Is it dead?

[anothereyjana]

This quite literally just happened. I was at home, my comp (HQ Presario CQ-60 Notebook, have had for a little over 2 1/2 years now) was working fine. I turn it off and pack it up, no unfortunate events happen along the way, reached my destination, plugged in the power cord (I usually always leave it plugged in as the screen automatically dims when it's on battery, which I find annoying), pushed the power button, and...NOTHING. It doesn't even try to turn on, no fan, no lights to indicate a partial power-up (except for the one on the side directly where the adaptor plugs in, to indicate that at least the power source is working), nothing.
I know that it's not the battery, since I just replaced it a couple of months ago, and there didn't seem to be any other real problems (my OS is Vista, which can do random and stupid stuff at times).

Does anyone have any idea of where to start as to what the problem could be? I know that the info is severely limited here, but I figured anything which could potentially point me in the right direction could help, if only to give me something to point the tech guys in the right direction if I have to take it in. Or does it sound like it is simply a lost cause and not even worth the time to take in and try to fix? :help:

[ellacharmed]

You always run it off the power brick (aka adapter)? Not let the battery fully drain and recharge it back to full at least once or 2x a month? And when you run from the power brick, the battery is still in its housing, all the time? Can the adapter power the laptop if you take out the battery, just to rule the battery out as a possible cause?

Is the adapter powered when you plug it in? Feels warm or cold after a half to a few hours?

Do you have a spare monitor and a monitor cable that the laptop has a port for? VGA, HDMI, DVI? Or a friend/neighbor that you can borrow their monitor for 5 minutes? So that you can plug in the laptop to the monitor to see if the laptop screen is the culprit.

I once spent days troubleshooting a 4yo laptop that appears with faint screen, and I thought the LCD backlight was going. And it ends up being the laptop's screen dim switch (to put it to sleep or when the screen is closed) being caked over with dirt that seems to press it down permanently. So, also check and clean for dust, dirt and stuff. :)

[anothereyjana]

I might have worded things badly: what I meant was that the machine itself won't start, not just the monitor. Basically, on the side, where the adaptor/power brick plugs into the comp, there's a small LED light which just shows that the adaptor itself is working, and the machine is still getting power, but everything else is completely dead, or at least acts like it. It won't start period, not even partially, yet, not even twenty minutes before that, it was working fine. I press the on button and absolutely nothing happens.

I've only had the battery for a few months, I admit that I haven't completely drained it since getting it, but I do know that it can run off just the brick or just the battery if need be (and I do keep the battery housed). According to battery check (last time I ran it), the battery worked fine, and, when I would try turning the comp on with the dead battery I had before which I replaced and no brick, it would at least try to start. It would shut off again after only five seconds, but it would start. So, battery/brick are definately out as culprits.

[whiterider]

So, wait - it works when you run off just the brick or just the battery? But not both together?

[ellacharmed]

Running electronics from a power mains with battery in them is a Very Bad Thing to do...it affects batteries in some manner, too technical that I can't even explain it as I don't understand it myself. ;)

[simsample]

Running electronics from a power mains with battery in them is a Very Bad Thing to do...it affects batteries in some manner, too technical that I can't even explain it as I don't understand it myself. ;)

That's what i thought too, but apparently this isn't true for most modern batteries:
http://www.marco.org/2009/09/24/laptop-battery-myths
It seems heat is the main thing that kills them (and age- as well as cycles) so that would be the only reason to unplug them.
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries
I think the Compaq Presarios have Li-ion batteries.

anothereyjana, have you had any luck yet? The only thing I can think of is to try completely discharging the laptop unit. To do this, remove the battery and disconnect the power cord, then press the power on button for a few seconds. Do this a few times, then reconnect everything and try to start the laptop again.

[anothereyjana]

simsample--What you suggested did it, even though I could have sworn it wasn't either the battery or brick. Sorry for doubting you guys. :sheep: :turtle:
And yeah, Compaq Presarios use Li-ion batteries (or at least, the series I use does).

I was actually scared that it was completely dead because of having to un-install TS2 earlier in the year due to it only having a chipset family instead of an actual graphics card, and it's always been a bit of a worry of mine that I hadn't un-installed it in time and had done permanent damage to it, and that it had finally decided to crap out and take the rest of the comp with it (I was told that that often happens).

Thank you so much you guys!

[ellacharmed]

Oh, that's good news! :up:

If you're planning to use the power brick all the time and leave it tethered, you should take out the battery first. But that kinda defeats the purpose of having a laptop, though. :)
Not to mention, having to place the battery when you're on the move and not knowing how much battery is left. So, perhaps just a regular 100% drain of the battery once a month, or on a schedule that fits your usage, could be a good compromise.

Locking as solved.