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Help! Tech S.O.S (Off topic)
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Joined: Apr 2009
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Not mine... my daughter's laptop.
I got the panic phone call..."Daddy, my laptop won't start and I need it for school"
I suggested checking the power supply voltage, disconnect the battery and let it set, reconnect everything and try it again.... and she said, they had already done that. She lives a few hours away so I couldn't get there to help.
I suggested carrying it to Staples or Best Buy since they fix computers. She was talking how she "needed" a new computer. I reminded her I wasn't buying her anymore computers so she needed to look into getting that one fixed and pronto if she needs it for school.
Best Buy was the closest at a 30 minute drive. She goes and calls me on the ride home. The kid there pushed the button and it started right up. He refused to check the power supply stating that the computer would tell her if the PS was bad.
Any ideas as to what would cause this? Just looking for some brain picking input. She's afraid it will do it again when she's working on a paper or assignment and miss the date which in her curriculum is apparently, super critical. There's only 2 months of school left until she graduates and gets a job so she can buy her own new computer. But knowing her.... those will be 8 weeks of terror every time she needs to turn on the laptop.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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Help! Tech S.O.S (Off topic)
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Joined: Jul 2000
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Bad power switch?
I don't agree with the statement that "the computer will tell her if the power supply is bad". What does that mean? It works or it doesn't. I have a $20 tester that plugs in to a desktop power supply, but I don't know how to test a laptop; sorry - I've built dozens of desktops and rarely use a laptop.
The first thing I would recommend is that she get a Dropbox account and save her paper very often regularly. Worst case, she finishes it in the library.
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Help! Tech S.O.S (Off topic)
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The first thing I would recommend is that she get a Dropbox account and save her paper very often regularly. Worst case, she finishes it in the library. Good advice. Save to a thumb drive - so access to the internet is not an issue.
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Help! Tech S.O.S (Off topic)
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Joined: Dec 2013
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....or Google drive. Also a good online stash.
My Dell laptop had a similar issue recently. Thought I had a bad battery and all I had to do was pull it and re-seat it. Wasn't making a good connection. Haven't had a problem since.
Also in my time with Dell laptops I've seen where the power supply box light blinks. Thought it was a bad mobo. Luckily I found that the supply just wasn't big enough for that laptop I was working with at the time. Once I got the correct box plugged in to the laptop, it worked fine.
 Steve BIAB/RB 2022, Pro Tools 2020, Korg N5, JBL LSR 4328 Powered Monitors, AKG/Shure Mics.
PC: Win11 PRO, 4 TB M2 SSD, 2 TB HD, 128 GB Memory
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Help! Tech S.O.S (Off topic)
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Joined: Jun 2005
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My friend has a 10 year old Fujitsu I gave her and sometimes she has to hold the power button for 4 or 5 seconds before it lights up instead of just pushing it for a second or two. So far it still powers up fine.
In this case it still could be a bad or intermittently bad PS. That happened with an Acer I had some years ago. I keep remembering what a good computer tech told me one time. There's no such thing as a good laptop. They're all POS's and if you use one a lot, travel with it and all that stuff a few years is all you get. If it just sits in one place and it's used like a desktop that's one thing but throwing it around all day, using it at school for everything for hours on end, not good. And they're rarely worth fixing. Most companies who issue them to employees are on a 2 or 3 year replacement program which is where all the Ebay resellers get their stock from.
Bob
Biab/RB latest build, Win 11 Pro, Ryzen 5 5600 G, 512 Gig SSD, 16 Gigs Ram, Steinberg UR22 MkII, Roland Sonic Cell, Kurzweil PC3, Hammond SK1, Korg PA3XPro, Garritan JABB, Hypercanvas, Sampletank 3, more.
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Help! Tech S.O.S (Off topic)
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Herb, ++ Intrex Computers ++ has locations throughout North Carolina. If they have a store close by your daughter's location, it maybe worth a visit. I recently used their services and can assure you they are great people to work with. Also, get the computer model and serial number from your daughter then visit the computer website and download ALL the computer specific documentation available. Chances are the computer has built-in hardware diagnostics that include checking the battery and power supply. Chances are the computer manufacture originally included a computer management software program to help with updates and troubleshooting. If the program has been removed have your daughter download and install it again. I'm in the process of switching to a hand-me-down Dell laptop and have found out a lot about them. OEM Dell laptop power supplies are smart and communicate with the laptop so if your daughter's laptop is a Dell with the original power supply, the power supply does have the ability to tell the laptop it is going bad. Dell laptops also have bios driven, hardware diagnostic tests accessible during boot up.
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Help! Tech S.O.S (Off topic)
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Joined: Apr 2009
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I'll relay this info to my daughter.
Yes, I have also had my Dells tell me that the power supply had a problem or when I used the wrong one, that I had the wrong power supply connected. I'm not sure if she has a Dell.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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Help! Tech S.O.S (Off topic)
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I've seen something similar where a laptop won't start. I have resolved by disconnecting the power cord, and completely removing the battery. Then put the battery back in, connect power and fire it up, and it started each time.
Scientifically, not a great answer I know, because I always like to find out 'why'. But this has sorted out this exact type of problem more than once for me.
Someone suggested that it's caused a fat electron getting stuck in a capacitor, but I reckon that's wrong. It would definitely be a resistor.
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
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Help! Tech S.O.S (Off topic)
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Joined: May 2000
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Nope, capacitors make already fat electrons expand .. becoming exponentially larger. That's it for sure.
Resistors just slow them down.. which they like.
<grin>
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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Help! Tech S.O.S (Off topic)
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Isn't this what that big new Collider thingy is doing in France? Looking for fat electrons...
Oh, boy they say nothing gets lost in the internet. I'm sure someone is going to see this and think it's the answer to the mystery of Dark Matter.
Bob
Biab/RB latest build, Win 11 Pro, Ryzen 5 5600 G, 512 Gig SSD, 16 Gigs Ram, Steinberg UR22 MkII, Roland Sonic Cell, Kurzweil PC3, Hammond SK1, Korg PA3XPro, Garritan JABB, Hypercanvas, Sampletank 3, more.
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Help! Tech S.O.S (Off topic)
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Nope, capacitors make already fat electrons expand .. becoming exponentially larger. That's it for sure.
Resistors just slow them down.. which they like.
<grin> and inductors make them dizzy from going around in circles.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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Help! Tech S.O.S (Off topic)
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any chance she had it plugged into an outlet that is controlled by a light switch? And the switch was flipped off?
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Help! Tech S.O.S (Off topic)
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I've got a laptop (that we inherited) that will not turn on. It used to work fine, then it just wouldn't turn on. I went through the usual things (battery out, no power, hold the on button for 60 seconds, let it rest overnight, try different power supply, etc). The first two times it happened, it would come back on for awhile (maybe a week or two), and then we'd go to it and it was just a dark screen. The third time, nothing seemed to work.
I even took most of it apart to make sure a connector had not come loose, but that didn't do anything either. I ran out of time to mess with it, so I'll see what happens when I get back to it, but I have definitely experienced a laptop just not coming on. And if you do a web search, you'll find there's lots of folks with the same problem.
John Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 12TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 12TB SATA BB2026/UMC204HD&404HD/Casios/Cakewalk/Reaper/Studio One/Notion/Dorico/Noteworthy/NI/Halion/IK http://www.sus4chord.com (under rehosting/construction)
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Help! Tech S.O.S (Off topic)
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Herb,
Did your daughter ever get her laptop going? Any update?
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Help! Tech S.O.S (Off topic)
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Yes... she did get it running.
In the OP ... she said she took it to the Best Buy store.... and the kid there pushed the "On" button and it fired up.
Been running since without issues.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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Help! Tech S.O.S (Off topic)
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Joined: Sep 2016
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PG Music Staff
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Yes... she did get it running.
In the OP ... she said she took it to the Best Buy store.... and the kid there pushed the "On" button and it fired up.
Been running since without issues. That's the way it always is with that kinda stuff, hey? Same thing whenever I take my computer to the Apple store it works 100% perfectly and there's nothing I can do to make it mimic the chaos it was creating just a few hours ago at home...
Will - PG Music
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Help! Tech S.O.S (Off topic)
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Yes... she did get it running.
In the OP ... she said she took it to the Best Buy store.... and the kid there pushed the "On" button and it fired up.
Been running since without issues. I seem to have the same luck with vehicles, mess up until I turn into the mechanic shop's driveway then ... perfection! Glad to know the laptop is working.
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There might be a loose connection somewhere and moving the computer around reset it. If it happens again check for a loose connection.
The bumper sticker said "I'm a veterinarian, therefore I can drive like an animal".
Suddenly I realized how many proctologists are on the road.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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