My laptop has died

[Systreg]

My laptop appears to have bitten the dust, I'm typing this on my kids computer.

It was fine last night when I shut it down, but today the lights come on and there there are loud beeps, about 4 of them and it does nothing else

It has been playing up for many months when I start it each day, often have to turn it off and on a couple of times before it load the screen and lets me login, I'm sure the damp air here is the cause of the problem, was the same on my last computer as well.

I'm over the road from the beach and the air is always moist, my mouse mat is damp and tacky most days from the moisture in it and the table feels damp at times, I guess computers and sea air dont mix , and I have all the windows open all day and night.

I'll have to wait until bloody Tuesday now until I can get someone out to look at it, why do things like this always happen on a Sunday and a bank holiday grrrrrrrr. Hopefully they might be able to get it going, if not, new laptop required.

Before you ask, no, I don't have any recover disks for it, never got round to making any, going to try a linux cd in it and see if it starts using that, probably not, but worth a try, dunno, pissed off as all my files and domaining stuff with list of all names caught, hand regged, caught for me etc is on the comuter and I need those for my records, last time I saved those and emailed the list to myself was months ago, so well out of date, and still wont be able to access them even if it loads Linux as they will be on the Windows part of the computer, nightmare,I#ve got the right hump

So no domaining/catching or much else for me for a couple of days at least, was thinking about jacking catching in anyway, maybe this will make my mind up for me, as I'll be moving to Ireland by start of October and they only have dial up where I'm going, apart from mobile broadband, which may or may not work right out in the sticks where I'll be living.

 

[accelerator]

I'm sorry to hear this, it's a nightmare isn't it. If it is moisture, then you can think about attempting to slowly dry out the laptop, without using any form of direct heat which could further damage it. Techniques people use are to leave it in a (low heat) dry environment such as an airing cupboard, or perhaps you could try putting it in a sealed container with those silica gel packets you get with trainers. I'm not an expert on laptop recovery, but problems starting sound like hard drive, which is probably the most frequent cause of laptop problems. A good forum for advice is:

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/

Rgds

 

[retired_member12]

Had a laptop go down 4 months ago, like you I never made recovery discs, ended up ordering some from Toshiba. When I spoke to them, they advised it was probably hd failure, but don't try plugging it into a working pc to save the files, faulty hds can screw up any host you plug them into. It turns out that the recovery process is the best hope of recovering the files, sadly it wasn't for me, but it may be better in your case, seeing as your fault has been occasional. Shame to see all you files go though!

 

[doodlebug]

Good luck with it mate, I think you need to get a new one just like I do, mine is on its way out, hope you havn't lost important stuff like photos and vids.

As already mentioned leave it in an air tight container, if you go to Primark they will have tons of packets of Silca gel which they just dispose of (it comes with most new clothes containers)

Look at it one way, my daughters mobile phone went through a full wash in the washing machine and was knackered when it came out, however just leaving it in room temperature it started working again after a while.

 

[tifosi]

with it beeping on bootup it's more likely to be motherboard / graphics issues. Harddrive may be ok and swappable, or at least recoverable.

Sucking damp salty air into micro circuits is really not recommended!!

As for backups I'd recommend a couple of extrernal drives to store data, and to partition the laptop drive with a basic c:/ system partition and a data partition for the rest. And the 8-16Gb micro sdhc cards are great for backing up daily stuff onto a keyring sized chip... just don't lose it!

S

 

[Systreg]

Hi, I don't have an airing cupboard to dry out any possible moisture, so I've taken the battery out and slid the back of the laptop over the radiator, heating is on 30 degrees, might help, might not.

I tried using the Ubuntu Linux install disk but it doesn't seem to want to start, so probably is the HD that's gone, there is only one main file I want off the hard drive, and that's the notepad text file where I keep details of every affiliate sale and all domain catches, regges, sales etc, I have found a copy of that which I last emailed to myself in March 2010, so 5 months of data missing, but should be able to search on here for spme domains to help fill in some of the gaps, bloody hassle, sigh.

As for any site files I've lost, I could just visit each site and do a file save as for each page of the site to get them back that way, nothing really important on the computer, no music, no videos, I do have some photos from out on bike rides and my kids birthday, but the mrs has a lot of photos and video of the birthday anyway, so no great loss with those, and that's about it really.

I'll get a computer repair bloke to have a look in the week, if they can't recover anything, I'll just get a new HD installed and start from scratch with a new system, might even buy another laptop and use this current broken one as a server, I did read about turning Windows machines in to servers some time back, and Malcolm mentioned to me just the other day saying you could use something called mapxx (<< spelling?) or something like that, to turn a computer in to a server, not sure if that's the name and have deleted the PM.

@ Tifosi, right, I see, might be that instead of the HD then, and yes, would be an idea to get some sort of external HD for keeping stuff safe.

 

[Edwin]

In future, it's a good idea to sign up for an online backup service such as Mozy.com. That way, the backup program runs in the background and saves encrypted copies of the files you choose on any schedule you like (e.g. daily) and you never have to think about it again - until you REALLY need it, that is!

 

[doodlebug]

Kev, you don't even need an external hard drive, just a USB stick will do, they're cheap as chips aswell.

 

[accelerator]

Hi, I don't have an airing cupboard to dry out any possible moisture, so I've taken the battery out and slid the back of the laptop over the radiator, heating is on 30 degrees, might help, might not.

As per my original post I would put the emphasis on slow drying in a dry environment. I am not sure that over the radiator is a good idea, I would think it's best to avoid direct heat sources as these could also cause damage by over heating things.

Rgds

 

[fish]

use something called mapxx (<< spelling?) or something like that, to turn a computer in to a server,

Is it xampp ? you were thinking of?

 

[Systreg]

Just been Googling HP laptop beep codes and found this post:

http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Displa...blank-screen/m-p/248539/highlight/true#M11278

Ok , I know of two different beep codes for this unit. Most of the units I see at work have just the one, but the other I have seen twice and its a simple fix.

If the beep code is one long beep followed by two short, then its irrecoverable, its a no video beep code, the motherboard is bad.

If the beep code is 1 beep, 4 beeps, 2 beeps then 1 beep (which is HIGHLY unlikely btw) then it needs a new CMOS battery.

People I work with don't know the second one, which should tell you how unlikely it is.

The beep code I get is the one I highlighted in bold in the quote, having said that, I don't get the bleeps every time I try to start it, maybe 1 time in 4 or so.

Are motherboards for laptops all the same as in a standard sort of on board fits all and easy to get, or will it need a proper HP motherboard, also, would installing a new motherboard mean the HD and files will still be intact?

[edit]

In the meantime, I'm probably going to buy a new laptop tomorrow from PC World or Argos, I'll give HP a miss this time, any other makes to avoid or any makes which generally have a good name and are reliable? Will be spending around £400 - £500

[edit]

@ Edwin, not sure I like the ide of storing stuff online, sites could be closed down and all my stuff goes with them, also people (dodgy employees of said site) could steal your files.

@ Fish, yes, xampp is the server thing I meant

@ Doodlebug, yes, somehting like a usb memory thing would be ok, but being so small might lose it, bigger external HD easier not lo lose.

@ Accelerator, ok, removed laptop from radiator to avoid any other heating issues, cheers.

 

[doodlebug]

If you can get your laptop on then check Crucial.com it will scan your laptop and tell you what you have eg, harddrive make/model and capacity and also advise you on upgrades or replacements.

Give it go, come to think of it I am going to scan mine, I have done it before and it is 100% safe

Edit > actually it just does a memory check so if it is the motherboard it won't help you much :|

 

[Edwin]

What you can do is buy a little external HDD case with a USB connector (find out how big your hard drive is first i.e. 2.5" or whatever, and whether it's SATA or IDE and make sure you buy the right case). Then take the HDD out of the probably dead laptop, screw it into the external case and plug it into a different computer via a spare USB socket. If the HDD's fine, it should power up no problem and you can then recover all your data...

 

[retired_member12]

^ The problem is Edwin, if the HD isn't functioning correctly, has a hardware fault but not entirely dead, then it can screw up your PC. When all else failed, I ignored Toshibas' advice against doing this and plugged it into an older PC in that way, and it screwed up the C: drive. How and why I don't know, but I had to re-install the os from scratch.

 

[redbird]

I have a HP DV6000 and motherboard went, if you search the forums it is a known problem and I got mine collected and repaired by HP even though it was out of warranty. HP site used to have a page where you entered the serial number to check if you were entitled to a free repair, if you are ring the number and they collect it. Got mine back in just a few days with new motherboard.

If I remember correctly the problem was overheating because the fan didn't kick in soon enough (a design fault hence the free repair). It was a while ago for me but may still apply.

I would have said that it is highly unlikley there will be anything wrong with the Hd as well, so you should be able to recoiver the data as Edwin says.

As the beep code fault suggests a video problem have you tried plugging in an external monitor, there's a socket on side which is very easy to try out just in case it works so you can at least recover data.

 

[Edwin]

Failing that, if the data's really important (even if not this time, could be handy in future) then buy an all-in-one HDD stand-alone copier and stick the "dodgy" HDD in one slot, and a new HDD in the other slot. Then use the new HDD as the "recovery HDD" once you've completely cloned the dodgy old one. Of course, if the device can't copy the HDD in the first place, then it's dead...

 

[Systreg]

What you can do is buy a little external HDD case with a USB connector (find out how big your hard drive is first i.e. 2.5" or whatever, and whether it's SATA or IDE and make sure you buy the right case). Then take the HDD out of the probably dead laptop, screw it into the external case and plug it into a different computer via a spare USB socket. If the HDD's fine, it should power up no problem and you can then recover all your data...

Far too techy for me Edwin, I don't know the first thing about computers, no idea what a SATA or an IDE is, Malcolm suggested I take out the memory and hard drive and give them a clean if there's any dust on them and make sure contacts are clean, but I've never opened a laptop before so not sure, there's 2 things on the back to unscrew, or is it something inside the actual laptop case itself I have to get at?

A Redbird, this laptop was bought in 2007, although I didn't start using it until last year, so it#' well out of warranty and they would more than likely say 3 years since I bought it, even though it hasn't been used for 3 years is outside a free repair territory even though it's a known fault, wouldn't trust sending a laptop through the post anyway.

 

[Edwin]

Ok, then I guess you have 2 options...

If the data's worth money to you, then pay somebody with the expertise to do what I suggested (probably an hour or so of their time, plus the cost of the hardware)

Or, if it's not worth much, then do what you can and then shrug and move on if it didn't work out...

 

[redbird]

A Redbird, this laptop was bought in 2007, although I didn't start using it until last year, so it#' well out of warranty and they would more than likely say 3 years since I bought it, even though it hasn't been used for 3 years is outside a free repair territory even though it's a known fault, wouldn't trust sending a laptop through the post anyway.

I don't think the age is relevant, IF they still have the serial number checker on the site then you can find out if they will repair it. Mine was about 6 months out of warranty. As far as sending through the post, they sent a courier to collect from my house, they had a specific case built for the job that they packed it into when they arrived to collect it. In any event if you are going to scrap it where's ther risk?

Edit: I had forgotten until now, but somehow I managed to reinstall the HDD back to original settings (from the backup disk D) thereby removing all my personal data. I can only assume (I can't remember how) as I can't think of another way that they external monitor trick did work.

It sounds very much like the known design fault and the fact you haven't used it much is probably why it hasn't gone until now as most seem to go a few months outside the warranty. There was also an associated problem reagrding losing wifi connection. Did you experience that first?

 

[Systreg]

@ Redbird,

There was also an associated problem reagrding losing wifi connection. Did you experience that first?

No, I never use wifi, I only ever use an ethernet wired connection on my laptop as it's more secure than a wireless connection, so not had any other problems apart from this time and another time when it had a problem starting many months back, maybe last year I think.

@ Edwin, no data as such on the computer that's worth money to me, only want that 1 file with all my domains and aff sales on it, but it'll go to be repaired in the week anyway, or at least ask them to take tha hard drive out and get it on one of their machines to see if I can get that file and it can be emailed to me, other than that I'll just trash the laptop and buy the new one.

Anyone got idea on what makes of laptop to go with or ones to avoid, otherwise, I'm likely to go in the shop, grab the first one I see and take it home.