Aaaaarhhgghhh!!!! (Looks like a job for computer pros)

[Maddy McCall]

I haven't been posting in the last couple of weeks except from my old dinosaur of a 32 ram, Windows 95 PC, because my Gateway laptop (pentium 4 mobile, 40 gig hard drive, 512 ram, Windows XP) is screwed again. I turn it on, and the fan come on, and the disk drive hums, but nothing else...dark screen.

Looks like I'll be sending in the laptop for repairs...that is...unless some of you computer experts want to offer me some advice.

I have hit the reset button numerous times, removed the hard drive and both disk drives, and tried to boot, but it looks like the hardware is the problem.

Anyway, it will cost 40 bucks to ship it back to Gateway, and it is under warranty--have only had it since last December, but what a pain in the ass to have to get back on the dinosaur, which has only a telepathX2 modem.

So, if you have no advice, at least offer condolences, pleeeez. :hi:

I have missed everyone here! :-)

[Devlzown]

1. Sorry to hear about that, jchild.

I guess it's a good thing you held on to the dinosaur, though. I wish I could offer some advice, but I'm pretty dumb when it comes to these things.

[Maddy McCall]

3. :-) Thanks

I wouldn't have gotten rid of the dino because it has all of my papers on it...many many many files that would take a month to back up on diskettes.

Thanks for the condolences. :-)

[Maddy McCall]

2. Oh, and let me add...

that this has happened before, and I plugged my desktop monitor into the laptop, while the laptop was down, and somehow it miraculously booted up, and behaved normally. Then, the next time it was down, I accidentally swapped the A: and D: drives when I put them back into the sockets, and again it booted right up the next time I pressed the power button.

Someone with some expertice please respond.

How long will it take I wonder to get it back from gateway if I mail it off?

Will I lose everything that is on my hard drive --i.e. vacation photos that I took that I hadn't backed up yet?

Thanks in advance :-)

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

4. Somebody fix this woman's puter!

I miss her when she's gone!

[Maddy McCall]

6. LOL! Haven't been any more kobe debates, eh?

I miss you too, NSMA :-) I can only check in once in awhile on the old desktop because it takes minutes instead of seconds for pages to load, and that is way too frustrating for my type A personality! :argh:

[noiretextatique]

5. send it in...to avoid further headache

i had this problem on my laptop. it turns out the screen cable had come loose. i had to buy a torx screwdriver to open the case to fix it. i would just send it in if it's under warranty.

[Maddy McCall]

8. it isn't a loose screen wire, because I can pop off a little dealy on the

keyboard face and see that it is connected. For some reason, it just isn't booting, not at all.

It looks like I am going to be sending it in, if no one has any nifty tricks up their sleeve tonight.

Thanks, Noiretblu :-)

[noiretextatique]

12. even if it's not booting, that doesn't mean you'll lose your data

when i sent my nec in, it was back in less than a week...i was impressed. it may not be a hard disk failure that's causing it not to boot...so don't worry about losing data yet.
a few questions:
did you try booting from a floppy?

[Maddy McCall]

13. Windows EX, and no boot from floppy.

It is the wierdest thing. I have a mean ghost in my machine.

[noiretextatique]

14. well...it could be a few things

so sending it in is your best bet...good luck :hi:

[Maddy McCall]

15. Windows XP...damn I'm goofy (correction)

I think i will be sending it back in. Thanks for the advice. Less than a week isn't too much to bear.

[ScreamingMeemie]

7. Condolences from the computer illiterate...

Like right now I am sitting here wondering why my screen is all fuzzy.? Get it fixed and hurry back, because I really enjoy you being around!!

:hi:

[Maddy McCall]

9. Thanks, grumpy one.

I will probably be calling in tomorrow. Gateway ships Airborne Express. I guess that's good?

[Ein]

10. I'd send it in.

I know my way aroud computers pretty well, but laptops are a completely different story. Wouldn't open one up that is worth over 400$.

[Maddy McCall]

11. Thanks, Ein, that looks like what I will be doing.

I talked to a gateway tech who told me that it probably isn't the hard drive, but some other "hardware" so I probably won't lose files.

I am praying...:-)

[ParanoidPat]

16. If you're laptop has a 15 pin 'D' connector on the back....

....marked 'Monitor' you might try hooking up the monitor from your old system and trying it to see if your display settings got changed. :)
When you first boot up, do you see anything at all on the laptop's display? :shrug:

[Maddy McCall]

17. No...nothing at all

It is like the hard drive isn't even engaging.

I already used my old monitor and hooked it up to my laptop, and somehow it "kicked" the hard drive into booting. All I want to do is just bring the pc up one more time so that I can back up the few files I hadn't yet backed up when it crashed, and then I will send it off.

I wonder if there is any other hardware I could plug in to kick it off again???

[Maddy McCall]

18. G'night DU...

I have to go sew...yes SEW...a deskbag for my son's school desk. Will check in tomorrow.

jchild :loveya:

[ParanoidPat]

20. Cool! Good luck!

:evilgrin: Sounds like it's a good thing it's still under warranty! :)

[alfredo]

19. It could be something as simple as bad RAM.

Maybe the RAM is not seated properly.

[ParanoidPat]

21. Good point!

:evilgrin: