Laptop won't turn on

[tnbs1993]

I have a gateway MA3 and I had it about a year and then one night my husband was on it and he said that it went crazy so he through we had a virus and shut it down. I tried to boot it back up and it would not turn on. The HD light would flash and the CD light would flash and both would make a noise. Do you think it is a bad HD, CD drive or motherboard?

 

[raybay]

No way to tell for sure from what you have told us. It could be any of those... Hard drive, memory module, power adapter, DVD drive, or dirt, hair, fiber and heat.... or even a power switch
First, check carefully for any lights or noise when you depress the <ON> Button. Then gently wiggle the plug from the power adapter where it plugs into the laptop as you depress the <ON> button to see if any lights or noise happen.
You can buy a new power adapter for about $11 to $22 on eBay, but that would take ten days to arrive. Can you borrow a power adapter from anyone... anyone that fits will be good enough for a brief test.
Second, do the sniff test with the covers off, as you try to detect a burned odor.
Third, you remove one memory module and try to turn on with the other. Then change the two around and try with the other module.
Some gateways have had trouble with the power adapter, but it is not easy to test at home. A good technician can use an instrument to test the power output. The hard drive should not be dying this soon unless it has had some impact.
Fourth, you can remove the hard drive from the section on the base of the computer, you can test with another or test yours in another laptop of similar configuration.
In short, get a tech smart person to look it over for you... of have a repair shop do an analysis... which will likely cost about $40

 

[tnbs1993]

When I first started my battery was dead and now it is charged so I don't think it is the cable, what do you think?

I tried with one memory out and it does the same thing the power light comes on for a second and then out I also see the HD light come on for the same amount of time.

 

[desigabri]

You didn't write anything about the display...does it means it stays black?

 

[tnbs1993]

yeah nothing on the screen, just the power light and the HD light up really fast and then go out.

 

[desigabri]

1) did you try using a working bootcd? I mean to watch if the system turned on without screen and cdrom working.

2) You could try using some cheap testing boards you'll find searching in eBay (for example) but for sure everywhere. You should find a mini-pci card that fits into the board and turn on. After that you'll see post codes and reading the the card manual be able to understand the problem.
Last week I had a laptop with similar problem and it didn't turn on, no display, but hard disk and cdrom led flashing for a bit and then stoped. I tryed all basically things and finally I checked with the mini-pci testing card. The code said me about battery problem and I couldn't beleave it. But I checked the battery into the laptop and moving it then it detached from the board. It seemed to me still impossible that laptop didn't boot for that...I soldered it (the battery socket) and Laptop turned on!!! It is a Compaq M2000.