uh-oh

October 25, 2008 10:07 PM

Sony laptop won't boot!

The green power light is on and the battery light is too, but the HD light is dim.

Does this mean the hard drive has crashed?

Its a Vaio, a bit old, and the battery doesn't last long. It was working fine earlier today. I have left it on for a long time of late though.

Please advise!

posted by harhailla.harhaluuossa to computers & internet (9 answers total)

A couple things to try to see if it just got hung up....

With the AC adapter plugged in, press and hold the power button for 10 seconds plus. See if this causes it to reboot.

If not, pull the powerplug and batter and let it sit for a while. Then put it back together and try restarting it.

If you are lucky, its power management just got a little screwed up, either of the two above steps might pull it out.
posted by bottlebrushtree at 10:19 PM on October 25, 2008

Is it possible it's overheated? Laptops sometimes respond this way when they're too hot. Have you tried letting it cool down for a long while?

When you power it on, does it run through the BIOS and then not boot into the operating system? Do you see any text/graphics on the screen at all after you power it on? You don't have a USB drive plugged in or a disc in the drive do you?
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 11:18 PM on October 25, 2008

It might have overheated. Its been maybe 3 hours since it first failed to boot. It no longer feels hot (though it did earlier).
The screen is totally blank when I attempt to boot.
Yet the power light and battery light are active.
posted by harhailla.harhaluuossa at 12:49 AM on October 26, 2008

It no longer feels hot (though it did earlier).
twss
posted by harhailla.harhaluuossa at 12:52 AM on October 26, 2008

Do you normally get the Sony logo on startup? If so, and you are not now, you might either have a fried power brick or display. Try removing the battery, then connecting the power supply to see if you still get status lights.
posted by SteveInMaine at 2:28 AM on October 26, 2008

So is it working now?
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 8:09 AM on October 26, 2008

no, things haven't changed much.
the two lights are always on. no humming or whirring sounds really. trying to restart or turn it off doesn't work either, and no sony or other logo appears on screen.
i shall try SteveInMaine's suggestion and report back.

thanks guys.
posted by harhailla.harhaluuossa at 4:29 PM on October 26, 2008

jajj,
if anyone's still reading,
SteveInMaine's suggestion worked...
posted by harhailla.harhaluuossa at 7:36 AM on October 27, 2008

SteveInMaine's suggestion worked...
twis
posted by harhailla.harhaluuossa at 11:22 AM on October 27, 2008