Is my laptop toast?

MIKE JG · Post by **MIKE JG** » 15 Dec 2007, 23:54

Yesterday I fired up my laptop and instead of getting the normal windows setup, all I got was a black screen with just a couple lines of text. The last line was "No operating system found".

No matter what I've tried, BIOS menus, resets, etc. Nothing is changing. My screen is still just black with a several lines of text. No matter what the lines say, the last line of text is always:

"Operating system not found"

Is my laptop screwed??

SMOC · Post by **SMOC** » 15 Dec 2007, 23:58

Mike, it would seem like the hard drive might have ate it. If you can get to BIOS and it POSTs, then the mobo is probably fine. I would get a Windows CD, see if it boots to the install screen from the CD(don't install, just see if it will load). If so, then I would assume the problem is in the hard drive.

MIKE JG · Post by **MIKE JG** » 16 Dec 2007, 00:03

I have a system recovery disk and it won't load, runs in the CD Rom drive, but nothing comes up on screen.

I think it's toast, crap!

SMOC · Post by **SMOC** » 16 Dec 2007, 00:13

Can you get to BIOS screen? Does it POST?

MIKE JG · Post by **MIKE JG** » 16 Dec 2007, 00:19

Yea I can get to all the BIOS menus. I'm not sure what you mean by "does it POST"?

SMOC · Post by **SMOC** » 16 Dec 2007, 00:23

POST: Power On Self Test. Kind of a mini diagnostic. A single beep usually(depending on your BIOS) would indicate a passing system. Anything else would point to a flaw(1 long beep following by 2 short beeps would be a video card error for example).

MIKE JG · Post by **MIKE JG** » 16 Dec 2007, 00:31

Oh, I got you now.

How about no beeps at all?:roll: The only way to power the thing off is to pull the battery. The power button won't shut it down.

Fortunately, if it is indeed toast, my father in law is an electrical engineer. His opinion, btw, is that it is toast. He says he can help me recover the files off of the HD if need be.

So ALL isn't lost, but I'm still p!ssed. The thing isn't even 3 years old.

MIKE JG · Post by **MIKE JG** » 16 Dec 2007, 00:32

But on the other hand, I know what I might be getting myself for Christmas...............

SMOC · Post by **SMOC** » 16 Dec 2007, 00:40

Well, I'm sure you know troubleshooting long distance is an art. I mean, no beeps could simply mean the speaker isn't connected or that particular BIOS doesn't use the same POST codes. The fact that you can't use the power button doesn't bode well though... but it is possible that is could be serviceable. However, it never hurts to get something new.

MIKE JG · Post by **MIKE JG** » 16 Dec 2007, 00:51

I've had "laptop envy" for some time now.

Thanks for all of your advice.

btaylo24 · Post by **btaylo24** » 16 Dec 2007, 04:29

Can you get into DOS? via booting/disk etc
if so check the boot.ini file and make sure it points to the correct drive??

barry

MIKE JG · Post by **MIKE JG** » 17 Dec 2007, 04:54

Not that I know of.

Here's the real kick in the nuts though. I bought the 3 year extended service plan when I purchased it. I bought it right about 3 years ago this month. So I check my paperwork for it and find out that the service plan expired last week.

Figures, one week removed from the service plan and the thing craps out on me.

Coincidence ????