My HP laptop, model dv6000 will not boot. it worked fine this morning, but will not boot now.

I hit the power button and all the lights come on...the dvd drive clicks (like usual), but the screen doesn't come on and nothing happens...then the lights flash and it tries again, but still doesn't boot. It tries to boot about 5 times, then all the lights go out and quit trying....The fan will come on and spin for about 1 second sometimes, but then quit...

I know it isn't the power source because the blue light around the plug is lit up fine and the battery is fine (checked it in another computer)....

What could it be? Worth fixing? It is relatively new with Vista...~2 years old...

5/15/2009 3:35:50 PM

If the DVD drive clicks the bios might have gotten to the stage where it checks for a boot dvd

in that case get a linux live cd (ubuntu, knoppix, whatever) or windows rescue disk and try to boot with the cd in, see if the display will come up or if it's dead for sure

5/15/2009 4:09:50 PM

yea, burn a Knoppix DVD/CD and see if it will boot from that. Will atleast let you know if your board is shot or not.

5/15/2009 4:24:19 PM

the dvd drive has always clicked when i started up the computer...so that's nothing new... the light just blinks and then it continues booting (normally)

5/15/2009 5:08:04 PM

OK...so it just started working again...

however, it booted up about twice as slow and now it is going a lot slower when i click on things...almost like the RAM has come loose? what should i check? What could it have been?

5/16/2009 3:38:27 PM

I think probably hardware problem (good chance it the graphics card or maybe even the cpu or ram) but I would reinstall the whole os just to make sure it not a spyware/virus or corrupt os. You could do multiple scans with different programs and try to manually clean it but usually a full reinstall is faster and less work. This will rule out any software problems.

[Edited on May 16, 2009 at 4:02 PM. Reason : .]

5/16/2009 4:01:34 PM

^ are you serious? Reinstalling the whole OS is like throwing out the baby with the bathwater, especially since it sounds like a hardware issue.



Check the memory and see if it's seated properly.


If that doesn't make a difference, make sure the hard drive's SATA connection hasn't come loose.



Those are 2 things you can do in 5 minutes to see if performance improves at all.

5/16/2009 8:31:15 PM

OK...i'm not that great when it comes to computer hardware..

i think i know what you mean by memory seating.. i take off a little cover on the back of the laptop and there are 2 memory boards..when i unlatch them, they "pop up" and i can remove them and put them back in... i think that's what you mean..

i have no clue how to do the hard drive one though....

at least it is working now, (i'm on it now), but it is less responsive...stuff takes longer to pop up once i click it..there is a lag

5/16/2009 8:54:50 PM

Hm, here's a thought. Bring up the start menu and type "chkdsk /r" into the search box on the bottom left and press enter. Something should pop up in a command prompt window and say, after a short pause, "would you like checkdisk to check this drive the next time you restart your computer?" Select yes (y) and restart your computer. Keep an eye on it while checkdisk is running. If it takes hours to complete, your hard drive is probably dying (i.e. tons and tons of bad sectors and so on, so checkdisk is overwhelmed and just sits there fixing error after ever).

If it fixes it with no issues and your piece still runs like a piece, do your standard antivirus/antispyware scans and figure out if that's the issue.

To me, it sounds like your computer was running hot. After you shut it off in the morning, how long did it sit? Does it look like there's a lot of dust on the fan intakes for the laptop? I'm wondering if it was just too hot and so clogged up that it refused to run. Then, maybe, after sitting for a few more hours it cooled off and was ready to go again. If your laptop has an intel processor in it, those tend to downclock (newer processors) or lock up (older processors) when their temperature reaches a certain threshold. It does this automatically and could explain why you think it's so slow.

5/16/2009 10:53:33 PM

^^ Yep, that's what i mean. The hard drive is the same sort of concept. Think NES cartridge. It should be under a different door on the bottom of your laptop. Open that door, see if the hard drive is pushed into its slot all the way.

5/16/2009 11:02:42 PM

the morning i used it, it was only on for about 30 minutes, then i cut it off to go to work..i came back 10 hours later and it didn't boot.....

i just took the 2 memory chips out and switched the order.. it seems like it is working a little faster, but still some lag that wasn't there before.

The bottom of the laptop does get awfully warm (almost too hot to touch at times..(can't keep it on bare legs))....
I have tried to take off the back of the laptop to blow it out with air but there are at least 50 screws (seems like) and the back doesn't want to come off..
However, it is easy to take off the cover of the memory chips and the hard drive cover...i guess i can try to blow it out that way?

5/16/2009 11:02:57 PM

Nah, the dv6000 probably is serviced by having its keyboard removed. You should google for service manuals for the dv6000 (or service resources, etc) and figure out how to remove the keyboard to access the internal components.

Heat is less likely if it just stopped working correctly 10 hours after you ran the thing for 30 minutes. I'd say hardware failure is much more likely. Either a hard drive on the way out or something else.

5/16/2009 11:22:12 PM

I fixed it.. I took 1 more look at the memory modules... I noticed the 1 on bottom was slid in a lot further than the one on top. i had to force the 1 on top into its slot further and now it is much faster...
i was running on half ram

5/17/2009 10:40:57 PM

***UPDATE***

It has been working fine since the last episode.
However, this morning I went to turn it on and it is doing the same thing... lights blink, it looks like it wants to come on, but nothing comes up on the screen and then it shuts off and tries to reboot. it will try to reboot over and over and over until i manually turn it off.

I have already checked the ram modules. They are fine...
It is weird how it worked fine for 2 weeks and then all of a sudden overnight it doesn't work again.

5/30/2009 3:08:01 PM

How old is your laptop? It sounds like the hard drive may be dying.

5/30/2009 6:15:37 PM

laptop is only a little more than 2 years old...

The LEDs on the front light up, and the fan runs, the dvd drive clicks, but then nothing comes up on the screen, it doesn't do any other steps...

it did this 2 weeks ago and then magically started working again. it has worked perfect for 2 weeks and now it doesn't

5/30/2009 7:06:38 PM

took it to geek squad.. they can't even run a diagnostic test on it because it won't boot and it doesn't even get to the point where anything comes on the screen. They think it is the motherboard, but had to send it off to know for sure.

5/31/2009 12:27:47 PM

welp, found out the motherboard died....
they want $750 to replace it...

i looked online and a brand new motherboard is $300..

seems like i'd be better off buying a new laptop

6/8/2009 3:51:10 PM