How to fix - No power in my laptop or my laptop does not start

This is a common issue that is experienced by most of us.

You may name it in different ways such as blank screen, no display, notebook does not
boot, laptop does not boot or no post in laptop.

The above problem is likely to occur when one of these happens:

Display drivers not functioning properly

A/C adapter fails to function

Problem with RAM

Battery does not operate any more

Hard disk failure

Operating System files corrupted

Failure of backlight

Finally, malfunctioning of display card

Troubleshooting

Follow the below steps to fix the issue:

1. Checking the display

You can check if the issue is with the display of your laptop LCD or TFT display. You
can do this by connecting external display and if you are able to get display on external
display device then it is confirmed that it is the LCD or the TFT display that has to be
repaired.

Sometimes the corrupted display drivers might be the cause for the problem of not getting
the display on your notebook or displaying blank screen
We can try to resolve the issue by updating the display drivers and you have to check
with manufacturer of your notebook for the updated display drivers and if available
please update the drivers by reinstalling them or update from Device Manager (Right
click My Computer and select Properties and select Hardware tab and click on the option
Device Manager). You can update by expanding the display device and right click on it
and select the option “Update drivers”.

Expand the display device and right click on it and select uninstall and Windows will
reinstall the drivers automatically upon restart. This procedure of reinstalling the drivers
may vary, such as you may have to install the drivers from the Operating System CD that
comes with your laptop or from the recovery partition that in the system.

Even check with the manufacturer that if the latest BIOS for your laptop model is
available and if so, please update even your BIOS.

Be Cautious while updating BIOS as if not updated properly or if you downgrade the
BIOS or install a lower version of it, then your system may not work for ever and also
the BIOS for 32bit system differs from that of 64bit.

If there is no display even on external monitor then the issue is with the graphic adapter
malfunction of your notebook.

2. Test the A/C adapter

(Ensure that the power outlet you are using is in working condition)

Take off the A/C adapter connected to the notebook.

Detach the external devices (quick dock, surge connector, etc) attached to notebook.

Now, remove the battery from the notebook.

Press the power slider or the power button for 25 - 35 seconds to discharge the static
charges that might have stored in the laptop.

(With the prolonged usage of the laptop, some static charges tend to stay in the laptop
and these static charges do not allow the laptop to function normally.)

You can now reattach the A/C adapter. (We are running the laptop only on A/C power
and not using the battery)

Turn on the laptop.

If the laptop does not turn on now, check the power LED of the laptop.

If the LED is off or there is no light coming out, then the problem is mostly with the A/C
adapter which must have stopped working.
3. Checking the RAM

If there is light or LED is on but if the laptop does not turn on try by removing and
reinstalling the RAM.

This procedure has to be done safely and gently.

While checking for the cause of the problem, use only RAM that came with your laptop
and if you have installed a RAM that you have brought it separately please remove it as
this will let us know where the exact problem lies since if you are using a RAM that is
not compatible with the notebook, you may across these type of issues.

Note: To remove RAM or battery from your laptop, follow the steps in the manuals of
your laptop model as these differs for each model.

Also you may experience booting issues with your notebook when you have installed a
memory module (RAM) that is incompatible with your laptop computer. Inserting a
RAM each of same capacity instead of a single RAM of high capacity would resolve the
issue if you are upgrading your RAM.

4. Checking the Battery

Again, the procedure remains almost the same as that of A/C adapter with only few slight
changes

1. Take off the AC Adapter.

2. Disconnecting the external devices attached to notebook.

3. Take out the Battery.

4. Press the Power button for about 25 - 35 seconds to remove any static charges.

5. Reseat the battery (We are running the laptop now only with the battery and not using
the A/C adapter in this case)

6. Turn on the notebook and check if it powers up.

If the notebook does not power on, then the battery might have to be replaced.

5. Testing the hard disk

You may also try removing and reinstalling the hard disk as crashed hard disk can be one
of the reasons for the notebook to turn on.

You can find the steps for resolving the laptop does not start issue for HP, Dell, Lenovo,
Acer, Gateway notebooks from the below web link:

How to resolve the no boot issue in HP, Dell, Lenovo, Acer and Gateway laptops

Thank you for visiting my article “No power in my laptop or my laptop does not start”.