Re: Notebook won't power on

Darren wrote:
I have a new HP pavilion Notebook (dv8120ca) running XP Home SP2. The notebook shuts down normally with no errors but it won't always power back on. The problem occurs about one out of every five boots. There is no commonality between episodes (it never hibernated or went into standby before being shutdown, the battery never died, it is plugged in when it is shutdown, it is not plugged in when it shuts down, etc).


This is purely a hardware problem. Contact HP's warranty support and insist upon a replacement.


There are no viruses or spyware and never have been. There also is no non-retail software and no games installed.


None of which could possibly affect the purely physical act of powering up the laptop, anyway.


The bios has been upgraded .....


An improperly applied BIOS upgrade, or the installation of an incorrect BIOS version, could, conceivably, cause the problem. If such is the case, however, you'll still need to contact HP's technical support for resolution.


and the power management reinstalled yet the problem persists. HP claim it is a Windows problem.


That's simply not technically possible. If the laptop won't even turn on, Windows certainly cannot be booted. If Windows isn't even running, it can't very well cause any problems. Call HP again, and insist on speaking with someone who can at least spell "PC." You may have to firmly, but politely, insist on speaking with a supervisor and asking him/her to escalate the call to a level of support that's competent to issue a simple RA (Return Authorization) number.

The problem when on battery is that the notebook is totally dead (no lights, no fans, no signs of life). The problem when the notebook is on AC is that the various buttons light up (all but the power button) and the notebook won't boot. The fix is to unplug it from AC, remove the battery, plug in the AC which then allows the notebook to boot normally. Shut it down, put the battery back in and you are good for about another 5 boots.


This sort of behavior is typical of a faulty power supply inside the laptop. On rare occasions a defective battery can cause similar problems.


The notebook is less than a month old and the problem has been around almost since day one. It has all the Windows updates. I have messed wiith the power settings and disabled hibernation. Doesn't seem to matter. Any ideas, suggestions? Thanks


Call HP, and insist that they honor the warranty. If HP continues to refuse to provide the warranty service they've promised, consider contacting the consumer protection office of your local law enforcement agencies. They should be able to either assist, or refer you to the proper entity. Another route is that many local broadcast media outlets have consumer rights reporters who just love stirring things up.


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Bruce Chambers

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