Need to get my laptop fixed, where to go?

Pighardia

Pighardia

Pighardia

Soldato
Joined
9 Jan 2011
Posts
17,987
Hi guys,

My laptop has been playing up for ages now, getting BSOD sometimes 5-6 times per night, sometimes it just freezes. Basically it is ****ed!

Where would be the best place to take it? I would ideally like to give it to someone and say "just give it back when it works" lol. I would probably like it reset and have everything checked tbh, It is definitely a hardware fault so I am kind of lost tbh.

I live quite close to a PC World, but imagine they will charge extortionate prices? There are a few local shops around too.
 
edscdk said:
how old is the machine what is its spec - roughly...

have you tried a reinstall + latest drivers etc?
Click to expand...

It is 3 years old, core2 duo 2ghz, 4gb ram, hd3470, 250gb hdd.

I have reinstalled W7, but it still fails to boot and crashes sometimes, it doesn't seem to have made much difference.

After crashing, when it starts up again it often will not POST, and I sometimes get a message which I can't quite remember atm but mentions failing to connect to hdd iirc, something about a cable failing.
 
Pighardia said:
It is 3 years old, core2 duo 2ghz, 4gb ram, hd3470, 250gb hdd.

I have reinstalled W7, but it still fails to boot and crashes sometimes, it doesn't seem to have made much difference.

After crashing, when it starts up again it often will not POST, and I sometimes get a message which I can't quite remember atm but mentions failing to connect to hdd iirc, something about a cable failing.
Click to expand...

most poeple will replace the mobo which is gonna set you back £60 labour + ??£120?? actual cost of the mobo plus a markup.. so I doubt you will get change from £250... look up your alptop on ebay to get the price of a mobo

1) run a ram test...
2) run prime 95 see if its overheating

if its over heating flow the dust out of the vents... if you are brave re-apply the thermal paste if its not the dust..

its the test 1 and 2 dont show anything obvious reseat the ram and HDD, check none of the USB ports broken (if they are make sure the metal pins are not shorting anything)

personally if you cannot fix it yourself I would sell it as faulty on the bay and replace it..... if you pay it will be expensive and you get little warranty also it may be a design fault so will only fail again if you replace the mobo
 
Well I am going to have a serious go at fixing it myself over the next week, as I just went along to PC world(it is only 5 min s away) and it will cost too much to get it done there, and they will only be sending it to the manufacturers anyway, so at least if I look at it a bit further I will be able to cut them out.

I really don't want to write it off though
 
Sounds like a failing HDD to me. The very last thing i'd do is put it on ebay for spares lol.

Does it still have problems running in 'safe mode'? (F8 on boot)

1. Try checking for a dust/fluff film between the cpu heatpipe/fan first.
2. Secondly. Go into the bios on boot, and select the HDD as the first boot device.
3. Another thing to try is to re-seat the ram. pop the ram out (i use a clean 1" paint brush to gently clean out the socket) then reinstall it.

Lastly identify which HDD manufacturer you have (you can find this out in the bios) visit their website to find their HDD checking tools - Check the drive with the manufacturers tools.

At the min i'm suspecting its a failed HDD. Probably a Western Digital blue in my recent experience. If so you can do this yourself for only the cost of the new drive as you seem to have the needed recovery media.
 
Last edited:
Thanks XysteR, I will try all of that.

I am in danger of leaving it too long tbh, as I do not used it that much, but I would miss it if it stopped working all together!
 
Pighardia said:
Thanks XysteR, I will try all of that.

I am in danger of leaving it too long tbh, as I do not used it that much, but I would miss it if it stopped working all together!
Click to expand...

Do it in the order i stated in my last post. The reasoning behind me leaving the HDD test to last is soley because it could be a combination of a failing HDD and thermal problem. The last thing you want is a computer whinging its too hot as your installing a brand new drive. It's just good practice to have a healthy breathing machine to work with :)
 
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