HP dv5224nr

I rarely use my laptop and I have had a booting problem before (you sometimes had to hit alt+ctrl+delete in order to get programs to start to load). However, I tried turning on the system today and it will usually not boot. 99/100 times all the lights turn on except the power light located on the keyboard and the screen. This non booting is very frustrating, I have tried holding F10 to turn it on in boot mode but that seems to have no effect to booting at all. Now the 1/100 times it actually boots it usually ends up freezing on me compelely and not working or the power just compelety cuts out. Some times this happens fast and I can not really do much other times(well once) it lasted longer and I was in the process of updating windows/scaning for viruses when the "power went out". I am trying this with the battery out since it is easier to cut the power then it will not boot without the battery. I have also tried to open up the back of the laptop to see if anything is loose but there is one screw that will NOT move at all. Any clue on what to do? All of the wires (except power cord are out and there is no disk in the pc) I have also tired restoreing the original bios settings along with a quick check of the hard drive in the bios settings but it came back fine. The long test froze and it did not compelete. Please help, Thanks

Hi, sorry to hear of the problems with your laptop computer. here's some things to consider doing: 1 Taking all ESD precautions take out the RAM chips…if you have 2 Ram modules make sure you keep tabs on which one goes where…. clean the contacts very gently..a soft pencil eraser used gently (note the emphasis on gently will be OK to clean the contacts on the chips, Replace in the existing positions, and now try to boot up….any changes in performance? if not then: 2 Check to see if a chip has gone bad…. here's the idea take out one of the chips (make a note of everything you do and mark the chips (I use a tiny dot of blue or red easily removable adhesive tape on the label) so you can put it all back exactly as it was…(very important! as these steps can get confusing) see if it will boot on just one of the chips (if it does prepare for it to be slow…it will be running on only half its "horsepower" if no go then try all combinations of slots and chips ( so you have tried all alternatives ( thats why the notes are vital…work out the permutations in advance and then cross them off as you do each one. if no joy then 3 Replace Ram as it was originally…refer to those notes…. you can remove the blue /red dots of tape now. 4 Next download the hard drive manufacture's drive testing utility, burn it to CD and run the tests, both short and long…..does it pass, if not it could well be that the hard drive is on its way out. You may need to set your BIOS boot priority to boot first from CD/DVD drive followed by hard drive etc….dont forget to save the changes before exiting and have the drive testing CD in the drive when you save the changes. 5 If the hard drive passes…. then download a live distro of Linux, and burn a bootable CD/DVD…(burn the .iso as an image..dont just copy the files as that will not work) I recommend Puppy or Ubuntu for this but the choice is yours the idea here is that either of the two discs will boot into Linux providing the rest of your hardware is OK…if it boots into Linux then we have eliminated all hardware problems with the exception of a faulty hard drive…. so its then a Windows problem or a bad /failing hard drive. Just in case it is a failing hard drive then your first priority must be to copy off any important files that for one reason or another may not be in your most up to date back up…… You can use the live distro of linux to copy off any important stuff) from your hard drive ……if you need detailed instructions on any of this……. post back and we will do our best to help. One final point if your hard drive is failing dont keep trying it…… get your data off first if you can, as once it fails completely then it becomes a very expensive and time consuming thing to do…. generallyt not worth doing unless the data is very valuable………..when you would have a complete back up anyway! Regards paws

Hey thanks for the reply. I can not open up the laptop at all because one of the screws that is holding it together is being impossiable to turn and im starting to strip it so testing the RAM is almost out of the question unless I take it to a place that can actually take out a screw that is in a deep hole and will not turn at all. Also I am not sure where to find the hard drive manufacture's drive testing utility at all, do you know where to find it? One more thing is that I actually got it to boot for a minute before and this is the screen that showed up, does it help diagnose the problem at all?

Hi. the screen you showed up, indicates that at that point when the screen shot was taken the machine had not booted……..
The machine shows the pre Windows and POST tests stage…..
There is no need to dismantle your machine to check the RAM there are two memory modules (chips) located under the hatch in the bottom (underneath of your computer.
Before you start doing this
1 remove all cables and wires, from the machine
2 Make sure it is off, not in hibernation etc
3 Remove the battery
4 Turn the computer upside down so the "underneath is readily accessible
5 remove the two screws that hold in the memory hatch..you will see the memory immediately below.

If you want to check the hard drive manufacturer and you don't have this information on the paperwork that came with your computer, then like the memory, the hard drive is easily accessed, as it is in a similar place to the memory, but under a different hatch (accessed from the "underneath" the computer and covered by a similar hatch (also secured with 2 screws.
If you remove the hard drive you can easily check its make and model and download the appropriate hard drive testing utility.

Note it should take no longer than 30 seconds to gain access to the memory… and the same sort of time tfor the hard drive……. if its taking you longer than this then you are doing something wrong!

How did it go with using the Live Linux disc.?
Regards
paws
Ps I recommend strongly that you do not attempt to dissassemble or strip down your computer, unless you are experienced in doing this, and have the appropriate facilities…its very easy to wreck a laptop, unless you adopt the correct procedures…

There is no way for me to open up any part of my laptop except the part that exposes the touch pad. The other parts of the computer can not be accessed unless I can find a way to get that screw that is stripped out. So I think we have to eliminate the idea of me being able to look at anything inside the computer unless I bring it to a place where they have a tool that removes a stripped screw. I was able to turn on the laptop for 2 times today. Which brings me to another weird thing, it seems more likely to boot after being left alone for large amounts of time. Also it seems to boot in pairs of two. One time was for about 10 minutes and I took pictures of all the processes running along with a list of all the stuff in the services and startup in msconfig. If you want I could post them somewhere. The other time I managed to boot it for closer to 40 minutes. I managed to run a quick scan in Norton (everything came back normal) along with bringing it to the HP System check website. I did a Processor Test, Hard Disk Drive Test, Memory Test and Video test (along with all of the other tests) and everything came back normal. I then was in the process of doing an advanced test on (cant really remember but I think it was) the Hard Disk and Memory when it froze. Those tests would have taken about another 40 minutes each to complete so Im not entriely sure if Ill get it to run that long. I have not tried Linux yet because im not sure if it boots far enoungh to even boot through Linux since it either boots complelty(except that one time with the screen shot) or not at all (compelte black screen)

From what you say it sounds as though heat could be an issue…….. for how long has it been used since the last time it was cleaned free of dust from the air vents etc. ? As long as you got all your important stuff (data files and the like) safely copied off I would be inclined to follow the steps outlined in my previous post. If subsequently you find that you need to dismantle it then any competent computer technician's workshop will have the tools necessary to remove the recalciitrant screw…… However do get a fixed price quote for this before taking it in…… Some workshops will include a "loading" to their normal rates (mine included) as a contingency precaution… as it may be necessary to drill out the screw, and when doing this there is always a risk of causing collateral damage.