We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum... Read More »
We're aware that some users are experiencing technical issues which the team are working to resolve. See the Community Noticeboard for more info. Thank you for your patience.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
New HP Laptop Issue
Options
Comments
-
CoastingHatbox said:Hi JWM,
Which model of Pavillion laptop is it?Under no circumstances should a laptop instantly lose power. Even if the battery capacity is depleted, the user should receive a battery low warning before this happens and the laptop should gracefully shut down before the battery becomes fully depleted.
There are a few possible causes of this problem.- Battery fault
- Motherboard fault
- Firmware fault
I support Dell Hardware so I can't really speak at all for HP Laptops, however, this laptop should have a built in diagnostic utility that should test the battery health and confirm the battery charges like it should. With the exact model number, we should be able to find the steps for launching the diagnostic utility. It may indicate decisively what the fault is. This BIOS utility probably will also give battery health information and may even have a system event log which could show useful information from the occasions on which the laptop has lost power.I would also make sure all the device drivers and firmware (even some batteries have firmware) on the laptop are up to date. You should be able to obtain the latest driver packages in one of three ways:- Using an update utility already pre-installed by HP on the laptop
- Downloading all of the latest applicable firmware from the HP support site
- Via Microsoft Update
The third option is the easiest and should happen automatically. However, it is the least reliable method because it takes time for the latest device drivers to become available via Microsoft Update. Often a manufacturer will release an update months before it becomes available from Microsoft.In terms of getting the laptop repaired, John Lewis may allow you to upgrade the warranty provided with the laptop to one which to on on-site warranty, rather than a return-to-base warranty. This means that an engineer and the parts to come to you, instead of returning the laptop to JL, who in turn probably send it onto their repairer.If JL don't provide this warranty upgrade option, then it may be possible to buy an on-site warranty direct from HP. If so, they will have multiple warranty levels which are probably based on how quickly repairs are expidited. I know with Dell the most expensive warranty option gets you a repair within 4 hours, where as the standard one is next business day. If a HP on-site warranty is an option, be sure to check the details in order to avoid spending more than you need to.Another option is to obtain a spare laptop for your son to use, whilst the original is sent away for repair by JL. It doesn't necessarily have to be a new laptop. Because I'm so dependent on having a working laptop, I've always kept a spare one around. In fact, right now there are three spares, although one is earmarked for a friend of the family who is cash strapped right now and in need of one in the near future.Good luck.TL;DR: Run embedded diagnostic utility and confirm drivers are fully up to dateSorry I haven't revisited this thread for a couple of days.One of my son's friends had a spare laptop so we sent it off (first ensuring all work was on the replacement). He has a dissertation due at the end of Jan and was panicking that the laptop would die - given this is his final year and he is extremely stressed out this seemed like the best solution.Thank you every one who replied, I set up the thread as I wanted to vent but ended up getting so much help. Very grateful.2
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

Categories
- All Categories
- 351K Banking & Borrowing
- 253.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 453.6K Spending & Discounts
- 244K Work, Benefits & Business
- 598.9K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 176.9K Life & Family
- 257.3K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.6K Read-Only Boards