Compaq Laptop help ? Overheating,screen blank

Red Sleeping Beauty

Hi lads, I've got a Compaq Presario. It's been overheating and shutting down for a while now. Last night I was running a virus scan and it shut down, the bottom of it and around the bottom of the screen near the fan was very hot. I let it cool down for about 20mins then the same thing happened again -overheat then shut down. When I turned it back on the screen was dead. No life in it at all, no light coming out of it. The fan runs and there's lights coming on so the machine appears to be working but nothing on the screen. I connected it up to a telly and a PC monitor and nothing.

History :
The laptop doesn't seem to recognise the battery. About a year ago I dropped it and it broke basically, sent it off to be fixed under the insurance and they fixed what was broken but didn't put the OS on to it or install the drivers and I had forgotten to make back up discs so I was up shit creek without a paddle. Brought it to PC world where I bought it and a chap there put Windows and install it back up for me but since the repair last year the battery hasn't worked so the laptop's only run on mains plug and the fan's been constantly on.

Obviously I'm sending it off to the insurance crowd to see if it can be fixed (I've another year on the insurance).


What do ye think has happened ?

kikel

Ya probably fried a capacitor or the graphics chip. Your lucky to have the insurance.

Red Sleeping Beauty

The insurance crowd are pretty crap to deal with and you only get a call centre never an engineer...

I'm assuming that all the problems are interconnected - battery not working, fan constantly on, overheating, broken screen..... Do you think that they'd fix all the problems in one go ? Or would they just look at it, switch it on say "screen broken" and replace the capacitor/graphics chip ?
Would the latter be the standard method ?

Overheal

whats the model number. I think I might know what it is.

Red Sleeping Beauty

Presario V6000


Do ye think there's any risk to the hard drive ? I'd be gutted if I lost me stuff. Mind you I should've had it backed up . Hindisight's 20/20

Overheal

"Bingo Bango: Sugar in the Gas Tank. Your Ex-Husband strikes again."

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01087277&cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en

Remember when you send it off to mention that its seriously overheating, and any wear and tear (loose USB ports, missing rubber stoppers on the bottom of the laptop, other loose connections, etc) and they will be sure to look at those things, like re-applying thermal paste, etc. etc.

Just remember to ask them to tighten alll the usb ports. I mentioned a loose one on the right side and they didnt even bother with the left. theyre very lazy unless they know youre looking out for a specific thing. So mention that you expect the machine to be running much much colder than it is. I got them to get my machine idling at 40 down from 60.
download Everest Home edition (trial version) just to get a temperature readout. Be sure to be able to quote those temps.

And backup all your data and software license keys. Expect to reinstall all your favorite things. On a side note it doesnt sound at all like hard drive fault.... But tell them you heard it clicking last week, since they will reformat it anyway, you might as well get a fresh one.

Red Sleeping Beauty

Cheers for the input Overheal.

The symptoms on that are :

• The notebook does not detect wireless networks and the wireless adapter is not detected in the Device Manager.
• There is no video on the computer LCD panel or external monitor.
• The notebook has no power and no active LEDs.
• The notebook does not start.
• The battery charge indicator light does not turn on when the battery is installed and the AC adapter is connected.
• The notebook issues a single beep during boot indicating no power.
• The external monitor functions but there is no image on the notebook LCD panel.

I'm not really experiencing them symptoms as such. Although if there's one problem , then 2problems sure why not more. I'm less than impressed by Compaq and ticked off that they don't give you the OS discs :mad:
I'm praying actually that the insurance crowd either write it off or default on it so I'm due a new one (if it takes longer than 6weeks I get a new one basically)



Actually there's another issue with it - I can't play dvds or cds as the whole computer seems to slow down and the sound skips. Coincidently I had the same problem on a previous Compaq and also the whole laptop sometimes freezes.... I should've had these issues tended to before hand but I just struggled on like. Obviously , no I can't as the things as good as dead.

Red Sleeping Beauty

Overheal wrote: »

"Bingo Bango: Sugar in the Gas Tank. Your Ex-Husband strikes again."

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01087277&cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en

Remember when you send it off to mention that its seriously overheating, and any wear and tear (loose USB ports, missing rubber stoppers on the bottom of the laptop, other loose connections, etc) and they will be sure to look at those things, like re-applying thermal paste, etc. etc.

Just remember to ask them to tighten alll the usb ports. I mentioned a loose one on the right side and they didnt even bother with the left. theyre very lazy unless they know youre looking out for a specific thing. So mention that you expect the machine to be running much much colder than it is. I got them to get my machine idling at 40 down from 60.
download Everest Home edition (trial version) just to get a temperature readout. Be sure to be able to quote those temps.

And backup all your data and software license keys. Expect to reinstall all your favorite things. On a side note it doesnt sound at all like hard drive fault.... But tell them you heard it clicking last week, since they will reformat it anyway, you might as well get a fresh one.

When I rang the helpline I really only mentioned the screen issue and the battery not working. I'm waiting for a call from someone to confirm when they're picking it up. I'm not a fan of this stuff hence why I put it on the long finger, its all very confusing... I ring one person, he puts me on hold for a half hour then says someone will call me to arrange a pick up date then I'm expected to wait till god knows when for it to return...

Damn, I've no way of backing anything up as I can't connect my laptop to anything. Would it be worth taking out the hard drive ? I've got a spare blank one here that I could slot in. Feck that to losing all yr stuff over one bloody key!!! As I said, Compaq don't give you the OS discs and you're to make your own back ups , I got stung and didn't make back ups and when it was returned from it's last repair I had no discs, no OS and no drivers intalled... A chap in PC world where I bought it installed windows and the drivers for me like

Overheal

alan dunne 27 wrote: »

I'm not really experiencing them symptoms as such. Although if there's one problem , then 2problems sure why not more. I'm less than impressed by Compaq and ticked off that they don't give you the OS discs :mad:

... there was a lawsuit for that too, but finding information on it is proving difficult. for my dv6000 the bloatware that came with it prompted me to burn my own recovery disc (and so I have done) using the recovery partition already on the hard drive. I beleive the suit pertained to the fact that the recovery partition on some compaqs is actually hidden, whereas on mine its plainly visible from My Computer.

If youre on vista, go to start and type in "recovery disc creation" and see if you have that program.

Pertaining to my giz link, some of the commentators on that article claim success in removing the hard drive before shipping; they should still fix the laptop. however you will be voiding the warranty for the drive itself - but you will know if you are or not by a clear warning label on the drive. If you want a fresh drive do anything you can to keep the laptop cold (operate outside, use external fans, etc) and then copy out anything you need. Extra cooling should easilly buy you more time. Then again if there is no warning sticker you dont hurt your chances of a future repair session to get a new hard drive if its needed, and might as well take it out this time.

As for phone calls - I always dealt with HP over chat. Takes a while but its just more convenient and thurough than over the phone.

Red Sleeping Beauty

I can't.
A year ago the laptop was working fine but I never made the discs. Then I dropped it one night and everything was lost (or so I assume, I'm no wizz so I can't find hidden stuff ). So I sent it off to get fixed and they sent it back . Empty. Totally blank, no OS at all. I rang em up and said where's the windows like and was told that I have to install it (and thd drivers ) myself. I said I hadn't made the discs. They said "tough" and that I've to pay £25 +postage from the UK for replacements. I had to order them over a phone if I wanted em , but I've no credit card.... I went to PC world where I got it and a chap there had a look to see if he could recover anything, he said he couldn't and that he'd see if he could put Windows on it and install everything.

It came with Xp, I bought it Jan 07 like.

Overheal

alan dunne 27 wrote: »

I can't.
A year ago the laptop was working fine but I never made the discs. Then I dropped it one night and everything was lost (or so I assume, I'm no wizz so I can't find hidden stuff ). So I sent it off to get fixed and they sent it back . Empty. Totally blank, no OS at all. I rang em up and said where's the windows like and was told that I have to install it (and thd drivers ) myself. I said I hadn't made the discs. They said "tough" and that I've to pay £25 +postage from the UK for replacements. I had to order them over a phone if I wanted em , but I've no credit card.... I went to PC world where I got it and a chap there had a look to see if he could recover anything, he said he couldn't and that he'd see if he could put Windows on it and install everything.

It came with Xp, I bought it Jan 07 like.

Pray, you still have your OEM License key stuck to the bum of your laptop? I stuck mine to the inside of the dvd tray to prevent wear and tear and saved a copy of it in my gmail.

Red Sleeping Beauty

I do, it's not in the best condition but it's still there. I'd have thought that having that means they'll gimme replacement discs no hassle like ?
Apparently not as I've to pay for them :mad:

Overheal

alan dunne 27 wrote: »

I do, it's not in the best condition but it's still there. I'd have thought that having that means they'll gimme replacement discs no hassle like ?
Apparently not as I've to pay for them :mad:

I think, just mention your DVD playback issues and they wont be arsed going Sherlock Holmes on the issue, and will provide you with recovery discs based on the fact your DVD drive is borked so you couldnt burn them yourself. But again if you have the XP license key still, its a simple thing to just get an OEM install disc.

Red Sleeping Beauty

Oh right, thanks. I'm just reading the comments on that page you linked to. Some guys there mentioned removing teh hard drive when sending it off. Would I be wise to do this ? There's no way at all that I can back up my stuff at this stage. Do you reckon there's any chance that there's damage to the hard drive from the overheating though ?

Overheal

alan dunne 27 wrote: »

Oh right, thanks. I'm just reading the comments on that page you linked to. Some guys there mentioned removing teh hard drive when sending it off. Would I be wise to do this ? There's no way at all that I can back up my stuff at this stage. Do you reckon there's any chance that there's damage to the hard drive from the overheating though ?

if there is damage youd have noticed it in BSODs and clicking noises. etc.

As long as theres nothing in place warning you not to remove the hard drive, you should be fine to remove it. After your laptop is back and functioning, you can check the status of the hard drive then and backup data. If you think its damaged (which I doubt it is) then you can always send the laptop off again for them to replace the hard drive later. Western Digital Recommend hard drives dont exceed 60 degrees celsius in heat. and i highly doubt the hard drive has been given a chance to get that hot inside of 30 minutes. the components that would be shutting down your pc from overheat are the cpu and/or gpu. the heat wouldnt travel over to the hard disk fast enough. so no, I think your disk is fine.

Red Sleeping Beauty

I didn't get the blue screen, I've no screen at all like. There's no noises. It starts up and the machine seems to run and the fan runs and the lights are on but absolutely nothing on the screen. Dead as a dodo...
It's not HP it's going back to I don't think. well I don't know , but the insurance I bought through PC World.

Overheal

alan dunne 27 wrote: »

I didn't get the blue screen, I've no screen at all like. There's no noises. It starts up and the machine seems to run and the fan runs and the lights are on but absolutely nothing on the screen. Dead as a dodo...
It's not HP it's going back to I don't think. well I don't know , but the insurance I bought through PC World.

even still, give them the link to the warranty enhancement from HP.

Red Sleeping Beauty

Even though it's America only ?

massy086

this happened a while ago to my dell 1105 laptop i took it apart and blew out the fans with aero duster never had another problen dont know if it helps just my 2 cents worth

Overheal

alan dunne 27 wrote: »

Even though it's America only ?

well just for the sake of saying whats wrong with it at least. And considering youd be having PC World repair it, its not unreasonable to ask them to either not reformat your drive, or reformat it after copying your data to a spare drive.

Red Sleeping Beauty

Sent it off to mr UPS man today. I printed out a bullet point list of the faults (even the missing rubber stamps). I've a feeling they'll only sort out the screen and send it back saying that they only had a work order for what I said to the man on the phone . I did mention the battery thing as well but it was all very "hi, yes? it's broke? ok hang on 30mins and I'll get you booked in.... ok, someone wil call you with a collection date"

All very secret!
Ah well, we'll see how it goes . The CD/DVD drive issue is a pain in the hole, I basically don't have one. Can't play any sound while using the drive or the sound jumps and skips and overheats.... Well it'll be going back if they don't fix it.


Cheers for the replies though lads

Red Sleeping Beauty

I absolutely amazed.

It came back today and all seems in order. It's up an running, the battery is charging, I'm playing a CD and the sound isn't skipping and the fan isn't going wild!!

I really am shocked, the other dealings with this crowd I had were pretty crap but for the minute I'm pleased.

Thanks for all the replies guys.

Overheal

WHAT OF THE RUBBER FEET :eek:

Red Sleeping Beauty

Hah, they didn't gimme any new ones but it's down on the work sheet that they did! Says they gave me a new battery for the remote ( I thought it was just fooked!) and a new CD/DVD drive.

Actually, it's not totally working - it makes this insane beeping noise when I first turn it on and I have to press F12 to "boot from LAN" to get it to boot up and the noise to go..

what the hell is that ?

Red Sleeping Beauty

Can anyone help with this beeping noise ?
I can't find anything on the Compaq site...

It's a monotone beeping noise that's quite loud and it's during boot up , before the windows screen. I'm trying to Google it here but I'm getting all sorts of answers
After maybe a minute it stops , then windows starts and then everything's grand

Overheal

id contact them again. botched rubber feet and beeping?



They got some splainin' to do.

Red Sleeping Beauty

Haha, the rubber strips aren't bothered me half as much as they're bothering you

As I said the other day, the worker says they replaced the CD/DVD drive , is possible that there's something up with how they installed it ? I can't help but think this is something very simple that just needs updating or something

this is all their site gives me for "noise/beeps on boot up"
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&cc=us&docname=c00965412&dlc=en&product=3177516

Cryos

Hi Alan,

When it beeps does it give any message on the screen ?

go into your bios (normally F10 on HP / Compaq stuff) and use the Option "Restore to Factory Default" accept and let the laptop reset ? Im back in the Office on monday, if you get nowhere by then drop me a mail and ill investigate further with you.

cryos@hp.com

Ta

Mike

Overheal

Ah Cryos, you should hang out more often and reveal corporate secrets

Cryos

Id love to but my fellow colleages do that on a regular basis on http://www.theregister.co.uk or many other Tech sites

Red Sleeping Beauty

Cryos wrote: »

Hi Alan,

When it beeps does it give any message on the screen ?

go into your bios (normally F10 on HP / Compaq stuff) and use the Option "Restore to Factory Default" accept and let the laptop reset ? Im back in the Office on monday, if you get nowhere by then drop me a mail and ill investigate further with you.

cryos@hp.com

Ta

Mike

Wow, cheers for the help. I went in to the BIOS thing and restored setup defaults, then I got a blue screen that said windows has to shut down cause there's a problem. This screen only stays on for a second before the system restarts

Then I went back in to the bios thing and disabled something called SATA ? I can't remember quite what it was called but it seems to all be working now though.

Thanks a million for your help.


BTW, when I got my laptop repaired a couple of months ago they didn't put the original OS that came with it back on and gave me a note that said I've to do it. Then when I rang em I was told that I should've made back up discs which I never did and that to get new discs I'd have to pay £25 plus P&P to England to have them send me discs
Is there anyway to procure the proper discs for my laptop here in Ireland without the use of a credit card like ?


I bought it in PC World and I was out there telling them about it and they put Windows back on it and installed the drivers .

Cryos

Ah yes SATA Native Mode, if you Run Windows Vista it shouldnt of been an issue. Presume your using XP ?

That Version of Windows does the OEM Sticker on the bottom of the Machine Licence it for ? Should probably say Windows XP Home Edition OEM/

Btw were you dealing with PC World Support or was it HP Direct (1890945600?)

Red Sleeping Beauty

Yeah it's XP and I've still got my sticker on the bottom..

I have insurance through PC World but whoever it is you've to ring they said I've to pay (using a credit card which I don't have) £25 pluys postage to them in England for replacement discs...

The insurance setup is wierd, I ring a phone number and then they put me on hold, tell me they're "booking me in" and then I get a phone call a day later from someone to say that the laptop will be collected by a UPS man, it gets sent away somehwere in England, then comes back.

Cryos

Hmm ill check with PSG (Personal Systems Group) and see if i can get you anything, from what i remember if your laptop Dosnt come with Recovery Disks (Only the recovery partition) it is the responciblity of whoever wipes the hard disk to put the factory image back on it.

Red Sleeping Beauty

Ah right, well it was a year ago that the laptop took a fall and then the hard drive was banjo like, corrupt and nothing was recoverable. At least that's what I was told

Thanks for your help again you're a star