• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Need Laptop Help, Please

B

Buxton

Member
Ok, so I borrowed my friends laptop to use this summer in europe. Its a Compaq Pesario 700, winxp sp2, nothing special, but I just need it for email, irc and the web so it will get the job done. I fired it up before I left and installed a few programs I would need, everything worked fine. *Flight from Atlanta to Amsterdam and three days in Amsterdam (computer not turned on at all)* I get here to France and boot it on up from the battery. Everything is fine, I mees around for a bit with stuff and no problems at all. I plug in the network cable (doesn't do any good, we didn't have the internet set up yet) and in a few seconds the laptop says its going into hibernate mode and then it goes black. I wait a minute or two and try to turn it back on and the battery light just flashes at me. The guy I borrowed it from said the battery is bad and wouldn't last long, so no problem. I go to the local version of wal-mart (its called Cora and its just like wal-mart without all the whitetrash) and get a plug adapter (not a convertor, the little black box in the middle of the power cable handles the EU v. US power difference). I connect it all and let it charge for awhile. Hit the power button and nothing. When its connected to the wall the power plug light comes on, so its getting power, and when I first plug it in the battery light stays on for a bit and then goes off (after 10 minutes or so). One final note: I noticed that I failed to remove the wireless card from the side of the machine when I packed it and its now jammed in there farther than it should be, I know thats a problem, but it worked with it like that when I first got here so I don't see why it wouldn't do it again. Any and all help is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.


Bux
 
One final note: I noticed that I failed to remove the wireless card from the side of the machine when I packed it and its now jammed in there farther than it should be, I know thats a problem, but it worked with it like that when I first got here so I don't see why it wouldn't do it again.
Click to expand...

Sounds to me like your lappy is fried if that card is jammed like you say. It may have worked once and you got lucky. It sounds like your luck has run out. Who knows...
 
If you have the guts and permission from your friend, open that puppy up and take a look inside. I doubt that the jamming of the wireless card would fry the rest of your computer, but I might be wrong. Most of the time, the PCI card is south of the CPU and is nowhere near the memory, since that resides on the bottom, most of the time. It might be close to the hard-drive, but they have cages around them, so I doubt that it was damaged in the process.

Make sure that you try to turn on the laptop without the battery inside, if you have not already. My Compaq Presario developed this strange problem where it refused to draw power from the cord, and would use up battery instead, even when it was plugged in.

Good luck.
 
Thanks for the advice, I'll see about taking the battery out and if its cool with my friend cracking it open and poking around (I have nothing to lose at this point it seems). Now where to find a set of screwdrivers in France....


Bux
 
Update: so I had given up and was going to put the thing back in the bag to sit on a shelf when I noticed that the wireless card would push in some, so I did that and hit the power button and it came right on and even still had the saved hibernation state of were I was when it shut off before. Why it works I have no clue, but it does, so thats good enough for me. Thanks for the help guys.


Bux
 
Amazingly enough its been on for about 5-6 days solid now, I even rebooted it once just because I was feeling lucky. Everything seems to be working fine, I don't know how, but I'm happy it is. Thanks again for the help.

Bux
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top