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Computer question

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jberryma

Member
Oct 5, 2006
338
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I've got a computer question. My brother called me tonight and said that his laptop doesn't always start up and load windows. It turns on but then only gets a black screen and has to force turn it off by hitting the power button. He said that it starts up then once he does that but obviously it should start correctly everytime. Do you think that his windows vista could have got corrupted somehow? I'm software savvy but not so much when it comes to hardware so could there be something else wrong? I figured I'd see if anyone has any ideas? He said that this doesn't happen every time and has been even happening less so maybe what's wrong is working itself out. He said that it was happening every other time he turned on the laptop but no it's happening maybe once a day. Still something isn't right. Anyone else have something like this happen to them? I've had this happen everyonce it a blue moon when I forced shut down my laptop but never frequently like this.

Thanks for any thoughts and ideas in advance!
 
I don't know for sure on a lap top, but usually on a desk top my experience is that this kind of problem is because your hard drive is getting ready to die.
 
If it were me, I would (after it does boot up properly)

1. Run scandisk
2. Run complete virus/spyware scan
3. Defrag the hard drive
4. Delete temp files/any other stuff you need to get rid of.

If that doesn't fix it, you likely have a bigger problem on your hands.
 
isucyfan said:
If it were me, I would (after it does boot up properly)

1. Run scandisk
2. Run complete virus/spyware scan
3. Defrag the hard drive
4. Delete temp files/any other stuff you need to get rid of.

If that doesn't fix it, you likely have a bigger problem on your hands.
Click to expand...

I'll add:

5. Update drivers.
 
I'll add go into diagnostics and run the hard drive scan to see if the hard drive is beginning to fail, only because I've had it happen.
 
I guess I forgot to add that it's brand new and has been doing this since it was first started.
 
jberryma said:
I guess I forgot to add that it's brand new and has been doing this since it was first started.
Click to expand...

It wouldn't happen to be an Acer Extensa, would it? If so, there's an issue with the BIOS that's been around up until recently. I would look for the BIOS version, and if it's below 1.17, update it. I recently got an Acer Extensa 5420, and it would do that sometimes... just have a blank screen. After searching around on the internet found it was a BIOS problem, updated to the latest one (1.17 as of earlier this summer), and tada, no more problems.

Other things to check would be:
1. Is he turning the computer on after a actual shutdown, or is it returning from hibernate? Or standby?
2. Video Drivers
3. Check windows update for updates... sometimes certain drivers that are available from manufacturers still don't work with Vista, so Windows releases their own on Windows Update. Granted, Windows Update has been known to release some less than good hardware drivers, but would still be good to check.
 
Since its starting up and not shutting off right away, its probably not the PSU. It could be a bad mobo POST (Power On Self-Test) or bad thermal paste on the CPU, if these fail usually the computer will shut itself down. But it could just not load the OS, which would leave the computer with nothing to do, other than to have you shut it down and try to turn it on again. I would agree with everything everyone else has said to do, although I would run them all in safe-mode. Although this problem could be either hardware or software it will be apparent if you run a virus/spyware scan in safe mode. Usually F8 will get you there during the startup process. If none of these work, I would try to reinstall Vista.
 
jberryma said:
I guess I forgot to add that it's brand new and has been doing this since it was first started.
Click to expand...

Can you return it? Must be some sort of warranty on it..

There's a lot of good suggestions in this thread, but my gut feeling is it's a hardware issue. Best to just get rid of it (i.e. exchange it).
 
CycloneErik said:
It sounds just like a computer whose hard drive is about to die. Sounds like ours when that has happened.
Click to expand...

Yep. Get important stuff on a external HD as soon as possible. Sounds like your hard drive is about to go kaput. I have an HP laptop that is on its 3rd HD.
 
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