dropped laptop - what to check?

dropped laptop - what to check?

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shirt

Original Poster:

22,506 posts

200 months

Thursday 3rd September 2015
quotequote all
Hi,

I was clumsy enough to knock my laptop on the floor whilst still switched on. It wasn't a big fall (bed to tiled floor) but it's now kaput. Started running slow and would then not reboot/restart.

On system diagnostics it passes the memory check but fails the HDD chek. I've put the hdd in another machine and it seems to work (doesn't sound broken, boots but needs the recovery key). I've reseated the RAM to no effect, and now i'm out of ideas.

Can anyone please advise what else to check and how to do so?

NiceCupOfTea

25,280 posts

250 months

Thursday 3rd September 2015
quotequote all
Properly verify the hard drive.

I would copy everything off as a precaution.

If it works at all chances are you've escaped apart from the hard drive as the rest is solid state.

Nimby

4,572 posts

149 months

Thursday 3rd September 2015
quotequote all
You might need to open it up and reseat any daughter-boards or ribbon cables that loosened in the fall. Also check that the fan isn't jammed.

How you do this depends on the model but often you can lift the keyboard after removing a couple of machine-screws.
If it's a common model there may be YouTube videos showing how, or online service manuals.

You should be able to get into the BIOS setup screen even without the HD installed. That would be a good sign.

shirt

Original Poster:

22,506 posts

200 months

Thursday 3rd September 2015
quotequote all
There's a teardown sequence online with photos so there's that to follow.

Can't access BIOS as it's password protected.

Company machine but i'm currently a 10hr flight from the office and won't be back for another few weeks. Have asked IT for the recovery key, awaiting reply.

Nimby

4,572 posts

149 months

Thursday 3rd September 2015
quotequote all
shirt said:
Can't access BIOS as it's password protected.
If you see an on-screen password prompt there can't be much seriously wrong. Maybe the keyboard is damaged, or its ribbon cable loose so some but not all keys are working. That could look like the slow/unresponsive behaviour you mentioned.