Is it worth repairing laptop?

Cycrow

Vicky123 wrote: »

So not worth repairing then? It's Acer extensa, and although I would like a new one there are other priorities, then again don't want to shell out for repairs and battery if it's on the way out. Using desktop but that's XP and probably on it's last legs as well, even older than the laptop. Why does everything die at once?

if it is overheating, or heat related, which is one of the more common causes of laptop problems, then you may be able to fix it by simply cleaning the dust from the fans. A can of compressed air is good for this.

The fans essentially suck up alot of dust, and over time this dust will start clogging up the fans and reducing their ability to cool the pc down. Eventually, this may stop the fans working altogether

Strider590

Basically if it turns on for only a few seconds, then it's probably the cooling fan failing it's initial "do you work" test, in which case blast it out with compressed air.
Other causes could be internal CMOS battery or a bad connector to the keyboard. The if CMOS battery is dead, you should be able to get it going by entering the BIOS and changing the system time.

If it gets to starting windows and then shuts down, it could be the hard drive or airflow/heat related, whereby the fan works but the rest of the system is clogged with dust.

Most everything else would be a software issue.

paulsad

Wifey bought me one for xmas to replace my old Packard Bell - similar to you it has a knackered battery. She bought me an all singing dancing, 8meg ram 2terra hard drive etc. I used it for a couple of hours and found it awful! No quicker than my old one, awkward track pad with no separate click buttons - long story short - I hated it! Luckily for me we managed to return it.
I've ordered a battery for my old one off fleabay (£17) and carefully removed the base given it a good vac out and its working fine.

Vicky123

So the laptop just sprang into life yesterday, all seems well, does that suggest anything to anyone? The other thing which may have no bearing at all is my dishwasher also stops working for a week or so and works again, at the moment SKY is going on and off, also radio in one of the bedrooms coming on by itself, desktop always random but that's a really old XP system. Of course it may all just be ghosts:rotfl:.

Jivesinger

Vicky123 wrote: »

So the laptop just sprang into life yesterday, all seems well, does that suggest anything to anyone?

Now is probably a good time to take a backup of what's on the disk, in case it doesn't keep working.

GunJack

Vicky123 wrote: »

So the laptop just sprang into life yesterday, all seems well, does that suggest anything to anyone? The other thing which may have no bearing at all is my dishwasher also stops working for a week or so and works again, at the moment SKY is going on and off, also radio in one of the bedrooms coming on by itself, desktop always random but that's a really old XP system. Of course it may all just be ghosts:rotfl:.

sounds like you may need an electrician :eek:

macman

It will cost you nothing to access the heatsink and fan ducting and clear the fluff out. I agree with the above, that's by far the most likely cause of rapid shutdown, especially if you've been using it on your lap.
If that doesn't cure it, all you've lost is fifteen minutes of your time.
PS: Currys don't 'mend' laptops, they usually just wipe them and charge you for a new hard drive or mobo. Really the last place to go for PC or laptop repair.