Laptop fix.

[rogerg]

Had trouble with a laptop recently.
After it booted up it woud immediatly close down. Tried us usual fixes to no avail. Called PC world techguys, (I had a service agreement) and they solved the prob. Hear 'tis.

Remove battery.
Remove mains supply.
Hold start key for 30 secs.
Plug in mains and boot up.
Plug in battery.

All now OK.
Anyone know what was wrong? They said something about static.

Hope this helps someone.

[Saab Dastard]

I wonder if holding down the Start button with no battery or mains supply drains the CMOS battery, thus resetting the CMOS?

Just a thought, may be completely wrong.

I'm not sure that inserting the battery while the laptop is actually running on mains power is advisable.

SD

[x213a]

I have read about this solution before. probably on here??

I think it's something about discharging capacitors.

[OneIn60rule]

I had a problem when I got my first laptop.

I don't know how it happened but I guess I hadn't shut it down properly or such. No matter what I tried, switching on/off it would never get to windows.

To solve it I had to turn it off, remove the battery and then insert the battery.
Turned the laptop back on, booted to windows!!!
Worked!

Thought I'd have a nightmare.

[Lancelot37]

It's called releasing Flea Power. (I kid you not!)

Switching off and holding the power button down won't work. The power supply must be removed first.

[rogerg]

Switching off and holding the power button down won't work. The power supply must be removed first.

Isn't That what I said?

[Simonta]

In a similar vein, I have a Toshiba laptop. It doesn't recognise that there is a battery in it at all. Completely dead without the power supply. I tried a new battery recharged on a different machine and got exactly the same result. I suspect there is a problem with the mobo power supply or the recharging circuits. Is there any hope???

Cheers

[Lancelot37]

A friend has the same problem with a Dell Laptop. Maybe better to just buy another as they are so cheap these days. My first laptop was about £1,300 and my latest was less than £500 and top spec. It's down to pocket money prices these days.

[Simonta]

Well I'll be ........

After posting my question, I spent some more time digging around for suggestions. I found a thread where someone had fixed the same problem (different Toshiba) with a BIOS update.

Nothing to lose so I tried it and bingo, the battery is back! Even more surprisingly, I didn't mention earlier that the battery wouldn't charge when the machine was shut down. It does now! How on earth a BIOS update can fix that is beyond me, but, it's sorted!

[Keef]

A bug in the BIOS? Something hiccups, and the BIOS decides it doesn't do batteries any more.

I certainly wouldn't have thought of looking there - I'd be prodding round the battery and power-in terminals looking for mechanical or electrical faults.

[mad_jock]

I think Simon has the possible fix for the Blue and lots of reds.

Re blow the BIOS and see if that helps.

[Simonta]

Thanks TSC and AFSKAP. You learn something every day...

[Wing Commander Fowler]

Flippin heck! I just started a new thread about a power problem with my mates Patriot, then take a swift look down here and find the blinkin solution!!!!! Well done guys!!! I have no idea which one solved it as did the power button AND the contact swipe but hey who cares! Ya can share the glory boys :ok: