big laptop issue

[maxwell_smart007]

My laptop is having major issues - I hope it's still salvageable!

Here's the scoop - it was logging on to windows, and I put the password in. I left for a bit to make supper, and came back, and it was on a black screen, but the power light was still lit up. I know the battery was fairly low, so I assumed it was just shutting off the screen to save the battery...maybe the battery wasn't low - I'm not sure.

Now it won't turn on. It will light up the power button all the time. On the front, there are four buttons - harddrive, no-idea, power, and on. The on light works all the time. The harddrive light comes on for a second, then it turns off. The power light you press is always lit up.

A disk inserted into the drive makes noise, but doesn't change anything.

It never makes it to the BIOS screen - just a black screen. There were no gremlins or anything odd before, and I run very good antivirus software...I can't even get to a screen that lets me change anything.

Windows 7 was preloaded, so there's no disk. Even if I had the disk, the windows code was printed on the bottom of the laptop, and it's rubbed off now.

I've tried disconnecting the harddrive, and reseating the ram - I started it with the battery and without, and pressed the power button for a full minute - I tried all the F2, F8, etc buttons...after that, I'm out of ideas. I really want to save my family's pictures - is there any hope?

Andrew

 

[alphageek]

There is always hope.

Try hard power off (by holding power down for 5 seconds). Then boot.

It's also possible the screen backlight died. I've seen that before. After booting, shine a bright flashlight around on the screen, you might see stuff.... Or boot with a monitor...

More tips later when I get to a pc.

 

[mark james]

My son may have ideas! ME- Nope! HIM - Good chance. He's out tonight, will check the thread early tomorrow, if not better, I'll have him check.

He has saved a LOT of stuff from 3 household computers... Pulled Hard drives, backups, etc.

BUT, I suspect there are MANY IT folks on IAP that can help. Yes, we can multi-task!

 

[mmyshrall]

Hey Mark, it might help some of us if we knew the model of the laptop.

 

[mark james]

Hey Mark, it might help some of us if we knew the model of the laptop.

I suspect you mean Andrew, Not me.

 

[maxwell_smart007]

NP300E5C - just tried a boot disk, and nothing happened...

I'll try the flashlight trick....

 

[maxwell_smart007]

No, looks just as black with a flashlight....this Samsung's only two years old!

 

[switch62]

Firstly, there is hope.

Sounds like the display or display controller has died.

As suggested by alphageek try using a bright torch on the display to see if you can see anything where the light is shining. If there is an image, then try a monitor on the external vga connector. (you may need to hit a special function button to switch between displays)

If your main priority is to save the photos, emails and documents then,
DO NOT try to reload Windows or format the hard drive!!!

Instead take out the hard drive and plug it into a docking station (you may have to buy one) connected to an other computer with Windows 7 or 8 (XP may work). You should be able to copy all your documents and pictures from the laptop hard drive to the other computer or another external drive. They'll be in the X:\Users\your_user_name\
folder, where X is the letter of the laptop drive in the dock.

Emails can be done but it is hard to be specific unless I know which email program and version you are using.

If at any point you are asked to format the laptop drive, say NO(cancel). If this happens then you will need some drive recovery software to get your data off the drive.


PS If you are going to take the laptop in for repairs, copy all you data anyway as above. Some repairers won't save your data and just reformat your drive if they have to.

Good luck

Tony

 

[Brian G]

I don't know if this will work for a Samsung, but it worked for a Gateway a few years ago. The good news is that you don't have to noodle around in the innards, which for a techno-dunce like me is a good thing.

A laptop's power button can serve as a reset mechanism that powers the system down and restarts the boot-up process once you press the button again. The power button-reset procedure requires that you remove your laptop's battery in order for the process to complete correctly.

Step 1
Turn off your laptop, if it is on, and close down its lid. Disconnect any cables and accessories attached to your laptop, including wired or wireless external keyboard and mouse, external hard drives, flash drives and SecureDigital memory cards. Unplug the laptop's power adapter and turn the computer upside down.

Step 2
Remove your laptop's battery pack.

Step 3
Press and hold your laptop's power button for 15 seconds, then release the button.

Step 4
Reconnect your laptop's power adapter.

Step 5
Press your laptop's power button to turn on the computer with the battery still not installed. The laptop starts booting up and the status lights on its front illuminate. The Windows splash screens appear and the Windows operating system starts to load. Your laptop is reset once you see the Windows Desktop.

Step 6
Click "Start" and "Shut Down" to power off your laptop after the Desktop is showing. Reinstall your laptop's battery pack after the shutdown process is complete, then turn your laptop back on to use the computer.


It will cost nothing but time.

 

[maxwell_smart007]

I tried it, Brian, but it doesn't go to the splash screen - it just sits there with the button illuminated...no signs of anything else happening...

 

[designer]

I had the same thing happen on and Alienware laptop. Turned out to be the motherboard. They replaced it and all was good. No lost data either.

 

[Crashmph]

can you remove the battery and plug it into the wan and try to power it on without the battery

 

[sbwertz]

I have the NP3053. The "hold down the power button with everything unplugged" that resets a Dell and some others, doesn't work with a Samsung. I'm afraid it is the motherboard or the hard drive. Since it doesn't "post" at all, it is probably the mother board. Sorry. Samsung makes a good laptop, but sometimes they just fail. Often it is because, unbeknownst to you, the fan has failed and it overheats. The little fans on a laptop are often so quiet that you don't notice when they stop working, and the motherboard overheats. On the Samsung, it is located on the left side of the machine next to the external video port. If you don't feel warm air blowing out there, the fan failed and fried the motherboard.

Did you purchase an extended warranty? I'm a computer consultant, and a laptop is the one thing I always get the extended warranty on. It has saved my pocketbook many times.

Important tip...If you get a new laptop, be sure to make the backup disks. Everything comes loaded on the computer and you have to make a DVD or USB drive startup set to restore the computer in case of hard drive or other failure.

 

[Brian G]

Well, shoot. :frown:

I've got nothing else.

 

[maxwell_smart007]

I'd be fine if it were the motherboard - as long as the hdd is salvageable....

the only concern is that I doubt a 2 year old laptop would have motherboards available....

 

[designer]

A mother board should still be available. As mentioned, do not let them format the HDD or you will loose everything. We keep boot drives in the office that we can plug in as opposed to the built in one. That verifies the problem is not the hard drive. No formatting required that way.

There are places out there that can retrieve data on a drive as well should it turn out to be the drive. They are not cheap, but they are pretty good at getting things back onto a backup for you.

 

[mark james]

All thoughts from my Son also point to the motherboard, and yes, it should be available either manufacturer or similar.

Sorry! Very frustrating and a worry about the backup.

 

[mike4066]

Have you tried hooking it up to a monitor? That may isolate it to a bad display.

 

[maxwell_smart007]

success!!!

It was a bad stick of ram - I took them out and reseated them, and then just took one out all together, and it works!!!

I'm so excited! Now i just need to bu ya new stick of ram...I couldn't be happier right now!

 

[maxwell_smart007]

2gb DDR3-1600 SODIMM CL11 PC12800 1600MHz M471B5773DH0-CK0

The motherboard supports 8gb, though, so I'm going to buy a 4gb stick. Anyone know how on earth I find out if the 'latencies' match? I was just going to buy the same specs, but I recall somethign about matching latencies when mixing ram...but cannot see any documentation about what the latencies on this ram would be...

 

[mark james]

Sweet... Also buy a Hard Drive Backup!!! Lesson learned. My entire business went black 6 months ago... I back up every Monday AM!

 

[maxwell_smart007]

Already started - I'm backing up as we speak!

(and enjoying a well-earned beverage!)

Thank you all for the help!!

 

[wyone]

that is WONDERFUL!!!

 

[sbwertz]

I'd be fine if it were the motherboard - as long as the hdd is salvageable....

the only concern is that I doubt a 2 year old laptop would have motherboards available....

You can open the panel on the back and pop out the hard drive. You can buy a case for it for about ten bucks and it becomes a usb hard drive.

 

[sbwertz]

2gb DDR3-1600 SODIMM CL11 PC12800 1600MHz M471B5773DH0-CK0

The motherboard supports 8gb, though, so I'm going to buy a 4gb stick. Anyone know how on earth I find out if the 'latencies' match? I was just going to buy the same specs, but I recall somethign about matching latencies when mixing ram...but cannot see any documentation about what the latencies on this ram would be...

go to Crucial.com - DRAM, solid state drive (SSD) memory upgrades for Dell, Mac, Apple, HP, Compaq, Lenovo, Acer, ASUS

They have a tool you can install that will go in and look at your system, tell you exactly what memory it has, and what memory you should buy to match, replace, or augment the memory in the computer. Then you can either buy the memory from them, or take the info and shop around.