Laptop not Working!!

Sam2005

Since yesterday, the power indicator button on my laptop Toshiba M40X-230 is not working and the laptop cannot be used. The power cord LED is green when connected to the mains supply and I can hear the fan working. The laptop has not fallen down nor misused unnecessarily. Can anyone please let me know what the problem is??

Plarkster

Could be a number of things - first things to look at would be:

1. Is the power cable connecting to the laptop properly - is it a good tight fit and not loose?

2. Battery may be loose and this sometimes causes problems - try removing it for a few minutes and then put it back in and try again.

3. If it still doesn't work you could try pulling the memory, hard drive and battery (if you can get to it) out for a few minutes and then put them back in.

Failing that, if you've got a spare fuse it might be worth changing the fuse in the plug - I know you said the light is lit but you never know. It's worth a try anyway.

The only other thing I can think to try is if someone has got the same or similar laptop, try their power cable, or you should be able to get one on eBay for around £25. Obviously try everything else first and see if anyone else has some suggestions.

Sam2005

Tried all of the above. Will it be the motherboard then???

Plarkster

Doesn't sound promising to be honest.

On point 3, I meant the CMOS battery - sorry if I didn't make it clear. A friend brought an HP laptop round that was suddenly dead and pulling the CMOS battery out for a few minutes seemed to 'reset' it and it started up fine once I put it back in.

If you've already tried that you might have to take it to a computer shop for them to have a look at. If it is the motherboard that's gone, it might not be worth replacing though as you're probably looking at around £100 or more. Could also be the processor - maybe it's overheated? If you're comfortable replacing the motherboard / processor yourself and can get one cheap enough you could give it a shot.

Unfortunately laptops are harder to diagnose than desktops as you can't easily replace everything to find the problem. Just make sure if you do take it somewhere it's on a 'no fix no fee' basis and they quote you for repair before doing anything.

Sam2005

Is it really the motherboard or some kind of overheating problems?? The laptop switched on yesterday though...

AdamMerry

Try a static discharge, take the battery out and unplug the power lead from the laptop so they is no power at all going to the laptop.
Then hold the power button down for about 60 seconds, then re connect the power and see if it starts up ok.
If you can hear the fan spinning it is possible it might be a display fault, the best way to check this is to plug in a external monitor re start the laptop and see if you get a display. How old is the laptop ? Any warranty left on it with Toshiba

bob_man_uk

my partners old toshiba had a similar problem to this, when plugged in the mains it looked like it was charging ok, but there was no response when the on button was pressed.

on some occasions it would turn on, but would go to a purely blank screen, some times it would show a black desktop and mouse but nothing else, but most of the time, nothing would happen.

luckily for us we had a maintenance contract, unfortunately for you, doesnt really help much as they never told us what exactly went wrong, though i got a hint that it may have been the motherboard, since the laptop was gone for the best part of 4 weeks

Sam2005

Thanks for all your help, the laptop is five years old!! Just wanted to confirm if the motherboard is dead, will the laptop switch on??