheats. Cleaning the cooling fan and heat sink should fix the problem.