Help needed with gf's laptop

[captain zed]

Hi folks,
My gf's laptop packed up tofay with no warning whatsoever. At the time it was running off the battery.
Anyway i plugged it back in and...nothing. I checked the plug socket and charger and they seem okay.
However, when the laptop is plugged in, it makes this little ticking noise and when you pull the plug this noise slows down and stops.I took the battery out and it still makes the ticking noise
It's a Fujitsu Siemens Esprimo, Mobile
Windows vista
160GB HDD
Intel Celeron.
It has been working perfect up until now. I will open it up tomorrow to have a look for anything obvious.

Any idea's ??

Zzzzz

 

[Madxgraphics]

Any idea's ??

Zzzzz

Sounds like the HDD is gone..Does nothing show on the screen at all..? No POST no nada..?

 

[TriplexDread]

U take battery/power out and it still ticks?

For how long after it's been disconnected does this happen?

 

[captain zed]

Sounds like the HDD is gone..Does nothing show on the screen at all..? No POST no nada..?

Hi MadX,

Like the song war says "absolutely nothing", apart from that internal ticking noise. Is there anyway i can check the HDD ?

Thanks

 

[captain zed]

U take battery/power out and it still ticks?

For how long after it's been disconnected does this happen?

Whilst its plugged in it ticks constantly and as soon as you pull the plug its like it starts winding down immediately, giving maybe 10 ticks getting slower every tick.
I reckon its 18 months old.

Thanks for the reply

 

[captain zed]

Hi folks,
Got talking to a computer repair guy today about the broken laptop. He said it might be the mother boardor the HDD. He said take out the HDD and i should get the BIOS running. If this happens then i know its the HDD.
Well i took the HDD (i've had more trouble taking batteries out of a remote) out and still nada.
Does this mean its the mobo thats gone or could there still be summat else wrong.
I guess it will be either go to the shop or the bin at this stage cos i dont have enough experience.
I wont know if i'm being had.
Any suggestions for me??

 

[Madxgraphics]

Hi folks,
Got talking to a computer repair guy today about the broken laptop. He said it might be the mother boardor the HDD. He said take out the HDD and i should get the BIOS running. If this happens then i know its the HDD.
Well i took the HDD (i've had more trouble taking batteries out of a remote) out and still nada.
Does this mean its the mobo thats gone or could there still be summat else wrong.
I guess it will be either go to the shop or the bin at this stage cos i dont have enough experience.
I wont know if i'm being had.
Any suggestions for me??

Yup if you have removed the HDD and still no POST/BIOS then its the MOBO.....Ask around town about good repair shops, ask folk at work who they might recomend. Bit hard for us to suggest repair shops in Ireland, take it to PC World. Bit pricey. NAd hey not all repair people are rip off merchants that rip everybody off. I only rip off those that drive flash cars and wear fancy clothes...

 

[captain zed]

Well if its the mobo i think its out of my league, to be honest. I might open it up for a look see but i dont think i'd know what to look for.
I'll do a bit more research before i send it out. It may not be worth fixing. Also my gf wants to try and get all her photo's n stuff from the HDD if possible. I'll be busy now. As if i had nothing to do on me last two days of me holidays.
Oh well.
Thanks for your help though.

Zzzzz

 

[bodhi]

I think if someone came into the computer shop I worked in the phrase 'beyond economical repair' would be used. I certainly wouldn't think about replacing the motherboard in a laptop, it would be very very pricey, especially when you consider how cheap laptops are now.

Did your girlfriend not have her photos etc backed up? What you could do (if you want some boyfriend brownie points) is get a USB hard drive docking station and try plugging her hard drive into it to recover her data. Then it's a case of her getting a new laptop, and you transferring the data back onto it.

Let us know how you get on.

 

[Madxgraphics]

It can be quite tricky changing the MOBO on a laptop. I have had years experience repairing them and still struggle at times.
With the price of laptops now days, i'd say its probably more worth your while buying a new laptop, rather than repairing it...
Getting the photo's off the HDD is a piece of p*ss really..You have already removed it which is the first step..Now all you need is a 2.5 inch exteranl USB enclosure for the old HDD, pop it in the enclosure and conect it to your PC then look for the folder containing said photo's..Really couldn't be easier than that..Extract any other data you might need off the drive, refomat it and you now have a handy external USB drive to use for what ever you want to use it for..


Edit: Beaten to it by Bodhi

 

[captain zed]

Thanks for the tips lads....i might just send it to the shop and see what they say. Maybe just summat simples.
That enclosure thingy sound's like a good little gadget. I will look into it. And one for a 3.5 if they are available too.

Thanks again.

 

[bodhi]

Haha, sorry Madxgraphics, just got in there before you! ;-) lol.

You can get an external encolsure that will do 2.5" and 3.5" mate. Would be worth your while getting one and trying to get her data off it before you send it to a shop I would suggest. That way you know the important stuff (data) is safe!!

 

[captain zed]

Good tip there man....will do.

Ta very much. Can you dance like your sig LOL

 

[bodhi]

I sure can!! haha.

Try ebuyer, I'm sure I saw a 2.5/3.5 caddy there before pretty cheap. As I said, if it were me, I'd be getting the data off BEFORE I send the computer anywhere.

 

[captain zed]

Sound advice i reckon. Again, i am taught the importance of backing up. Well my gf is anyway.

I will try the shops we have in dublin to see.If not it'll be the net for the docking station.
MadX gave me a link and they were only small money.

Thanks again.

 

[captain zed]

Well lads i bought USB docking station from maplins today...43 euro's .
MadX gave me a link and they were 11 quid over int UK.
Rip ublic of ireland is right. Anyway i'm about to load up the hard drive i removed from me gf's lappy and see what happens.
Might tackle the mobo tomorrow

I will let ya's know how i get on, later on.
Can anyone smell smoke lol.

 

[TriplexDread]

Is the drive IDE or SATA?

IDE:
http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/35183...e-Enclosure/Product.html?ptsl=1&ob=Price&fb=0


SATA:
http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/10536...closure-With-USB-Connector-White/Product.html

Both with free postage not sure about Ireland though

Glad i don't live there with that price!!!

Also some cases are limited to the capacity of the drive. This need to be checked aswell. Hope your all sorted

 

[floppybootstomp]

I have one of those Maplins SATA docking stations, cost me 25 quid, takes 2.5" & 3.5" disks, tis good.

I also got an Akasa external hard disk caddy that takes a 300Gb IDE hardcdrive, that has it's uses as well

As for the laptop, reading this, I'd whip out the memory (you already have the hard disk) and bin it.

You can probably get an equivalent for £300.00 and a motherboard repair would probably cost about the same.

And completely off topic:

MadX:

You got promo pens for your business? Leave them at RS trade counter? Roman Road?

Well, if that ain't you, you got competition, lol

 

[Madxgraphics]

MadX:

You got promo pens for your business? Leave them at RS trade counter? Roman Road?

Well, if that ain't you, you got competition, lol

Nope not me Sir..Where abouts on Roman Road..? I stay about 2 minute walk from Roamn Road Market...

 

[captain zed]

Triple X....its a sata and its working fine. I took all her photo's and stuff off it and put it on my laptop.
Now i have another portable drive. The docking station is a great little gadget to have around cos it takes 2.5 and 3.5 drives.
I can dig out me 1Tb drive that me gf dropped ages ago and see if i canget the info from it.
Thanks for you're replies.

Are you guys telling me the laptop is kaput ??
Is there no fuses or owt i could check ?


Flopp's.....would the memory do in my laptop ?? Is it worth owt??

I might bring it to the shop and see what they quote and if its too dear then i'll getting me screwdriver at it and teach mesmelf a thing or two.
Tonight i learned how to go into disc management, find the new HDD and assign a drive letter....LOL. Ya's woulda been proud.

Thanks for all the help everyone....i'm off to bed now, hopefully.