Can't Boot Windows with ANY Rescue CD!

alphanumeric said:

No POST is a hardware fault. Laptops are a pain to work on. As you've discovered there isn't much you can swap out for testing. Try taking the battery out and running it just on the power pack. The flashing lights may be the equivalent of a BIOS beep code. If you poke around the HP site you might find some info as to what they mean. If you use the right search term Google might offer up some info too. How old is it? If it's really old the CMOS battery may have died or shorted out. It could be a real pain to get to and replace though. I worked on a Dell laptop and there was a trick to getting it apart without breaking something. Lots of little screws of different lengths, so you really had to keep track of where they came out. I striped it down 2 or 3 times but never did get it working again.

I checked HP's website and the 4 flashing LEDs are indeed a code-- for a problem with the integrated graphics controller. Great. I read the following review on TigerDirect for my particular HP Pavilion:

"These computers have a defective motherboard video card that blow up about a year into their lives. For that matter, research all HP computers and take a pass if you find anything remotely negaitve. There are a lot of $700 HP brand paperweights out there now."

This is the 2nd HP laptop that I have owned that has CRAPPED out on me. Guess it is time to switch brands. Ideas/preferences as to best laptop on the market right now? Anyone?

Toshiba

Fujitsu computer
siemens

I have used Fujitsu's for year's no big problems.

Yes,

Also Lenova is to be recommended.

A Guy said:

Laptop Reliability Chart

Looking at the first 3 years of ownership, 31% of laptop owners reported a failure to SquareTrade. Two-thirds of this failure (20.4%) came from hardware malfunctions, and one-third (10.6%) was reported as accidental damage.

Netbooks are projected to have a 20% higher failure rate from hardware malfunctions than more expensive laptop computers.

ASUS and Toshiba were the most reliable manufacturers, with fewer than 16% having a hardware malfunction over 3 years.

PDF

A Guy

Looks like Fujitsu's are below 10%.

theog,

How did you come to Fujitsu being less than 10%.

karlsnooks said:

theog,

How did you come to Fujitsu being less than 10%.

They are not on the chart, & good Manufacturer.