Laptop does not boot

C

c1001

Gawd
Joined
Oct 24, 2004
Messages
943
I have a three y/o Compaq Presario 2100 laptop which I haven't used for around six months. I tried turning it on yesterday but it will not boot up. When I press the power button the caps and num buttons light up and I hear it power up for a second, but then it shuts down and goes into a loop of powering up and shutting down. I have to end this loop by disconnecting the power cord.

I thought that the battery might be drained so I left it charging overnight but the same thing happens. I ejected the battery and powered it up with only the power cord - no change. I have also tried reinserting the memory and the hard drive in case something had come loose.

Any ideas?
 
How far does it get into the boot process, just lighting up the caps / num lock keys or does the screen ever turn on? Do you hear anything other then it starting (beeps) ?
 
It probably doesn't stay on for more than 2 seconds. The lights come on and then the machine shuts down, restarts, reboots, etc. The screen never comes on. I hear the HDD motor come on when it starts, but that it it. no beeps, nothing else.
 
As opposed to reinserting the components, have you tried removing the memory and hard drive and then powering up to see if it at least gives you POST errors? If not, then it's probably a problem with the motherboard itself. Try reinserting the memory and see what happens. If the system boots, but says there's no hard drive, then try reinsterting the hard drive and see what happens.

Most likely though, the issue seems to be the motherboard itself.

Good luck!
 
Thanks for the input. Unfortunately I'm away from that laptop for the next two weeks, but I'll try your recommendations then. If it is the mobo then that POS computer is history. I just need the data from the hard drive.

That COMPAQ has been an endless source of hardware problems. Modem failed, power cord connector failed, touchpad stopped working, now this. It shows how unbelieveably crappy components can be - even those in a "name brand" computer.
 
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