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Solve : Compaq computer won't boot? |
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Answer» Hello, my mother has a relatively new Compaq Presario F572US LAPTOP that won't boot reliably. Usually, after you press the power button, the lights come on, the fan spins a bit and the CD drive makes a LITTLE noise, but nothing ever comes up on the screen. It then powers itself off and does it all over again. Sometimes it does this power cycling a few times and then the Compaq splash screen comes up, or it just powers off again without booting. Once it does boot (if I am so lucky), the computer works fine. I am writing this on it even. I tried flashing the BIOS to the most up to date and that didn't help. I am only here for another day and I am running out of ideas on how to fix this, if it even is fixable. I've read somewhere that HP and Compaq had a lot of bad motherboards. Unfortunately, my mother has owned this for 1.5 years, yet she stopped using it after only 6 months and now I'm afraid her warranty is up. Thank you all for any help you can give and Merry Christmas! Why did she stop using it? Is the battery in it? Try removing the battery and then starting it. Does that work? She stopped using it because she couldn't get it to start. I live a thousand miles away and don't go home to visit very often. Yes, the battery is in it, although it wouldn't CHARGE initially. After I flashed the BIOS to the newest version, it STARTED charging again. Yes, the Recovery partition is still there and I even reinstalled Vista from it to see if that would correct the problem. It did not... Yes, the computer shows the correct time. Once the computer finally "catches" and boots up, it runs fine. I am tempted to just tell her not to ever shut it down, but we all know that is impractical, especially since every major update from MS requires a restart. I'd love to just get it fixed while I can. The best way I can compare this to is when a car doesn't want to start, it sometimes takes it a few turns of the key for it to turn over and start up. Same with this computer. It takes a few tries at powering up before it actually starts booting. Thanks.I have that very same model notebook PC. It's unfortunate she did not pursue this problem with HP while the computer was still under warranty. The manufacturer's warranty is for 1 year. Did she pay for an extended warranty, which some retailers often try to sell customers? The reason I asked about the battery is that I sometimes run mine with the battery out. I just wondered whether taking the battery out would make in difference in how it behaves. I doubt it would make a difference, but might as well try it. I have not flashed the BIOS in mine. I have not had problems with mine, which I purchased in July 2007, apparently about the same time your mother got hers. You might take the cover off the memory compartment and remove and then reinstall the memory, just to make sure it's properly seated. Granted, since it runs after it finally boots up, that would seem to indicate the memory is OK. I wish I could be more helpful but I'm not sure what might be the cause of the problem. Hopefully, some other members will have some ideas on this. Yes, I'm disappointed she didn't go the warranty route earlier too. She bought it in July 2007 also. I have tried just about everything I know, even switching the two RAM sticks around. No luck. The battery in or out doesn't seem to make any difference. Thanks for your advice though!Quote I am tempted to just tell her not to ever shut it down, but we all know that is impractical, especially since every major update from MS requires a restart.If she were to limit downloading of updates to one time per month, this idea of leaving it on could at least minimize the frequency of having to restart. Will the computer go into Sleep mode and come out of it OK? Sleep mode can be initiated from the Start menu or by holding the fn key (between left Ctrl and Windows key) and pressing the f5 key, or by simply closing the computer, i.e. putting the top down. If done by closing the computer, opening it will wake it up. If done via Start menu or fn/f5, it should awaken by touching any key or the touchpad. Have you uninstalled any of the software that came with it? Getting rid of the extra software manufacturers install on new computers can sometimes improve performance. Although hardware issues seem the likely cause of the problem with your mother's notebook PC, you still might do some software cleanup if you have time. Some of HP stuff can be removed. I removed Norton anit-virus right away because I knew I wasn't going to use it; it has a reputation of being a resource hog. She also has a trial version of Microsoft Office (Student and Home edition) installed, right? If she does not intend to pay for a permanent license for Office, you might as well uninstall it. Here's a good reference on doing some cleanup: So, you have a new machine shipped with XP/Vista.... He also lists some freeware anti-virus and other software. I'm not sure about it coming out of sleep, I'll have to try that. I have set it up to never shutdown, even when idle for long PERIODS, but I have the monitor setup to shut off fairly quickly. I will try the sleep thing though, thanks. As for the bloatware, I've cleaned it up pretty well. I've installed AVG, etc. Well, I found on the HP website that this model was affected by a bad BIOS which allowed the laptop to overheat and due to this, they have extended their warranty another year. We will be getting it fixed for free by HP. Thanks for all your suggestions! |
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