I'm having a small problem with booting up my computer, an HP laptop. If I leave it closed while turned on, then go to open it again later, sometimes it does not fully boot up. All the lights on the keyboard come on, but the screen doesn't come on, and neither does the light on my USB mouse.

I have to hold the power button to turn it off, and even turning it back on does not fix the problem. I can hear the discs in the hard drive spin as though it's going to boot up, then they slow back down. Then the lights dim for a second, and the HD spins again. It keeps doing this, never fully booting up.

In order to fix it, I have to remove the battery for about 5 minutes, and power back up.

I'm just worried because it was a pretty expensive computer, and I'd really like for it to not be messing up.

Anyone know what could be causing this, and how to fix it?

Is the hard drive spinning ever accompanied by a sort of mechanical clicking sound?

HP laptops aren't known to be framed very securely, and if you tend to hold it with one hand or pick it up by the edges, the case can actually press against the moving parts, like the CD and hard drive, and cause hit-and-miss malfunctions, especially after they've heated up or they haven't run for a while.

If it's not, there are an awful lot of nuances to boot errors that might be difficult to diagnose, especially if you can't even get to BIOS.

I can fix your problem indirectly by showing you how to disable standby on close...

Could be several things. First thing to check is to see if maybe it is booting up and you just can't see it. Sometimes with Windows the screen mode gets mixed up. It might change to send your display to an external monitor and turning off the main laptop monitor. On most laptops Fn+F4 will change the screen mode - try pushing this combination a couple of times (waiting a couple of seconds in-between) and see if it comes up.

also HP's have a terrible pattern of being under cooled and over heating.

@Xavius: No, there is no clicking, but I might have a mild case of that. It's a -very- big laptop, so I can see how the frame could mend more easily. No idea how I could possibly remedy that, though, except be more careful lifting it and carrying it. o_o. I'm really wishing I had gotten a smaller laptop now.


@Forren: That'd be great.


@Mitbulls: I don't think it's actually starting up, since the HD stops spinning, and the mouse light never comes on.

Good news is, if it's not clicking, you're still fine. But yeah, two hands, one on each end!

If booting is inconsistent and it happens somewhere before your computer actually fully loads BIOS, you probably need to take it in. If it's fairly new, call their customer service first. You can request a native English speaker if you need.

Out of morbid curiousity, what would clicking mean? A bad hard drive?

Yeah, usually means the drive's on its last legs. Otherwise known as 'click of death'

You guys have me freaking out with every little noise my computer makes, now. How loud would said clicking be?

@Krin: My computer -does- get very very hot.

well its rather hard to help over the internet unless you really know what it is if you have a warenty i would send it to get fixed if not you may have to spend a couple hundred at the most to go to a tech guy.

I can indirectly fix your problem with a large blunt object.

One way to find out if your computer is actually overheating is to download something like SensorsView from Download.com. That'll be able to track the temperature of the CPU, fan activity, all that good stuff. You should be able to look back and see the temperature just before it has an episode of 'Ha-ha, blank screen.'

I actually had a laptop with an overheating problem recently - a Toshiba - that I ended up having to take apart only to find that the dust had built up a centimeter thick and was blocking the airflow. Of course, I highly discourage you from actually taking it apart unless you're absolutely sure of what you're doing, it can be kind of a daunting process.

Little noises (like processing noises) are okay. But if the click is more like a clack, then you have to be worried. If it sounds like a heavy woman wearing high heels in a big place with marble floors, then you have something to worry about. Oh, and she's running to catch an elephant.

If your computer gets very very hot, you need to take a look at the fan. Over heating for your computer is extremely bad, and that could probably be the reason why your screen's not working or why it's not booting up correctly.

If you have a lot of valuable things on your laptop, I suggest you move everything onto a thumb drive or a disc, or back it up online on a different server; just back everything you want up. After doing that, I'd just get a new computer. I've always found HP to be unreliable and not made very well. Not to mention unnecessarily and ridiculously difficult/annoying to use (regarding hardware).

I personally suggest a Dell (though it's your choice for insurance or not. It costs an arm and a leg, but I rarely run into problems with my Dells that I never had a need to buy the insurance). I'd suggest eMachine too, but they stopped making laptops and their desktops aren't very worth it.

I really do think my laptop needs to be cleaned out. It's never been cleaned, and I can see a lot of dust under the keys.

Getting a new computer is not an option. I bought this one a year ago for about 2k dollars, not going for a new one anytime soon. It's been perfect up to this point, and now it's only a little frustrating. I do think it's overheating, however, just not sure how to fix that.

I'd prefer it to be a software problem, I could fix that.