How to raise an old laptop from the dead?

[Bangkok Barry]

I have an old laptop that I haven't used for 3-4 years and thought I might use it to watch IPTV on while I'm being bored to death on the treadmill. However, I can't raise any life in it, even after leaving it plugged in to recharge. Is it gone for good, for me to dispose of after taking the hard drive out and destroying it?

[northsouthdevide]

Its possible that you need a new battery.

You can get it checked at a repair shop while you wait.

If I were you, I'd take the charger along too.

 

[ChaiyaTH]

Smartphones and tablets are cheaper than the average spare part and a new battery for laptops, so guess that is your answer too... Just a charger, new battery and inverter would set you back 3-4k.

Worth the investment for some android tablet in that case, you can also carry it around more easy and have more use cases for it. Lazada has plenty for 2-4K new that would be good for youtube / IPTV. Do not ask me how this can be produced, let alone fair, though (market prices are insane low if you ask me).

[yeahbutif]

I laptop should run with out a battery even in .if you have the charger..would say it needs a boot. Not a boot as in foot..

[Bruno123]

Crazy post. So vague that no one can give you a serious reply....which is why you don't have any.

 

Try coming back with the full model number and whether you see any lights at all.

[kingstonkid]

15 hours ago, northsouthdevide said:

Its possible that you need a new battery.

You can get it checked at a repair shop while you wait.

If I were you, I'd take the charger along too.

 

This makes the most sense.  Bring it out to rangsit to zeer IT and they will look at it and tell you what it will need to get fixed and the cost. you can decide from there

[AlQaholic]

There is a small battery that needs to be changed. It powers the softkey startup button (power on button).

[Peterw42]

OP, the symptoms as you describe points to a faulty power supply, the first thing to test would be that, 

As others have said, are there any lights, either on power supply or laptop ? It may only be a flicker as you plug in etc. 

 

[ronaldo0]

I have a vaio that’s about 8 year old but cost about 40,000 new . I hadn’t used it for years and thought would get it cleaned up and new windows on it etc . Guy at shop cleaned it all up but said the ram was too low to install win 10 so I would need buy more . Cost was around 2800bht installed . The old battery was done but a new one on lazada was around 1200bht . 
So I haven’t done anything to it since as I can get a decent asus for 9-10000 that’s far more up to date with decent specs for my needs so will probably end up just buying new . I use desktop mostly though .

[hotchilli]

19 hours ago, northsouthdevide said:

Its possible that you need a new battery.

You can get it checked at a repair shop while you wait.

If I were you, I'd take the charger along too.

 

The laptop should work direct from the mains supply... a battery is not required.

[Jaxxper]

There is a place to the right of the tuk com multistory car park just off of Pattaya Tai. Can’t remember the name......”Computers 2 U” or something like that. They’ll take a look and let you know what the problem is. They replaced the HD on my lap top and it works fine now. They won’t kill you on the cost either. 
P.S. The battery in mine is shot too, so I just run it through the 240 v power, as it’s for entertainment not for business so non critical.

[Bangkok Barry]

1 hour ago, Jaxxper said:

There is a place to the right of the tuk com multistory car park just off of Pattaya Tai. Can’t remember the name......”Computers 2 U” or something like that. They’ll take a look and let you know what the problem is. They replaced the HD on my lap top and it works fine now. They won’t kill you on the cost either. 
P.S. The battery in mine is shot too, so I just run it through the 240 v power, as it’s for entertainment not for business so non critical.

 

Thanks. but I live in Kalasin Province, not Pattaya. And I did mention that I plugged it in and that made no difference.

[Bangkok Barry]

20 hours ago, northsouthdevide said:

Its possible that you need a new battery.

You can get it checked at a repair shop while you wait.

If I were you, I'd take the charger along too.

 

 

Thanks, but I did write that plugging it in had no effect so it isn't the battery that is the problem. However, it might be the internal battery that has died and I'll get that checked.

[Bangkok Barry]

18 hours ago, ChaiyaTH said:

Smartphones and tablets are cheaper than the average spare part and a new battery for laptops, so guess that is your answer too... Just a charger, new battery and inverter would set you back 3-4k.

Worth the investment for some android tablet in that case, you can also carry it around more easy and have more use cases for it. Lazada has plenty for 2-4K new that would be good for youtube / IPTV. Do not ask me how this can be produced, let alone fair, though (market prices are insane low if you ask me).

 

Might be the way to go as I'm thinking of getting a new phone anyway. The one I have now is several years old and has become very sluggish, even after doing a factory reset.

[Bangkok Barry]

12 hours ago, Bruno123 said:

Crazy post. So vague that no one can give you a serious reply....which is why you don't have any.

 

Try coming back with the full model number and whether you see any lights at all.

 

Thanks, but I have had a few suggestions as the model number is irrelevant, so maybe not such a crazy question.

I do have a light showing the mains is on and two lights at the side that flash on and off as if maybe it is trying to launch something. Maybe the internal battery is gone so I'll get that checked.

[Bangkok Barry]

4 hours ago, kingstonkid said:

This makes the most sense.  Bring it out to rangsit to zeer IT and they will look at it and tell you what it will need to get fixed and the cost. you can decide from there

I'm in Kalasin Province, not Bangkok (my user name from when I did live in Bangkok might have fooled you ???? ) The fact that the battery might have gone doesn't mean it won't work plugged in, but the internal battery might have died so I'll get that checked.

[Bangkok Barry]

1 hour ago, ronaldo0 said:

I have a vaio that’s about 8 year old but cost about 40,000 new . I hadn’t used it for years and thought would get it cleaned up and new windows on it etc . Guy at shop cleaned it all up but said the ram was too low to install win 10 so I would need buy more . Cost was around 2800bht installed . The old battery was done but a new one on lazada was around 1200bht . 
So I haven’t done anything to it since as I can get a decent asus for 9-10000 that’s far more up to date with decent specs for my needs so will probably end up just buying new . I use desktop mostly though .

 

Thanks. I do have an Asus as you describe, but I thought I'd use an old machine set up by my treadmill rather than keep moving my newer laptop every day. The state of the battery isn't important as I'll keep it plugged in.

[Bruno123]

10 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 

Thanks, but I have had a few suggestions as the model number is irrelevant, so maybe not such a crazy question.

I do have a light showing the mains is on and two lights at the side that flash on and off as if maybe it is trying to launch something. Maybe the internal battery is gone so I'll get that checked.

 

If you think it is irrelevant, I'll leave you to it since you think you know better. Good luck with that.

 

P.S. Would it have hurt you to post the model number, rather than wasting words telling me that you think it's irrelevant?

[Bangkok Barry]

I've since commandeered my wife's even older laptop which does work. When beginning to update from Win 7 to Win 10 it told me it is up to the task, but now I have to look at whether the software is genuine before I complete the upgrade by 'fair means or foul' ????. So, a job in progress.

[Bruno123]

Just now, Bangkok Barry said:

I've since commandeered my wife's even older laptop which does work. When beginning to update from Win 7 to Win 10 it told me it is up to the task, but now I have to look at whether the software is genuine before I complete the upgrade by 'fair means or foul' ????. So, a job in progress.

 

 

Just clean install Windows 10 and buy a product key for 80 baht. Much quicker. Fitting an SSD to it even better.

[Bangkok Barry]

3 minutes ago, Bruno123 said:

 

 

Just clean install Windows 10 and buy a product key for 80 baht. Much quicker. Fitting an SSD to it even better.

One is on the way for 120. I'll swallow the 40 baht loss ???? I'm using an SSD with my new laptop and I love it, but as I'll only use the old one for an hour a day to watch tv I'll stick with the HD on that.

[Paul DS]

2 hours ago, AlQaholic said:

There is a small battery that needs to be changed. It powers the softkey startup button (power on button).

Nothing to do with start up button, rather residual memory etc so to speak. Take it to a shop, check PSU etc.

 

[Bruno123]

He

Just now, Paul DS said:

Nothing to do with start up button, rather residual memory etc so to speak.

 

Hey, it's all a guessing game here. OP wants to make it exciting by not telling anyone about the device in question. I've decided to not play.

[notmyself]

If it's not reaching POST (Power-On Self Test) then it could be the CMOS battery that maintains the BIOS? These are generally non propriety cheap watch type batteries and easy to come by so would be worth a small investment. YT will likely have a video on how to unscrew the laptop. Good luck

[KannikaP]

2 minutes ago, notmyself said:

If it's not reaching POST (Power-On Self Test) then it could be the CMOS battery that maintains the BIOS? These are generally non propriety cheap watch type batteries and easy to come by so would be worth a small investment. YT will likely have a video on how to unscrew the laptop. Good luck

The CMOS battery is there to to keep the date & time and any modifications you have made to the BIOS. It should boot even with a dead battery....well my Lenovo did. 

[notmyself]

3 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

The CMOS battery is there to to keep the date & time and any modifications you have made to the BIOS. It should boot even with a dead battery....well my Lenovo did. 

Yep. Generally it will go to hard coded factory defaults but that is not always the case. Given the likely low cost of a replacement CMOS it's worth a punt. Some years back I would buy or be donated old/dead laptops (in the UK) and try fix them up while in the UK for a couple of months during the summer. Any that I managed to salvage I would bring back with me and just give them away to local families. I'd make a net loss obviously but we are not talking about huge sums of money and was essentially a hobby. I still do it to some degree though these days people are happy with just their smartphone.  

 

 

[CharlieH]

Reported sarcastic troll remarks removed and response to them.

 

Keep it civil please.

[Autonuaq]

laptop is not old when it is 4 years old you can use them much longer. the oldest I have is from 1998 and still operating. was on windows now on a linux distribution. the one i am typing is now is from 2013 and has 16GB RAM and update with WD 3D NAND SSD 1TB. having brought this to your attention: 

 

not sure if mentioned by others Thailand is hostile to electronics because of the cooling needed and the design temperature. most not unse air conditioner to control the humidity and temperature. this decrease the life span of battery pack and adapters. System cooling has to work harder and the cooling fans collect dust.

 

some things to do

take out the battery pack can show if the laptop still works

still be aware that  some laptops will have a circuit that the laptop will not work when battery has been removed. even when the battery pack is dead.

 

sometimes the empty cmos backup battery also causes problems, dispite this is wierd and not logic it can be an issue that makes the laptop not work correctly. after replacing you always have to do a cmos reset to default values. then set the cmos to the needed value also can solve problems.

 

remove the ram bank from its slot and reinsert it. when possible swap it with another Ram bank that has the same specs.

 

also try another charger, sometimes the charger is broke. When you measure the voltage all seems to be right but is can not handle the load needed and the charges is actually not working as expected.

in the laptop there is a circuit that check the power levels. and when it not get the right power levels if also prevents to work or shutdown.

 

remove the HD from the laptop and try if it will boot. (of course will give errors) just ot see if the HD is not death and prevening the system to start.

 

the next sounds stupid but sometimes works.

remove all connections with a wire to the laptop, like usb, lan, sound, mice and so on and also the charger.

wait 30 minutes the plug in the charger and wait 15 minutes then press the power button.

can be the laptops starts working

 

most case the laptop will start to work again

[ifmu]

quick checks u can do is 

 

plug charger in  .. 

does the charge light come on ? 

then google your pc with model  and ask is my charger bad?  or is my battery bad ...  

 

turn on pc  does the pc light come on ? probably not 

[SheungWan]

On 4/19/2021 at 4:19 PM, ChaiyaTH said:

Smartphones and tablets are cheaper than the average spare part and a new battery for laptops, so guess that is your answer too... Just a charger, new battery and inverter would set you back 3-4k.

Worth the investment for some android tablet in that case, you can also carry it around more easy and have more use cases for it. Lazada has plenty for 2-4K new that would be good for youtube / IPTV. Do not ask me how this can be produced, let alone fair, though (market prices are insane low if you ask me).

Indeed. A brand new cheap tablet probably better than trying to liven up the dead or dying laptop.