Gateway M-7301u with linking power button and status indicators...

[cottonball]

Would appreciate some assistance. Might not be in the correct forum, if not, please move.

Have a Gateway M-7301u laptop belonging to a friend, and currently running Windows 7 Home Premium.

When the power button is pressed, the power button starts blinking, along with the status indicators for wireless, caps lock and num lock. The DVD drive and Hard drive status indicators do not come on, or blink.

There is nothing on the screen, it is totally black.

Any ideas on what would cause this behavior?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Mellon Head]

Does the fan start up when the power button is pushed? If the fan has seized up, the laptop won't boot to protect the processor and GPU from frying.

 

[cottonball]

Thank you for the reply.

The only thing the power button does is blink, along with some other status indicators.
The fan does not move.

The laptop cannot be turned off by continuously pressing the power button when the power adapter is connected.

If there is the possibility of a short in the power button, would the fan still turn?

Trying to rationalize whether the power button itself is the culprit or not. If it is shorted, would it blink?

Your suggestion makes a lot of sense, though.

 

[Megahertz07]

When the power button is pressed, the power button starts blinking, along with the status indicators for wireless, caps lock and num lock. The DVD drive and Hard drive status indicators do not come on, or blink.

There is nothing on the screen, it is totally black.

This happens when running Windows or to start windows?

When running windows you can configure the action of the power button (shutdown, Sleep, hibernate)

 

[cottonball]

Thanks for your reply!

When the power button is pressed, the power button starts blinking continuously, along with the status indicators. These lights do not stop blinking unless you remove the power adapter and the battery. If the power adapter alone is removed, they will continue to blink until the battery is removed.

There is no possibility of getting into Windows, it never shows up, not even a trace.

Any clues?

 

[Megahertz07]

I have a friend's Samsung laptop that is acting as yours.
I took to a guy that only work with laptops. He opened the laptop and found corrosion on the motherboard and said the only solution was to replace it and said it wouldn't worth the value.
My friend lives next to the sea, and that explain the corrosion.

 

[cottonball]

Thanks for the info.

Have a feeling this is a lost cause also, and not worth fixing. There might be a short circuit somewhere. but the exact location is anybody's guess. Keep thinking the fan might not be running because of the short circuit.

Took out the hard drive (yr 2008 Hitachi) and connected it to a desktop. It shows all the Windows files and personal files. However, could not get it to boot on the newer Desktop.

Maybe the HDD can be used to back up some files, although it is old.

 

[Mellon Head]

I would suggest backing up the personal files and things while you have the hard disk connected to the other computer. Don't bother with installed programs as they won't work on a new version of Windows anyway without being reinstalled.

The reason the hard disk won't boot on the other computer is that the laptop hard drive is expecting the laptop to be there, and the drivers and boot information are for the laptop. When the version of Windows can't find the laptop, it won't boot up. You could, in theory fix it, but the resulting installation of Windows would probably be unstable. In any case, you would have to reactivate Windows with an OEM license on another computer, which is something that Microsoft will not let you do. So therefore you will need a new copy of Windows to reinstall or at least a legal Windows key if you plan to move that install to another computer.

From what you describe, and from a little research, I don't think that lappy is worth saving. Best to back up the files and call it a loss.