My laptop won't start up?

Closed
cbrown228 - Jun 28, 2012 at 05:40 PM
 Leslie - Jul 2, 2012 at 03:48 PM
Hello,

Hi, I have a HP Pavilion dv7 running Vista. It tries to start up but completely shuts off! When it does try to start up, it asks to launch in "recovery mode or normal. I've tried both ways with no success. Help please! Could it be the battery or power cord? The battery is pretty much shot as it will only last 10-15 minutes w/o being plugged in.

Related:

1 response

xpcman Posts 19530 Registration date Wednesday October 8, 2008 Status Contributor Last seen June 15, 2019 1,825
Jun 28, 2012 at 05:58 PM
It could be motherboard problems or memory or hard drive problems or just corrupted Windows files.
1. MB - not much you can do but replace the laptop
2. memory - you can try to swap out one of the memory cards (if you have two) to identify if one is bad.
3. Hard drive problems are best delt with by replacing the drive. If you burned the HP recovery disks when the laptop was new then you can load the new drive with the factory image. If not, then you can buy a set of recovery disks from HP. HP does not stock recovery disks for OLD laptops.
4. If you want to restore the laptop to its factory state. Then, press F11 multiple times after seeing the HP screen Logo when you turn-on the laptop. It will give you an option to repair Windows or restore to the factory settings. It would be worth a try to use the Vista Repair options first. The factory-restore option give you a chance to backup your user files. But, you will probably need an external drive or Burnable CD/DVDs.

Some times you can boot with a Linux CD and copy your user files when Windows will not run. The Linux option can also help to identiry where the problem is located. If Linux runs fine from the CD then you know that the motherboard is OK.

You probably need a computer geek to do some of these options.

Good Luck
0
I have this exact same problem today with the exact computer. HP Pavilion DV7 with Vista. Same issue with battery. I've had this lap top for close to 2 yrs. Usually it starts right up, but today, it tries to start, shows the windows logo and then just goes to a dark screen with the cursor. Can't do anything from that point except a hard reboot. I've tried system restore 2x with the same results.
0