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Tech help pls.: My HP laptop wont boot
July 3 2009 | max

Posted on 07/03/2009 7:59:53 PM PDT by max americana

Need some techie help pls . fellow Freepers. I have an XP Media HP laptop 2006 1.6 GB 2006. The laptop keeps attempting to boot up, the power is on but it wont just go to the XP /os start up,,,(the past 20 minutes now)

the solution pls especially how to access the laptop drive because it looks like I will have to reboot this laptop completely with the recovery disks BUT I dont want to unless neccessary. And there's some info that I need to get to especially the hard drive.

Expert and intermediate suggestions and solutions pls..


TOPICS: Computers/Internet
KEYWORDS: boot; laptop; xp
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To: max americana

Assuming you are fairly technical when it comes to PCs and understand what I’m talking about.

Use another pc to build a bootable pendrive/usb with standard Windoze utilities. Power cycle your machine, change your boot order, boot from pendrive. Start by running check disk on your PC.

Sidebar - does your pc have Norton? I has caused lots of problems today.


61 posted on 07/03/2009 9:00:16 PM PDT by taxcontrol
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To: Husker24

Interesting post...I knew the MOBO’s and drives from Hp are bad that’s why i will never, ever buy HP from now on. This is the last. There’s no wonder they sell Hp bulk at best Buy, Staples and Office depot.


62 posted on 07/03/2009 9:04:09 PM PDT by max americana
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To: max americana
I'm not sure about HP but on my Dell if you hold down the fn key while it's booting, it'll take you into a pretty intensive hardware diagnostic routine.

It correctly identified the problem though I did use other software to verify it before I bought another drive though as BIOS diagnostics are not always accurate.

63 posted on 07/03/2009 9:04:24 PM PDT by Las Vegas Ron (zer0 is doing to capitalism what Kennedy did to health care)
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To: MyTwoCopperCoins

I c0uld barely see the fan so i have to open the bottom plate/s.


64 posted on 07/03/2009 9:06:12 PM PDT by max americana
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To: max americana

What happens when you try f4?


65 posted on 07/03/2009 9:06:37 PM PDT by Vendome
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To: Las Vegas Ron

I’ll be buying a Dell soon...what’s yours? Inspiron, Studio or the crappy Vostro? (I have the Vostro brand new at the office and it crashed within 3 months).


66 posted on 07/03/2009 9:08:05 PM PDT by max americana
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To: Vendome

nothing. Black screen As black as Obama’s heart.


67 posted on 07/03/2009 9:08:57 PM PDT by max americana
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To: max americana

Dell’s not really any better than an HP. Get a Lenovo T-series.


68 posted on 07/03/2009 9:11:51 PM PDT by rivercat
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To: max americana
First step is to see if you can get to the bios screen on power up... this is before the system boots the hard drive... look up your model laptop on the hp website (it could be F2, ESC, or Del)

If you can get in to bios that's good .....see if the bios sees the hard disk...if it does ...

Then set your cd as the first boot device and boot from a bootable cd... once booted from a cd esc out to a promp and see if you can access the harddisk dir or even a promp for the drive...

If you can you get this far and access the disk it's probable not a hardware problem but have an OS (software problem)

69 posted on 07/03/2009 9:15:00 PM PDT by tophat9000 ( We are "O" so f---ed)
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To: max americana
I have the Inspiron 1505 or something like that.

It's about two years old now and the HDD is the only problem I've had.

My first was a Dell PII 233 in 1998. It's stored in the garage and still runs like a champ with Win 98SE. The 19” monitor that it came with went out about a year and a half ago.

So far I've had pretty good luck with Dell (fingers crossed)

70 posted on 07/03/2009 9:17:25 PM PDT by Las Vegas Ron (zer0 is doing to capitalism what Kennedy did to health care)
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To: max americana
does anything at all happen on your screen?

the questions people ask you are the most important things to address not the guesses made without knowing all the symtoms.

Do you even get a post screen or even a flicker of color shade?

Is there a power light (LED) or hard drive activity light (LED)that flickers?

Can you hear the hard drive spinning?

Does it have a video output plug like the question in post 17? diagnostics is about finding what you do know for sure then figuring out how to find what needs to be known next.

You have backup hard drives are any of them docking stations for a 2.5 inch Hard drive?That could possibly come in handy.<

Does your charging plug seem to kind of loose or wiggly?

Can you measure your battery pack voltage?

Do you have a multimeter?

Whose computer are you using now?

71 posted on 07/03/2009 9:17:27 PM PDT by right way right (Do not mistake Religion for God.)
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To: MyTwoCopperCoins

That a great idea. Just shake it, sometimes that will loosen things up. LOL


72 posted on 07/03/2009 9:17:30 PM PDT by Vendome
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To: max americana

make sure the other tribes don’t find out.


73 posted on 07/03/2009 9:18:06 PM PDT by Vendome
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To: Las Vegas Ron

Jeez...19 inch screen?? That’s a TV!


74 posted on 07/03/2009 9:21:50 PM PDT by max americana
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To: right way right

flickers yes, I can hear the HD spinning, i have ext HD’s handy, yes it has video output connection, NO on multimeter and measure of battery (the battery is crap).

Im using a KOREAN laptop with ME and using the English alt characters. It’s old but it’s for emergencies right now.


75 posted on 07/03/2009 9:25:13 PM PDT by max americana
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To: max americana

LOL, it was in those days, especially for a CRT.

I think at the time it cost an extra five or six hundred for the upgrade.

Now I have a beautiful 22” HP flat screen that I only paid about $240.00 for.

Time are a changin


76 posted on 07/03/2009 9:25:14 PM PDT by Las Vegas Ron (zer0 is doing to capitalism what Kennedy did to health care)
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To: SirKit

HP Ping!


77 posted on 07/03/2009 9:42:46 PM PDT by SuziQ
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To: max americana

Try putting the laptop in the freezer for 1 hr and then boot. All the way. That will at least give you a shot troubleshooting.

BTW, I am serious.


78 posted on 07/03/2009 9:44:00 PM PDT by Vendome
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To: max americana
Did you recently replace or add memory? If so, bad memory can cause a system to not boot at all.

Does it post at all? In other words do you see any text come up on the screen at all? If so, hit the delete key (or whichever key it says to enter setup) to go into setup. Under general or main you should see the IDE devices listed which should show your hard disk. If it says empty for each listing then the BIOS is not seeing the hard drive so it is likely bad.

One of the tabs will allow you to set the boot order. Set it so it boots from CD first.

Get a Linux Live CD and try to boot from that. If you can then it is either the hard drive or software related (OS corrupt, bad drivers, etc.).

If it does boot, try to navigate to your hard disk, if you can see it then it is software related.

Here is a list of live CDs and their primary functions

Note that not all versions of Linux may work with your laptop, and even if it boots you may not get all of the hardware to work due to driver issues etc. That is not important at this point. You just want to see if your laptop will run, period. Even if it gets to the first startup screen with the Linux live CD and locks up or quits there is hope. Try a different Linux version. Knoppix is usually a good one to try as is Ubuntu or Suse.

If you can get it to boot from a Linux live CD then first you want to take out the laptop drive and connect it to another PC using and external drive case for 2.5" drives and see if you can get the data off.

If you can get the data off then restore the system using the rescue disks that came with the laptop. If the drive can't be seen or read from then you need to get another laptop drive and re-install using the rescue disks that came with the laptop.

If it will not boot at all with the Linux live CD then it is a hardware problem such as bad motherboard, processor, etc.

Good luck

79 posted on 07/03/2009 9:46:13 PM PDT by L_Von_Mises
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To: L_Von_Mises

When you first turn on the laptop do you get the HP Welcome Screen?
Yes . Press whatever key it needs to enter setup. Go to the final screen using the arrow keys and set it at the default values. Then try to re-boot to windows

NO. Motherboard, CPU or Hard Drive has died.


80 posted on 07/03/2009 9:53:41 PM PDT by Wooly
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