First it was a friend's pc that wouldn't stay powered on. We ordered the part, installed it and still having the same problem. It won't stay powered on. We've given up and just decided to buy a new el cheapo laptop. Then it was another friend's laptop whose usb ports were fried. Even ordering a PCMCIA usb 2.0 card didn't solve the problem, windows recognized it but any usb device we plugged in wouldn't work (the card worked fine on another laptop by the way). He's given up and decided to buy a new pc too. Now it's my uncle's machine. A HP Pavilion ze4400. It won't power on. At all. Tried removing the battery and unplugging it, pressing the reset button on the bottom and then plugging everything back in. Nothing. I made sure the RAM, HD, etc... weren't loose. Nothing. What can be causing this? The damn thing worked fine 6 hours ago. All we did was install Open Office, 7zip, etc.. and uninstall crapware (expired Mcafee, etc..)from his machine. It wasn't dropped, liquid wasn't spilled on it, there was no brown/blackout or power surge. WTH? I'm about to smash the damn thing against the wall.
1. Motherboard fried. 2. Power supply circuit gone. Try to power it on without the battery ( taking all safety precautions ). Just in case there is something wrong with the battery's circuits.
@NoIos Yeah I tried it without the battery, just the ac power supply and nothing. It won't turn on. How would the motherboard fry? I didn't open it up and I didn't install/uninstall any hardware. There was no brown out or power surge.
Believe me motherboards can die silently. You shut down your pc and it never comes back. It happened to me. In any case control power supply and motherboard. Consider that repairing a laptop could be really expensive. Sometimes repairing a laptop costs more than the actual value of the machine.
I understand you. 2 or 3 times in my life happened PCs to die in my hands...I mean PCs of friends, parents etc. and it was hard.
Try removing the battery, and then while plugged in via the power brick....press and hold down the power on button for about 15 seconds. Sometimes a laptop will slip into a hibernate mode and not come out, and the above trick usually forces it to wake up.
@YeOldeStonecat I tried that and it didn't work. Thanks for the help but I think I'm just gonna have to take it to the shop for a check up
Ok this is strange. I just today tried plugging it in and turning it on, one last time, because my uncle was asking for the laptop back, and the damn thing TURNED ON! It booted into windows and everything as if nothing had happened! What just transpired? Does anyone know why it would all of the sudden just work now?
Murphys Law in reverse? Sounds like you dodges a bullet there, keep your fingers crossed that the PC remains functional.
HEAT. That is the major enemy. Do they have fans underneath, and if so are they dust free. Do people use them on a bed, where the vents are covered. I bought an early model of the Clevo 900c, who makes Sagers, and a lot of other specialty high end laptops. It fried two mother boards. Got rid of it, and replaced it with a newer model of the same unit. They solved the problem. With it's fan on high it runs cooler then most desktops. I also have it sitting on a zalman cooler, which directs air up to it's in takes. My Thinkpad tablet has a standard cooling system, so if I use it for an extended period, I will prop up one end on a book, so air can get to the bottom. Pete
Peter2150 Heat? It could be I guess but it never ran hot. It's actually pretty clean (dust wise) and he never took it off his desk. You know there was a post somewhere else about a guy that was having a similar problem. He tried everything like I did, then just decided to put the machine away (unplug it). After about 2 weeks he tried it again (plugged the machine and hit the power button). And it turned on! Someone on the thread said that this happens sometimes (something about the charge draining). But I forgot what forum that was on. It was a while ago and I was googling around like crazy trying to find answers. Does that make any sense?
I would think over night would be sufficient if the PC were unplugged, it does not seem likely it would take 2 weeks. Could be a lose connection (or some such) I guess, or perhaps its simply that a PC gremlin moved in, disrupted things for a while, got bored, and moved on to another system. Regardless its working and thats a very good thing.
