Laptop start-up issue

[Xiauj]

Hey guys.

Alright so, I recently got given an old (..very old) laptop that I'm gonna see if I can start up and so far... no luck and I need some suggestions, lol.

So, the power button turns the laptop on fine and stays Green but then it will just go insanely quiet but still be turned on, I think/hope. The screen however, displays NOTHING at all; just a black screen. The person did give me a charger so yes it should be charged hopefully. The optical drive on the side of the laptop opens and closes so I would assume the laptop is still on at this point, yet I still can't get the laptop to display anything to a monitor via VGA Cable. Is there any type of Key-Combo that would perhaps do the trick?

 

I also tried using passive adapters converting from VGA to DVI-I to HDMI because the monitor wouldn't pick up anything on the VGA Channel which I thought was odd and with those adapters, still nothing being displayed via HDMI.

 

 

Anyone got any suggestions? I'm not really sure at this point.

Thanks

-Xiauj

[An angry badger]

On another working computer you could create a bootable USB drive running a Linux distro, boot to that on the old laptop and see if the screen displays. This could tell you if it is a hardware issue or an issue with the OS on the boot drive

Edited September 15, 2017 by An angry badger
Correcting a spelling mistake

[BWLServers]

The CD drive will open whenever the device has power, it has no bearing on whether it is functioning properly or not. If the device will not output to display, it is likely not POSTing. Unless you want to invest money in replacing the screen (likely to no avail), I would recycle it. If it has a hard drive activity LED, you can watch that. If it blinks once or twice when you turn the laptop on, then never again, you have a dead device

Good luck!

[BWLServers]

Just now, An angry badger said:

On another working computer you could create a bootable USB drive running a Linux distort, boot to that on the old laptop and see if the screen displays. This could tell you if it is a hardware issue or an issue with the OS on the boot drive

Not if he doesn't get a display. I'm assuming no BIOS screen?

[ProjectBox153]

Does the laptop have hard drive activity lights?

[Xiauj]

1 minute ago, An angry badger said:

On another working computer you could create a bootable USB drive running a Linux distro, boot to that on the old laptop and see if the screen displays. This could tell you if it is a hardware issue or an issue with the OS on the boot drive

I have no knowledge about Linux in the slightest  Though saying that, I do want to try it out at some point, I hear there is a ton of Distros.

But tbh, this is a insanely old looking laptop and I doubt Linux would be of use atm. Mainly want to get it to the desktop for now.

 

1 minute ago, BWLServers said:

The CD drive will open whenever the device has power, it has no bearing on whether it is functioning properly or not

Yeah I think it has power going to it because I have it on atm and the power button is lit up green but as mentioned, it's insanely quiet, like 100% quiet.

 

3 minutes ago, BWLServers said:

If it has a hard drive activity LED

Where would I find this LED? A LED on the laptop itself or..?

 

 

Oh and I probably should have mentioned this before but I forgot, it doesn't even show a logo/loading-bar when I press the power button, I was gonna add at the end of my OP that I think it could be a dead screen/panel but yeah I dunno atm. If no logo/loading-bar, could that be its not posting?

I dunno if I can get in the BIOS either due to the screen not turning on.

[Xiauj]

2 minutes ago, Jamiec1130 said:

Does the laptop have hard drive activity lights?

Where would I find that?

 

EDIT: There is 2 lights/LEDs on the front of the laptop, one for the battery and one has like a lightbulb symbol

Edited September 15, 2017 by Xiauj

[ProjectBox153]

3 minutes ago, Xiauj said:

Where would I find that?

I don't know, do you see any? I can't see through your eyes...

[Xiauj]

Just now, Jamiec1130 said:

I don't know, do you see any? I can't see through your eyes...

I just edited that comment, sorry lol

I see 2 LEDs as described above

[BWLServers]

The icon would look kind of like a stack of CD's. It sounds like the laptop isn't POSTing at all, based on the fact that the fans are going silent.

Is there an Intel/AMD sticker on it? Any indication of operating system? Just want to get a general idea of it's age.

[BWLServers]

The one on the far right is generally what it would look like.

[Xiauj]

1 hour ago, BWLServers said:

The icon would look kind of like a stack of CD's. It sounds like the laptop isn't POSTing at all, based on the fact that the fans are going silent.

Is there an Intel/AMD sticker on it? Any indication of operating system? Just want to get a general idea of it's age.

Well as mentioned its a very old laptop and unfortunately, I do not know the specs but it has an AMD Turion 64 CPU  and it also has Windows XP  So ya, a very old but not ancient laptop. It's an Acer laptop.

[Xiauj]

1 hour ago, BWLServers said:

The one on the far right is generally what it would look like.

I also cannot find any symbol like the far right one unfortunately

The laptop doesn't have that symbol at all.

[BWLServers]

Any beeps or other noises once you turn it on?

[Xiauj]

Just now, BWLServers said:

Any beeps or other noises once you turn it on?

I don't hear any beeps when pressing the power button, no. It begins to start up when I press the power button and it sounds like a fan is spinning I think, but then it just goes mostly quiet, aka very quiet. It still sounds like the PC is on though. To add onto that, yes the power button is still green after doing so.

 

I can just about hear the fan on the bottom/underside of the laptop with my ear right next to it (The laptop).

[BWLServers]

Sorry mate, sounds like she's toast.

[Xiauj]

1 minute ago, BWLServers said:

Sorry mate, sounds like she's toast.

 Sure it might not be a dead screen/panel or a dead HDD maybe..?

Anything else at all that I could try?

[BWLServers]

The computer isn't POSTing, so it's either the CPU, GPU, RAM (you can try replacing/removing that temporarily), or motherboard.

What brand is it? Assuming it's a Dell, you *should* hear a beep code when you power it on indicating a successful POST. Also, fans on older machines typically ramp up quite loud as a self test when you first power the machine on. Is it doing that? Even if it's a dead display, you'd get a better ROI using it as a self defense tool.

[BWLServers]

If you're feeling adventurous you can remove everything that isn't necessary, for shits and giggles. Pull out all the memory, the hard drive, the wireless card, the battery, and any devices/cables/cords plugged in besides the power cord.