Non booting Acer Aspire 5732 Z

Spank

Colleague has had some issues with her own laptop in thelast few weeks, first it was running slowly, which I fixed by installing &running Malware bytes, Norton 2012 & tune-up utilities.

It then started resetting if the keys were pressed hard(this was at the login stage). Now screen will not display anything or make anybeeps (the cooling fan spins up for around 3 seconds, HDD for about 10 seconds).

She asked me to have a look at it & using these instructions took it to bits, but couldn’t see anything wrong (nothing loose ordamaged, no build-up of dust or signs of overheating)

I’m looking to get hold of a VGA (D-sub) cable to see if I can get a display on my monitor, but I doubt it’s that.

See the link for it's specs if you need them.

Is it FUBARED or am I missing something?

dispossessed

The standard troubleshooting algorithm taught for PC & laptop troubleshooting is :-

Hardware / BIOS / Operating System / Application

It works !

Hence - always start by verifying the condition and operation of the hardware.

Excessive heat / overheating is the scourge of electronics and can cause all manner of bizarre behaviour.

Laptops, having less space available, have narower cooling pathways.

CPU's (processors) get rather hot even when all is well - it does not take much dust and airborne detritus to impede the fan's ability to regulate their temperature.

I recommend that you begin your troubleshooting endeavours by giving the fan & heatsink a good blast of compressed air (protect your eyes) in the first instance. Sometimes you can gain direct access to these components by removing the keyboard. If not use the atachable tube that comes with a can of air and direct the jet through the vents.

A small can of air can be bought for £1 at Poundland. A larger can costs about £3 at ASDA.

Hope this helps.

Spank

TBH I feel a bit foolish as it turned out to be a dodgy memory slot on the mobo, should of tried that before I took it to bits (when I did I cleaned out the fans, though they didn't have much dust in them)

dispossessed

Incorrectly seated or loose R.A.M modules are another very common cause of woe.

Glad to hear you fixed it - Well done !