Laptop won't boot.

[PRiMO]

Hello. Since I like computer-related things, I help people if they are having some sort of issue. Going straight to the point : My friends laptop won't boot. It's an acer 5520 icw50. Whenever I turn it on, the led's go on but after 3-4 seconds they go off and I can hear a snap in the CD Slot thingy. I tried to boot it only connected to the power cable, with the CD Slot out( if didn't do the snap sound no more ), boot without the HDD and remove and clean the HDD and reboot. Nothing worked.Would appreciate any type of help.

Regards,
PRiMO

PS: When I turn the laptop on, the graphics card fan won't even boot. Could that be a sign that the laptop isn't getting enough power?

 

[ACR731]

Sounds stupid, but did you try jiggling the power cord where it plugs into the laptop? Can you try with a different power cord? I've had issues with HP and Panasonic toughbook laptops that sounded like your issue.

It could be either the power cord is faulty, or the port where the the cord plugs into the laptop has gone bad. Replacing the cord is the easy fix. The latter would require replacing the motherboard in most cases, and it might end up being cheaper to replace the laptop instead.

It may even be a bad battery..... had that issue with the Toughbooks. Replacing the battery fixed the issue and the laptop booted.

 

[PRiMO]

Tried jiggling but no use. Once the problem happens with and without the battery, trying a different power cord wouldn't make the difference. I think it can be something that has burned out or any sort. I forgot to mention that after those 3-4 where the computer is on ( though not booting from the HDD ), when it goes off we can hear a little squeek.

 

[Qdos]

During POST does it offer you a boot menu? It sounds like it may be set to boot from the optical drive and could give up when it finds no inserted media.

If there's no boot menu during POST then enter the BIOS and make sure it's set to boot from the hard drive.

 

[ACR731]

During POST does it offer you a boot menu? It sounds like it may be set to boot from the optical drive and could give up when it finds no inserted media.

If there's no boot menu during POST then enter the BIOS and make sure it's set to boot from the hard drive.

Sounds like his laptop won't even power on. In that case he wouldn't even see the bios posting menu. He would see an error message like 'no boot device' or similar if the bios was trying to boot to a device that wasn't there.

 

[ACR731]

Does the laptop have an Intel processor? The processor fan may have also gone out. When the fan doesn't work on an Intel processor, the PC will turn itself off when the processor heats up. Its a safety feature so the processor doesn't burn up. AMD systems will stay on until the processor burns up and dies. I stopped using AMD processors after that happened to me. AMD processors may be cheaper, but there is a risk when using them for tinkerers like myself.

Have you also tried pulling out the memory and making sure it is reseated? If there are several modules, try taking a few out and see if there is a faulty module.

 

[PRiMO]

During POST does it offer you a boot menu? It sounds like it may be set to boot from the optical drive and could give up when it finds no inserted media.

If there's no boot menu during POST then enter the BIOS and make sure it's set to boot from the hard drive.

Sounds like his laptop won't even power on. In that case he wouldn't even see the bios posting menu. He would see an error message like 'no boot device' or similar if the bios was trying to boot to a device that wasn't there.

What happens is that the laptop powers on for 3-4 seconds ( Does not show any bios menu ) and then it shuts down and keeps on in this cycle as long as it is powered. And when it shuts down it's possible to hear a noise ( similar to a bomb dropping in cartoons)

 

[ACR731]

During POST does it offer you a boot menu? It sounds like it may be set to boot from the optical drive and could give up when it finds no inserted media.

If there's no boot menu during POST then enter the BIOS and make sure it's set to boot from the hard drive.

Sounds like his laptop won't even power on. In that case he wouldn't even see the bios posting menu. He would see an error message like 'no boot device' or similar if the bios was trying to boot to a device that wasn't there.

What happens is that the laptop powers on for 3-4 seconds ( Does not show any bios menu ) and then it shuts down and keeps on in this cycle as long as it is powered. And when it shuts down it's possible to hear a noise ( similar to a bomb dropping in cartoons)

You tried booting into the bios with no HDD's installed, right?

 

[PRiMO]

Yes, I did. The problem remained

 

[Qdos]

Boot without the HDD and remove and clean the HDD and reboot. Nothing worked.Would appreciate any type of help.

When you 'cleaned' the HDD what exactly did you do? Are you talking of dusting it off, or cleaning data because there'd been some problem with it prior to what you're saying now?

Have you been into the BIOS to check the HDD was re-detected?

 

[PRiMO]

Boot without the HDD and remove and clean the HDD and reboot. Nothing worked.Would appreciate any type of help.

When you 'cleaned' the HDD what exactly did you do? Are you talking of dusting it off, or cleaning data because there'd been some problem with it prior to what you're saying now?

Have you been into the BIOS to check the HDD was re-detected?

That cleaning would be blowing air to the connections And I cannot, I repeat, I cannot access the bios menu.

 

[Qdos]

Removing and dusting the HDD would not result in the inability to enter the BIOS (with it back in situ).

Are the DIMM's under the same cover as the HDD, and have you disturbed them?

That would cause the sort of problems you're talking of - as would electrostatic damage if you were not grounded properly at the time you opened the case and handled the drive.

 

[PRiMO]

The thing is I could have not done anything to damage the laptop. The laptop would not work ( the problem I have described ) so I thought it could be the HDD not being connected properly. The problem was before and after I opened the laptop itself.

The DIMM's are next to the HDD, not under it. I also thought the memories could be not properly connected so I pushed them in a bit, nothing excessive that could do no harm to them.

 

[Qdos]

The thing is I could have not done anything to damage the laptop. The laptop would not work ( the problem I have described ) so I thought it could be the HDD not being connected properly. The problem was before and after I opened the laptop itself.

The DIMM's are next to the HDD, not under it. I also thought the memories could be not properly connected so I pushed them in a bit, nothing excessive that could do no harm to them.

You most likely have some defective memory.

Dust does not usually interfere with HDD connections.

 

[dreamer]

Did u check the RAM??

Sometimes faulty RAM wont start the laptop.Try to take the RAM out of its slot and re-insert it and then try to boot the laptop.

Hope this helps

 

[PRiMO]

Did u check the RAM??

Sometimes faulty RAM wont start the laptop.Try to take the RAM out of its slot and re-insert it and then try to boot the laptop.

Hope this helps

Just tried it, no use. Does both the graphic card and the HDD ( those are the visible components) not starting up be a "hint"?

 

[sandman]

Try to boot and watch the fan in the bottom on the right side i believe and see if it spins up if not blow it with some air to see if it is froze up and not spinning it is cooling fan and if overheating would also do the same thing as bad ram not start. You could also try unplugging power cord take out battery then push power button and hold for 30 seconds then replace battery then plug in power cord and see if will power up.