Laptop will NOT even power on.

[Mingtauw]

I need your help BAD!

I have a Gateway FX laptop p-173x. Two days ago the backlight for the screen stopped working. I figured it was the power inverter that had gone bad, so I took apart the monitor and took a volt meter to the inverter.

Just as I suspected, it was shot - so I ordered a new one. Then I went back to make sure that it really was reading 0 volts and as soon as I touched the meter to the leads, my laptop powered off and will NOT turn back on. Worse is that the little blue charging light that is on whenever the laptop is plugged in to the wall will not turn on.

What happened and how can I fix t? I'm guessing that a capacitor somewhere fried or a fuse blew. The psu and the battery are fine. Please help me! I need to get important files of this thing. How should I fix this? I'm desperate.

 

[sgarrett]

I need your help BAD!

I have a Gateway FX laptop p-173x. Two days ago the backlight for the screen stopped working. I figured it was the power inverter that had gone bad, so I took apart the monitor and took a volt meter to the inverter.

Just as I suspected, it was shot - so I ordered a new one. Then I went back to make sure that it really was reading 0 volts and as soon as I touched the meter to the leads, my laptop powered off and will NOT turn back on. Worse is that the little blue charging light that is on whenever the laptop is plugged in to the wall will not turn on.

What happened and how can I fix t? I'm guessing that a capacitor somewhere fried or a fuse blew. The psu and the battery are fine. Please help me! I need to get important files of this thing. How should I fix this? I'm desperate.

Sounds like you fried something. You can still get your files by purchasing a USB 2.0 to IDE SATA 2.5 3.5 Hard Drive Converter Cable this allows you to turn any hard drive into an external hard drive. They are also only around $10-$15 so alot cheaper then taking it to a shop to recover your files.

 

[frozenlead]

Agree. If you want to save the unit, you'll probably need a new inverter and a new motherboard, possibly quite a bit more depending on what was really damaged.

 

[Mingtauw]

i tested the cpu and the ram in another computer and they work fine. I have a new inverter coming on the way in the mail. I inspected the motherboard and couldn't find any signs of damaged capacitors or other fried components. Is there any reset switch or something I could try.

Has anyone else had this problem? Why would probing an inverter with a volt meter ruin the whole motherboard?

 

[frozenlead]

Well, poking around with an essentially infinite resistor can do some damage sometimes - you shouldn't just insert the probes anywhere. But, there could have been some short or something that you couldn't have foreseen, so don't feel so bad. Just be cautious next time.

The only real way to "reset" your motherboard is to pull the CMOS battery and let the CMOS clear.

 

[Guest]

Well, poking around with an essentially infinite resistor can do some damage sometimes - you shouldn't just insert the probes anywhere. But, there could have been some short or something that you couldn't have foreseen, so don't feel so bad. Just be cautious next time.

The only real way to "reset" your motherboard is to pull the CMOS battery and let the CMOS clear.

What do u mean

 

[Guest]

Is The CMOS battery the computer battery. And How do I let that clear?

 

[huntluck]

is ur CMOS damaged???????

turn ur laptop on without battery only power cable