Laptop won’t power on?

If your laptop won’t power on or stay on, check a few things:

1.Ensure your battery is holding power. Some laptops will auto shut-off if the battery won’t hold a charge. In that case, replace your battery and retry. Check your charging lights or indicators to see if your laptop is getting power and charging.

2.Check your AC to DC converter (the little black adapter you plug in your AC outlet.) This converts AC power into DC power. Is it abnormally hot? If so, it is probably burned out. Replace it. Note- high heat is not a true indicator of malfunctioning. It can be dead and cold as well. No power indicators on your laptop could be a sign of a dead or bad converter also. Converters WILL get hot (this is normal.) If it is REAL hot (to touch), then this is not good.

3.Check your power cord. Are there nicks or cuts? If so, unplug it from the AC power and repair with electrical tape- better yet, replace it. Many computer salvage stores carry power adapter cords. They’re cheap.

4. Check your laptop lid switch. If it is broken, you may have power but your screen may not come on. This is usually a little button or mechanism located close to the lid hinge that turns on or off your screen when your lid is open or closed respectively. Normally the operator does not push this button. These are fragile and broken easily on some laptop models. Sometimes these can be fixed, more often they will require replacements. If you aren’t an expert repair person, get a technician to repair/replace it for you. Opening up laptops is a very delicate operation and much more difficult to repair than desktops. It may be worth it to spend the money for repair.

5. If you have tried these easy solutions and it still won’t power on, then your problem lies elsewhere. You may have an internal power switch or voltage regulator problem.. Internal problems will require professional help.

Also, if your laptop powers on, but nothing is shown on the screen, it may be that the screen backlight or invert has gone bad. If you shine a light on the screen and are able to see something running (barely), then there’s no reason to replace the entire screen (which is expensive), but with a little research you can figure out how to get the replacement parts for the backlight and inverter; there are also online guides for opening up the laptop and replacing these specific parts.