Dropped laptop, won't turn on - help

[HarlequinPuppet]

Turned on my laptop today to find out it was not shut down properly. (It was on and my boyfriend dropped it off the chair but he said it was still working at that point) Started windows normally, started loading and then turned off.

Turned it back on and it came to a blue screen asking what I wanted to boot from, I chose HDD and it started loading as usual but turned off again. Third time I turned it on I went to safe mode which started up fine. I went to check disk errors but it said it would do it at the next start-up so I restarted it and it started the diskcheck and then turned off again.

After this it has not been able to turn on at all. It is plugged in yet the light does not indicate that it is receiving any power. I have taken the battery out and put it back in and pressed the reset button yet nothing has happened.

I am not that worried about the laptop as it is over two years old now but I was planning on waiting until Windows 7 came out to buy a new one so it is really annoying that it couldn't last another few months.

However it also has 2 years worth of documents from uni, photos and downloads that I do not want to lose. Do you know what part of my laptop is broken, would it be worth fixing it and will it still be possible to recover the files? Thanks in advance.

 

[Kcircyrd]

Your hard drive was likely damage beyond repair when the computer was dropped while still on. Hard drives cannot take that sort of damage.
It may be possible to put your hard drive into a hard drive enclosure such as Nextar 3, then export the files you need to another hard drive... because often a hard drive that will not boot, but will still spin, can be accessed.
When you do this do it quickly, as you cannot rely upon the hard drive to last very long if it works at all.
You can find the Enclosures at your friendly neighborhood computer supply store, or online at www.directron.com, www.newegg.com, www.Frys.com, www.outpost.com, www.zipzoomfly.com, www.tigerdirect.com and others.

 

[strategic]

I have heard of many laptops falling, and none of them had a faulty HDD afterwards (not to say that yours isn't). Laptops for the most part have rugged construction, if the case isn't cracked at all, it should be fine. You most likely have loose connections internally. As for the HDD, if it wasn't doing anything before it fell, it should be ok. If you're in the market for a new laptop, now is probably the time anyway since there are offers with a free Windows 7 upgrade.

 

[HarlequinPuppet]

Thanks for both your advice. I will take it to the repair shop tomorrow and hopefully they can recover the files for me. In regards to the laptop itself it is very unfortunate timing as I have assignments to start soon.. I will have to do a bit of window shopping and check out these Windows 7 deals. It will probably take me a week or so to figure out the best model in my price range though. Fingers crossed.. Thanks again.

 

[strategic]

No problem, hopefully, if it is loose connections, you should be fine. I'm hoping it didn't fall around the area of the DC jack, othere than that, since the charge light isn't coming on (I hope) something is loose.
Donot try to move the DC jack around (wiggle the connection) as you may possibly damage it further.
If you post what your price range is, I'm sure we can help you out with a good system also (Country, maybe State will help).

 

[HarlequinPuppet]

Took it to the PC guys this morning and they should get back to me tomorrow arvo. Hoping it doesn't cost too much.. I would like to spend only around $1200 on a new laptop but I think I will probably need to spend $1500 for a decent one. I live in Brisbane, Australia.

I will need one that is good enough to use multimedia programs such as Photoshop or Dreamweaver but nothing like video editing or animation. It will also need to be good enough for gaming in particular Sims 3 which I know is quite a drain. I would like a Toshiba but I think they are expensive. My broken one is an Asus which has been quite good to me. Any info or recommendations would be great.

 

[strategic]

If you need a laptop for its portability, I would stay with a 15" screen; it's lighter, and you can get a very good system for under $1000. As for the one in repair, I don't think you ever mentioned what kind it is. If the repair is inexpensive, you can use it a a second computer. Mine is 4 yrears old and it still runs like new *fingers crossed*.

 

[HarlequinPuppet]

My broken one is an Asus PRO31J-something but I think I will replace it as I have found a good deal on a Toshiba Satellite L500/01E. Do you think this is a good enough laptop for the things I want to use it for? I haven't been able to find any reviews on it. I will probably wait until I get the news on my broken one before I go ahead and buy it though.

 

[strategic]

I think the Toshiba you mention is a pretty good laptop. I have done some searching and couldn't find any reviews either. Unfortunately, I don't use my laptop for gaming, I use it mainly for CAD/CAM, and that laptop would handle it no problem. One word of advice is to stay away from celeron or athlon processors (which this one doesn't have). You would probably want to check and make sure a Windows 7 upgrade is included. As for your Asus, I would probably spend $200-$300 in repairs if necessary. As for the HDD on your Asus, if you decide not to repair it, purchase an external encolsure (2 1/2") and run it as a external unit o your new one. I doubt very much it is damaged. Any HDD I've taken apart I found to be very sturdy, they a re precise instruments and can reasonably handle shock, especially being only 2 years old. I look forward to hearing the outcome

 

[Kcircyrd]

Any word on your laptop repair yet?

 

[HarlequinPuppet]

Yes just found out today that it was something that connects to the power that was damaged and they are unable to repair but if I sent the laptop back to Asus they could do it. The harddrive is fine and they are going to put it onto an external harddrive as they said the harddrive would still have to be in the laptop for Asus to repair it. If it is cheap enough I will still get it repaired so that my little sister can use it but I am just glad that I won't lose any data