[Closed] any laptop fixer professionals on here?

what does the writing say?

Couple of things to try. Stick a windows CD in it and see if it'll boot from that (unlikely if it isn't getting far). If you have a couple of sticks of ram take one out and try booting, then swap them and try again.

don't know its only up for about half a second

whats ram?

whats ram?

Take it to the shop

might be best to 😆

This is so weird, same thing happened to mine tonight, could it be a dodgy upgrade, are you using XP?

Can't boot even in safe mode, tried all sorts, got the blue screen visible using Disable automatic restart on system failure in f8 and it gave a bad pool caller error

Could be so many things and mine is going back to the manufacturer as its still under warranty.
Only got one 1gb ram stick, so can't take one out to try that and its a netbook so no cd to run a recovery disc (wouldn't recognise an external drive)

Good luck and wonder if anyone else is affected

RAM is processor memory. In most machines you can fit different capacities on standardised cards. There are usually two slots in a laptop and these can be partially or fully populated. In laptops they are easily accessed under one of the obvious covers on the base of the machine. You'll usually need a philips screwdriver. I wouldn't mess about swapping RAM at this stage, but I would inspect them to make sure they are correctly seated in their sockets. If you do swap RAM, you really need to use an ESD strap. Electrostatic discharge is not to be overlooked, you DEFINITELY can damage electronics if you handle them without protection. I've witnessed this over time, it's NOT bullsxxt! An ESD strap is a couple of quid from places like Maplins, so don't cut corners.

The very first step to diagnosing your problem is to get the code on the blue screen. If it flashes up too quickly to read, video it with a digital camera and step back through the video frame by frame. You need to do this, as you won't be able to recover the system, or your data without knowing these vital clues. Google the code and spend time reading all the forums etc. I'd aim for the Windows support site first.

The two likely areas of failure would be a conflict in the system BIOS oand your system's hardware, or corruption/conflict on the system files contained on the hard drive.

So look the code up online on a different PC to establish where you need to focus your attention first.

Before proceding, think hard about what you did on the machine before it failed. Did you change something, or install software? Back track your actions and write down what happened in the run up to the failure. You indicate that you had this problem before. What caused the failure last time? Perhaps the solution will become crystal clear of you stop and give it some thought. Think it through over a cup of tea away from the machine.

Have you got the correct BIOS confuguration? Try hitting F2 when booting and examine this, comparing with any documentation issued by the manufacturer for your specific model. This should be available online if you dont have the supplied manual.

Then, while still in the BIOS menu, change the boot priority so that the Optical drive is accessed first. This will allow you to boot from an optical disc before the system accesses the hard drive (and you get another blue screen). You can leave the optical drive as the primary boot device, but it's best to switch it back when the problem is resolved.

Does your laptop have a built in dianostics menu? This is commonly accessed by a function key, perhaps F12 and during the boot sequence like you would hit F2 for the BIOS menu. Look at the screen to see if any options flash up before the BSOD (blue screen of death - a name people give to the this occurence). Run the full suite of hardware diagostics to see if it runs clean. If it doesn't, tackle the area of failure. Note down any error messages/codes. Look them up online and decide what action to take next.

If none this yields any clues, insert a Windows recovery disk, or your copy of the Windows OS supplied with the laptop. Look for the Repair options when the menus appear. Again get online and look up the supporting documentation. [u]Don't steam in "all gung ho"[/u] as this disk is capable of wiping everything and installing a new base system if you take the wrong option. [u]Be very careful![/u]

If this all seems a bit daunting, you need to pay someone who knows what they are doing, but beware of spotty numpties employed by large high street retailers as they could easily make things much worse. They might have an MCSE certificate, but knowing how to logically step through a hardware/software problem without making a "pig's ear" of it takes a good few years of real experience. People like this are unlikely to share your concern to protect your data and could wipe everything whilst proclaiming there was no alternative. This may well be true, but there is always the option to recover data beforehand.

Data recovery can take a lot of time. My advice would be, if a system rebuild is required, is to buy an external 2.5 drive compatible with the failing hard drive installed your machine and keep the old disk safe for data recovery at your leisure after you get your machine back and working.

Good luck!

BTW, I used to fix large system computers. I did this for 25 years, but have no formal training on PC's. I am completely self-taught, but the approach to analysing problems is the same as for large systems, albeit somewhat simpler.

Please let us know what happens.

cheers for the info but reading it makes no sense to me at all i have no idea about computers took me a bit to find the F keys ffs! 🙄 might be better to take it to someone who knows what they are doing tomorrow and try resolve the problem i think it was windows xp that was on it luckily there wasn't anything saved that was important as its all on memory sticks its a fairly well used computer as it was an ex works computer so might have something to do with age?

Where are you (geographically?)