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  • #1

    Help! Please! Laptop Woes!

    I admit it. I'm woefully ignorant. I need some advice please.

    My Acer laptop has been working fine until last night (I've had it for 2 years).

    I closed the laptop in the kitchen and carried it to the bedroom. About 20 minutes later, I opened it again, and the screen was light blue with white stripes running across it from lower left to upper right. Not a BSOD, there was no text visible.

    There was no response to the keyboard or mouse pad, so I shut it off by pressing the power button. I let it rest and cool for a minute, then tried to restart it.

    Now, when I press the power button, the green light ring around the power button lights up, and the cooling fan runs for a few seconds and then shuts off. Nothing else happens.

    I took it to Staples, and they said that if they can't get anything to appear on the screen, it's beyond their abilities to help, and I should try Best Buy.

    I'm guessing, from my standpoint of complete tech ignorance, that I have possibly had a sudden failure of some hardware component.

    So . . . any ideas? Please?

    Oh, and my OS is Windows Vista.
    Last edited by Dytchdoctir; 04-27-2010, 12:37 AM. Reason: spelling
    Tags: None
  • #2
    I am not a tech, and certainly not an expert on laptops, but it sounds like your motherboard's gone bad.

    This is one of those things that probably requires being in the same room with the system to really get to the bottom of it.

    ^-.-^
    Faith is about what you do. It's about aspiring to be better and nobler and kinder than you are. It's about making sacrifices for the good of others. - Dresden

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    • #3
      Depending on how daring you feel, it might be fixable. In your case, appears to be a problem with the lcd inverter, which is located right underneath the monitor and handles the power going to the screen. First thing to try would be to unplug and replug cords and see if you can restart. If not, you might get stuck having to get a new one. Unfortunately, they could be in any price range and tough to get.

      On the plus side, you should still be able to use the laptop with a regular monitor. Might want to check that first and see if you can.

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      • #4
        This could be any number of things, from motherboard, to graphics card (unless you have the very common onboard graphics - essentially, if it's not a gaming laptop, you do.), to a bad stick of RAM. Even the fact that the machine tries to start, then shuts back off with no beep code, no display, and no access to bios suggests that it's RAM, or motherboard, and less video card.
        Coworker: Distro of choice?
        Me: Gentoo.
        Coworker: Ahh. A Masochist. I thought so.

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        • #5
          I had a acer and I don't think it even lasted 2 years. I have had really bad luck with acer, I would be happy that it lasted that long. But to me it sounds like the monitor, mother board or video card died in it. It will probally be cheaper to buy a new one and copy all of your files off of the old hard drive. Best Buy probally wont be able to fix it and im sure they will charge you a arm and a leg.
          Jacob (F&R Computer Man)

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          • #6
            If you have an external monitor, it might be worth plugging that in, and seeing if you are getting any error message

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            • #7
              Quoth MadonnaC View Post
              If you have an external monitor, it might be worth plugging that in, and seeing if you are getting any error message
              Agreed.

              If nothing I would say a motherboard issue.

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