Dads Laptop

Wheels

Wheels

Julian Keeler
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My dad has just come with his laptop, its a cq61-110SA the laptop wont start it lights up all the start up lights ie power num lock caps lock etc, but they all stay on without starting up so I have just taken his hard drive out and put it in my external SATA drive and managed to copy his photos and documents. So Im assuming there is nothing wrong with the HD, anyone know how to reset the thing?
 
Its probably just needs a format and reinstall of Windows.

Give the drive a full format in your hdd caddy before you put it back into the laptop, then try installing Windows.
 
He hasnt got the recovery discs he didnt create 1, I am searching for sites to get a recovery disc from
 
on that now Hugh, it wont even let me into the bios
 
As in no response when you press the f2 (or whatever) key? if it just sits there I think you have a hardware problem. Any beeps coming from it?
 
there are two opitions according to HP pressing esc or f8 and nothing happens on either. as for beeps no nothing, when I put a dvd in u can hear it trying to read it, but the screen is blank as a blank thing on a blank day. He has just said he will have to take it to pcworld and let them look at it.
 
I think that's probably best, you're fighting in the dark trying to fix it with no info.
 
laptop wont start it lights up all the start up lights ie power num lock caps lock etc, but they all stay on without starting up
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It's knackered don't waste any more time fiddling about.

If it's under guarentee you just voided it be removing the drive, or at least Pee See world will tell you so. So make sure you put it back together with all the screws and in the right places.

Sorry to be the harbinger of bad news but it's not worth beating about the bush.
 
Take out the battery and power lead if in, and leave for 5 mins

Put battery back in and try to boot, if no joy sounds like the bios may be corrupt any beeps at all when switching on?
 
Its just cost my dad a tenner for it to be looked at, the shop said its the motherboard thats goosed, and £170ish to replace, Dad isn't sure what to do, he has me looking on line for an alternative and he stipulated that he would rather bury his face in a turkish mans arm pit than go to pc world again :LOL:
 
In my experience and opinion PCworld guys are only good at basic tech support.
 
bindi said:
In my experience and opinion PCworld guys are only good at basic tech support.
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I think he was referring to his last 2 laptops have been from there and he wouldn't go back for a 3rd.
 
Wheels said:
I think he was referring to his last 2 laptops have been from there and he wouldn't go back for a 3rd.
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Yeah that's what I thought...I went there once myself and they told me possible faults which I knew very well.
 
I'm assuming it's Vista?

Wheels, don't know how savvy you are, but I agree with the comments about PC World. You need a Whizkid to have a look at it properly before you write it off - No disrespect to yourself of course.

A lot of manufacturers don't really give you good restore disks or a copy of Windows.

I would try resetting the MBR, or doing a Sys Restore.. Do some research

Go to this site - and read, read, read

http://www.pcbuyerbeware.co.uk/Recovering_Repairing_Windows_Vista.htm#intro

More tips here:-

http://www.pcbuyerbeware.co.uk/Recovering_Repairing_Windows_Vista.htm

Then get the discs mentioned here:-

How to create a WinRE disc if your OEM computer came with a Recovery Disc instead of a Windows Vista installation DVD
If you have an Windows Vista computer (desktop or laptop) made by one of the major manufacturers (Dell, Acer, HP, Toshiba, Lenovo, etc.), it will have come with its manufacturer's recovery disc that resets the system to the state it was in when it left the factory, not a Windows Vista installation DVD. You need a real Windows Vista installation disc in order to be able to access the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) that Vista's Startup Repair uses, so you won't be able to use it. However, the following website provides a valid boot disc that runs WinRE.

Windows Vista Recovery Disc Download - http://neosmart.net/blog/2008/windows-vista-recovery-disc-download/

Download: Windows Vista x64 Recovery Disc - http://neosmart.net/blog/2008/download-windows-vista-x64-recovery-disc/

The second link provides a download for the 64-bit versions of Windows Vista and provides information on how to download and use .torrent files.

The files are ISO files that have to be burned as disc images not as data files. Most disc-burning software provides an option to burn a file as an image.

It is a safe website. The comments provided by readers may prove to be useful. After downloading the image to your a folder on your Vista computer, create a CD in ISO format. You can use a recordable CD disc; a recordable DVD disc is not required as the ISO file is only 120MB. On the CD/DVD, there are two folders Boot (3.27MB), Sources (116MB) and one file Bootmgr (325KB). It works in the same way as a Vista installation DVD. Just boot from the disc, (your computer's BIOS will have to be entered at system startup prior to Windows startup by pressing its entry key in order to set with the CD/DVD drive as the first boot device if it doesn't boot from the disc automatically), choose Press any key to boot from CD/DVD and Vista will start to load the Windows files. Select your language, time, currency and keyboard then click Repair in the bottom left corner. Within the Repair option there are five choices: Startup Repair, System Restore, Backup Restore, Memory Test and Command Prompt.

If you have made a backup using any ofthe backup options in the Windows [Vista] Backup and Restore Center, you can use the Backup Restore feature on the dsic to restore the backup. Making a backup of the whole system is the best way of protecting your computer from irrecoverable software failures.


Then have a look here:-


http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927392/en-us

You do the bootrec.exe /fixmbr, then /fixboot first, then move onto /scanos, then if all else fails then you do a total rebuild /rebuildbcd

But before you do you export the old BCD just in case this is the process:-

Note If rebuilding the BCD does not resolve the startup issue, you can export and delete the BCD, and then run this option again. By doing this, you make sure that the BCD is completely rebuilt. To do this, type the following commands at the Windows RE command prompt:
bcdedit /export C:\BCD_Backup
c:
cd boot
attrib bcd -s -h -r
ren c:\boot\bcd bcd.old
bootrec /RebuildBcd

Best of luck!
 
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If it doesn't get past lights coming on it's F***ed

Julian if you want me to come over to Wigan and have a look for you I'll do it gladly but if thats all it's doing cut your losses and throw it in the nearest river.

If it had a password then only recovery software will get that back, by removing the drive and hooking it up to another pc.

If he just wants a laptop to surf the web etc go to Tesco's and get the cheapest one they sell, or get one from Aldi they have a decent warrenty.
 
The cq series have a high rate of motherboard failure, almost as high as the HP dv series which is saying something.. at work we've a large box full of these motherboards from repairs we've done.

The problem with repairing cq laptops is that the new motherboards that HP supply for this series have an unacceptably high rate of DOA's. It's always a tense moment switching one of these on after a motherboard swap, is it going to work are you going to have to take it all apart again?...!

£170 is a good price, if someone is willing to fit a new board for that then hats off to them.. however considering a new board is typically £95 +del + VAT I would check if it is definitely a new board they are offering.
 
He has just been to his local Tesco and picked a dell up apparently. So jobs done thanks for the replies folks top advice as always.
 
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