Laptop won't turn on

[Kana Futayo]

Last night, I'm playing around with photoshop until I've heard this faint 'sound' similar to 'turning on a TV' and my screen faded to white until every part of the monitor is all white. I have no choice but to shut it down forcefully.

I've waited for a couple of minutes prior to that and tried to turn it on again. To my surprise, it won't turn on at all. No light indicator on the switch; I also tried with battery/ac adaptor only and both, but the same results.

Before this unexpected event happened. My unit is 2 years old already and has some issues with the switch where it would take me a few presses on different locations to turn it on.

[sa547]

Somewhere there's a big problem with your laptop's internal power supply and it may have shorted out.

[Kana Futayo]

I use my laptop for like 8 hours a day average so it might make sense.
If that's the case. Does it need some fixing or replacement? If the latter, how much in php? (we're on the same country after all)

[chikorita157]

If it's 2 years old, it's most likely that your warrenty have expired which means it may cost more to repair the computer than replacing it.

What you should do is to take out your hard drive and check the connectors. Most 2007 computers use SATA connectors. Buy a enclosure so you will be able to retreive your data.

[Neat Hedgehog]

In my experience, when a power supply shorts out, the power to the machine cuts out as well. I actually had one shoot smoke and flame a few inches out the back of the computer. Fun stuff.

I've got a junked laptop that I bought for parts that had done pretty much the same thing as you described. A power circuit on the motherboard had blown out. I would assume something similar happened to yours.

A lot of laptops usually only have 1yr warranties, so odds are it's off warranty by now. Whether it's the power supply or the motherboard, either one would be expensive to replace. Still, I'd say it'd be worth a look at the motherboard, just to see if there were any highly obvious component failures that could potentially be replaced. Chances of that are a little slim, though.

If you want to get your data back, but don't want to buy an enclosure, you should be able to just hook up the SATA connector to an open SATA port on your desktop's motherboard. Unfortunately, some laptop hard drives use specialized cables where the power and data lines are combined. So if you only have one connector on the back of the hard drive, you'll need to get an enclosure like chikorita mentioned.

[Claies]

Originally Posted by sa547

Somewhere there's a big problem with your laptop's internal power supply and it may have shorted out.

I think it's more his motherboard. Probably busted a cap. Must be scary seeing everything you have fade into white.

[Kana Futayo]

Thanks for the reply guys.
Had my laptop a check up yesterday and have to come back for it tomorrow to find out the exact cause. And also to retrieve my precious files in a way you guys suggested.

If it's ever the motherboard which the technician also said is the probable cause. I've got no choice but to use my savings to buy a new one. D:

Originally Posted by Claies

I think it's more his motherboard. Probably busted a cap. Must be scary seeing everything you have fade into white.

I pretty much think that the fade to white might have something to do with either of the following (based on research):

1. Loose connection between the video cable and the LCD screen.
2. Defective LCD screen.
3. Defective motherboard (graphics card is integrated into the motherboard).

*sigh* the anxiety is killing me. I'll be damn if the problem is minor.