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Gateway M Series Power Fuckup

Mai-KeroMai-Kero Registered User regular
edited May 2009 in Help / Advice Forum
So, my girlfriend's laptop is malfunctioning in the worst way. It won't turn on at all, with or without the power cord connected to it. We've tried different outlets, and with or without the battery (which is charged.)

Customer support is automated and we can't get past the "What is your serial number" because the sticker with it is faded.

I'm guessing that something inside the laptop is totally fucked, which is probably the power supply, or that the power button is just disconnected or something.

Any ideas?

Mai-Kero on

Posts

  • urahonkyurahonky Cynical Old Man Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    What does it do? When you hit the button the light comes on, but then nothing?

    I've had that issue with my old Gateway laptop and I took out the memory/HDD and put it back in and it magically worked.

    urahonky on
  • blakfeldblakfeld Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Your AC adapter is probably toast. Got a buddy with a voltmeter? How are you sure that the battery is charged?

    blakfeld on
  • Mai-KeroMai-Kero Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Absolutely nothing happens. No lights, no anything. It doesn't even say it's charging or plugged in.

    I'm very sure the battery is charged because I was using it earlier today with the AC plugged in

    Mai-Kero on
  • finalflight89finalflight89 Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Call Gateway again, but hammer 0 during those dumb prompts. They should connect you to an actual person, and they should be able to do something.

    finalflight89 on
  • Mai-KeroMai-Kero Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    So it's out of warranty. She bought it refurbished six months ago, so not a huge surprise. I tried just reseating the RAM and HDD, but that didn't help, I'm guessing it's a problem with the motherboard or something. Maybe I'll try to convince her to get a netbook now.

    We do need a way of getting stuff off of the drive, though. I know I can buy an external enclosure from Newegg, but can I get one at maybe Walmart or Best Buy for a reasonably price? It's the last week of school and we don't have time to wait for shipping.

    Mai-Kero on
  • TofystedethTofystedeth Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    You can also get Laptop HDD to IDE connectors that let you just hook it up to a normal desktop. In a worst case scenario if you're only going to be using the drive long enough to copy data off it, you don't even really need to mount it in your case. It'll be fine just laying on something stable. Not a permanent setup for sure.

    Tofystedeth on
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  • blakfeldblakfeld Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    I'm telling you, try the AC adapter before you declare it dead, I've seen that happen quite a bit, and at worst its a hundred dollar fix.

    blakfeld on
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