laptop dead?

Sharki

Sharki

Sharki

Associate
Joined
13 May 2007
Posts
103
Location
West Yorkshire, UK
Hey there guys! was just wondering whether this laptop i have is dead or not.

It basically doesn't boot, gets past default HP page (boot menu and all that jazz) then there's just a single "_" (underscore) on the screen and nothing happens
Laptop in question is a Hp pavilion ze 5700
also the laptop hdd light is lit on CONSTANTLY if its left alone when trying to boot up, trying to sort it for my driving instructor and my instinct is the HDD has gone bust :(

Not really been into laptops myself so i hope one of you may yield some information :P

Thanks in advance guys any reply is much appreciated
 
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At work we get the "_" when the machine is preparing to load from a floppy disk.

If you can get into the BIOS, double check the Boot configuration/order, might be that it's trying to load from a device it can't find.

If everything's ok in there then it sounds like the hdd might be pooped. :(
 
Obtain the drive manufacturer's diagnostic utility and test the drive.

If you can't test it in situ then remove the drive and connect it to a desktop machine and test it there. Depending on the drive type you may need an adapter.

Also, try booting the laptop from CD and see how far it gets. Any bootable CD such as a Windows or Linux installation disk will do. You may need to modify the boot order in the laptop's BIOS first.
 
im in the process of getting the latest version of ubuntu to confirm its actually dead, i checked out in the bios it reads its there (display model) it is set as default however nothing happens, no floppy or disc in it, just does nothing :/
i found a hard drive diagnostic tool in the actual bios and it scanned for 5 seconds (about a min ago) and reported back as failed, doubt hes going to like the news but i get a free lesson out of it lol :P
 
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