I have an Acer Aspire 5551 notebook with 4GB memory and AMD Athlon II P320 at 2.1Ghz running Windows 7 64-bit. When I press the power button, the power light comes on, as well as the light within the power button, but the screen stays black, with the back light off and everything. I can hear the fan inside running, but nothing else seems to happen. It stays like this for sometimes 10, sometimes 20, and even 30 minutes before the screen lights up with the normal BIOS screen followed by the windows loading screen, etc. Once it starts booting, it works perfectly. It boots in about a minute once it gets going, and only takes a few seconds to load all of the start up programs in Windows. Help?
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Notebook takes 10-15 minutes just to START booting.
- Thread starter gvlax50
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rclarke250
Technical User
Disconnect all drives, and the wireless card, and see if it will boot any faster to the bios screen. If not, remove the covers, and remove the battery, and cmos battery for about 5 minutes. Put it back together, and see if it will boot faster, should give you a time error, saying you need to set the time and date. refer here for instructions on how to take apart this laptop.
goombawaho
MIS
The advice given assumes you are comfortable doing some computer repair (removing items). If not, I wouldn't take this opportunity to learn. Consult a professional.
That web site it good for dismantling laptops, but it's not a substitute for the confidence and skill to do things right and get it back together.
That web site it good for dismantling laptops, but it's not a substitute for the confidence and skill to do things right and get it back together.
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goombawaho
MIS
Yeah, what micker377 said. If you want to go for it, go ahead. It's not brain surgery, but it is your laptop.
I would do ONE thing before trying rclarke250's advice. With the AC adapter DISconnected, take out the main power battery and press the power button about three times for a couple seconds each time. Put the main battery back in and see if it makes any difference.
It's definitely some item connected to the laptop that is making the BIOS pause and THINK about what is connected to it: wireless card, modem card, optical drive
If all that doesn't help, try running a memory diagnostic and a hard drive test.
I would do ONE thing before trying rclarke250's advice. With the AC adapter DISconnected, take out the main power battery and press the power button about three times for a couple seconds each time. Put the main battery back in and see if it makes any difference.
It's definitely some item connected to the laptop that is making the BIOS pause and THINK about what is connected to it: wireless card, modem card, optical drive
If all that doesn't help, try running a memory diagnostic and a hard drive test.
rclarke250
Technical User
If you mess something up in a laptop, buy another board....For me, this is what I would do. It doesn't work right now, It may be a bad board anyways. but you will only know when you take it down to a minimum configuration and try it, if it still is acting wonky, it's a board, and the OP can decide at that time if it is worth his time, to replace the board, or purchase a new laptop. My thought is, you are not going to have a better opportunity to try something a little out of most peoples comfort zones. I replace system boards on laptops almost daily, takes me anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour and a half depending on the system. They are a lot easier to work on than a hi-8 or vhs-c camcorder, and I used to repair those down to the component on the board, including surface mount chips.
And actually they are not that different than a desktop, just a lot smaller, more densely packed in there, and have a ton of screws, and small plastic clips that you have to be aware of, take your time, take pictures to help remember where things go, mark screw holes, with a sharpie. Make a screw template, with a piece of cardboard, for the different size screws, so you know what goes where when putting it back together.
And actually they are not that different than a desktop, just a lot smaller, more densely packed in there, and have a ton of screws, and small plastic clips that you have to be aware of, take your time, take pictures to help remember where things go, mark screw holes, with a sharpie. Make a screw template, with a piece of cardboard, for the different size screws, so you know what goes where when putting it back together.
Seen this on desktops, but not quite so bad (usually a couple of mins) and it's been the CMOS battery each time. Usual sign is the clock is wrong on boot up.
Worth a check.
Robert Wilensky:
We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true.
Worth a check.
Robert Wilensky:
We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true.
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