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Author Topic: Old Laptop Issue  (Read 6106 times)

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t2ick

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    Old Laptop Issue
    « on: September 28, 2016, 06:54:33 AM »
    Hello everyone, I'm not sure if I'm posting this in the right place. If I'm wrong, excuse me.

    So, my friend gave me an old laptop and he wants to know what's the problem here? The same thing keeps going on forever.

    Don't want to write all the stuff that's in the image so I'll just post it here. I hope you can see everything clearly. I think something's wrong with the charging cable (or however it's called) any ideas what to do to fix it?


    patio

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    Re: Old Laptop Issue
    « Reply #1 on: September 28, 2016, 07:03:16 AM »
    It needs a new CMOS battery...
    " Anyone who goes to a psychiatrist should have his head examined. "

    DaveLembke



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    Re: Old Laptop Issue
    « Reply #2 on: September 28, 2016, 08:43:58 AM »
    Appears to be that its not detecting the hard drive and so its in a boot loop looking for PXE service that it doesnt detect. It could be as patio suggests a weak cmos battery making it act odd, but the hard drive should be detected. Can you get into the bios and check boot order and see if it detects the hard drive as well as is it keeping the date time correct or is it showing a wrong date/time?

    Unless this laptop is going to be used as a thin client etc, PXE Network Boot should be the last on the list or even disabled in the boot order. Boot order is usually:

    First Boot Device = CD/DVD ROM or Optical Drive
    Second Boot Device = Hard Drive


    If you use bootable USB media on occasion or a USB external CD or DVD drive that you need to boot from you would want it to have USB Media Booting ( USB Removable Devices ) as 2nd in the list with the Hard Drive 3rd on the list. Some BIOS's you need to even specify what type of USB device is connected vs USB Removable Media.

    If no hard drive is shown by the BIOS then the hard drive is likely shot and you need a new one ( OR ) if you looking to get it up and running and willing to run Linux as the OS you can make a Linux bootable USB stick on a USB stick that is4GB in size or larger with 8GB or larger suggested so that you can have room to add programs and data without running out of space. I use Linux Mint on laptops that i get for free that dont have an OS and it runs perfectly well off the USB stick, however due to USB 2.0 speed and USB flash media being slow, booting and loading programs can take longer than if Linux was running from an internal Hard Drive.

    t2ick

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      Re: Old Laptop Issue
      « Reply #3 on: September 28, 2016, 11:06:18 AM »
      So I did everything like you said and took a few pictures. This is how it looked when I first opened Bios.



      And then I changed the 1st boot device like you said.



      I still get the same thing that's in my main post. The time and date is right too.

      If you need I can drop other pictures of Main and Advanced. So what's the problem? I forgot to tell you that the laptop won't turn off without the charging cable.

      DaveLembke



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      Re: Old Laptop Issue
      « Reply #4 on: September 28, 2016, 02:02:59 PM »
      Quote
      I forgot to tell you that the laptop won't turn off without the charging cable.

      OFF?

      So if you hold the power button in, it wont shut off unless its powered off of the power supply cable?

      In BIOS when you look at the hard drive info it should say make/model of the drive detected. If it says NONE then the hard drive is shot. If it wont shut off unless power supply is connected to laptop then the main board could have a very very strange failure. Its usually that a laptop wont power ON without the charge cable connected. Any known history on this laptop from prior owner, like did it take a bath last it was used when it died somehow or a quick drop kick down a flight of steps?

      t2ick

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        Re: Old Laptop Issue
        « Reply #5 on: September 28, 2016, 09:14:38 PM »
        I meant ON sorry. My bad.

        Geek-9pm


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        Re: Old Laptop Issue
        « Reply #6 on: September 28, 2016, 10:34:34 PM »
        Make?
        Model?
        Age?

        Unless it is less that three years old OR was a premium laptop, it may not ber wroth fixing it.   8)
        Assume the motherboard and display are good. RAM OK.
        Repair costs:
        New Battery    -   $35
        New AC Power  -  $25
        New Hard Drive   $20
        3 hours of labor.  $24
        (At $8 per hour.)
        Estimated:         $ 104

        Some decent used laptops on eBay go for $110 and less with OS.
        Think it over...    :)

        DaveLembke



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        Re: Old Laptop Issue
        « Reply #7 on: September 28, 2016, 11:53:23 PM »

        Quote
        3 hours of labor.  $24
        (At $8 per hour.)

        Geek.... where are computer repairs only $8 an hour?   McDonalds hires locally for $10 an hour. I'd be scared to have someone at $8 an hour working on my computer.

        Just as a comparison, I charge $40 an hour and a local computer shop in my area charges $90 an hour.