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| jasonbar:
Oh wait, they're called "Notebooks" these days... Lots of computer experts here, so I'll throw out a line & see if I catch anything. My 4.5-year-old HP Pavilion DV1411SE died this morn. I think it was on or half-on all night--I closed the lid last night when I went to bed, which should put it into hibernate mode--I don't think it went all the way there. Now, upon power-up, I get lights across the media control buttons (play pause, FF, rewind, etc.), the power light works, the battery charging light works, & the fan blows for a couple of seconds. Then, the BIOS screen is *supposed* to come up & the hard drive is *supposed* to kick in Windows is *supposed* to start loading. Instead, I get nothing--the lights stay on, the fan stops blowing, & nothing at all happens. I checked the following: battery (doesn't last long but is providing power), AC adapter is putting out the correct 18.6V, lid-closed switch is functioning (if I try to power on while holding that plunger switch down, I get nothing at all--not even the lights & fan), & I popped out & reseated the HDD & the 2 RAM modules. I'm out of ideas to try. Got any others? It's probably not worth fixing (HP doesn't even sell the HDD or mobo if I wanted to buy them), & HP wants $250-$400 to repair it. No way. So, I believe that, if my HDD (ATA/IDE Hitachi Travelstar model IC25N080ATMR04-0 is still good, I can plug it into an external adapter & retrive all my data, with this product, or something like it: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812232002. Is that correct? And, for when I do buy a new computer in the near future, does anybody have recommendations on manufacturers, stores, where to get good deals, etc.? I don't need anything fancy. I want a relatively small screen & keyboard (no numeric keypad), I like the lightscribe DVD-RW drive in my broken HP, & some method of hooking up a TV is nice (I have a handy S-video port on my broken HP). Oh, and it would be nice to get one with Windows XP on it. (Let's not start a 7 vs. Vista vs. XP debate!) Thanks in advance for any help. -Jason |
| BobA:
If you have a recovery disk you could try repairing the op sys or recovering the software from the recovery partition. |
| Burn4Evr:
Personally when it comes to computer repair I put data over hardware in terms of priority. If I was in your situation (which I have been many times) the first thing to buy is a laptop hard drive enclosure. I would find something fairly easy to take apart (one that uses screws instead of plastic snaps or tabs) Backup all your data. Then, plug in a monitor (in case the LCD on the laptop is a culprit) and use Linux on a stick (USB drive with a "live" OS on it, I recommend ubuntu) ubuntu live will allow you to see if you have any hardware issue before trying to fix a OS issue in windows and the like. As far as suggestions on a replacement, I like netbooks, Asus 10 inch screen with XP for around $230 - 250. These are surprisingly powerful and should do well to replace a 4 year laptop if you can deal with the lack of a CD drive built in. I recommend Asus in general for laptops and netbooks. |
| trevski:
You can't go far wrong with one of these for a 1 time use if you have no real use for an enclosure (assuming you have access to a desktop PC) http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2-5-Laptop-3-5-Desktop-IDE-Hard-Driver-HDD-Adapter-/270614375219?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Computing_CablesConnectors_RL&hash=item3f01dfab33 Just sits between the drive and a 3.5" connector and molex. I use one fairly frequently for getting files back for customers. As for the laptop - Try this: Disconnect the power. Pull the battery. Leave it overnight. Put the battery back in. Connect the power. Boot. In fairness I've never seen a HP respond to this (Acers mostly) but it costs nothing so its worth a try. |
| Dr Zero:
I have had a few of the newer HP come in for repair they are the models with Nvidia video and AMD processors the intel have been ok. Not saying either are bad its just the combo of boards and chips was not a good mix. Wal mart has a Acer for less than 3 bills with Win7 64bit that is a pretty neat machine the boss just picked up one and he is happy with it. XP is end of life even though its not bad Win7 is what Vista should have been I would give it a chance. |
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