I'm having a problem getting my PC to boot up. After closing down Windows properly, I came back about 54 minutes later only to find out that it would not boot.
My Laptop Spec’s::
Panasonic Toughbook CF-50F1FGUKM
Windows XP Pro w/ SP1
Pentium M 1.40 GHz
Cache 1 MB
Bus Speed 400 MHz
Chipset Manufacturer Intel
Chipset Model 855PM
DDR SDRAM 128 MB
A couple things I have done is re-seated the memory. Removed any visible dust in the vents. Booting to the CDROM.
One thing I have to make mention of is the fact that we were using a 18.5v power supply instead of the 15.6v that it called out for. We had used the 18.5v several times, but only for a few minutes at a time.
Right now, when you turn it on I noticed that it will cycle through the indicator lights and all but two of them flash once. The 1.44 Drive light, and the hard drive light. I don’t hear the CPU fan turn on, but the unit does access the CDROM drive but it does not load.
I guess maybe that’s where we should start? How would you determine if the motherboard is fried?
I’m in trouble aren’t I? Worse case scenario I guess, is replacing the motherboard or even buying another CF-50 laptop for him..
And here’s the bigger problem…It’s not mine. All was doing for him was enabling him to be an administrator user so he would have the rights to change setting’s and such. I was able to do that but when I figured I would check on something real quick thenm turned it off….I didn’t realize that it would be the last time it would boot!
I’ve already let my friend know about what happened, and fortunately he’s not upset, but I am with me for agreeing to use the 18.5v ac charger!
to be honest yep i think some things fried, might not necessarily be caused by you using the 18.5v power block (probably though.), after all it is an old laptop and things do break with age.
i doubt there is much if anything you can do to test things, you'd need to swap out the cpu and motherboard which of course you don't have spares of to test each item individually.
personally i'd suggest buying a new cheap or refurbished laptop, it will be less expensive than trying to repair the old one plus will offer better performance.
should mention you can easily recover any important data off the broken laptop by connecting the hard drive to a working pc/laptop either by dock or an enclosure. (laptop drive might need an ide or sata type connection, i'd guess ide, so check first before buying anything.)
personally i use a docking station, but in your situation i'd probably put the drive into an enclosure that way after all data's been retrieved you can wipe the drive and then use it for backups or extra storage etc. etc.
Thank you so much fort your response. I surely appreciate it as bleak as it might be…lol. ……No I kind of figured that's what had happened. it's just unfortunate that it happened while I had it in my possession, and because of that, I feel that I should make it up to him with either the same or better replacement.
Thanks again for your quick response….I feel that I can accept this and move on.
Its never a good idea to use a power supply that supplies an over voltage compared with what is actually needed or recommended by the manufacturers,( as I guess you have found out!)
Some folks manage to "get away" with using an incorrect power supply for quite a while whilst others are not so lucky!
Generally the "tolerance" of half a volt is a working tolerance, used by many workshop technicians ( but is not recommended!) and pushing 18.5v into a system designed for something like 15.6 v is likely to cause a whole heap of trouble. I have replied to your topic on the same subject over at bleepingcomputer linky:
