IBM thinkpad won't start up?

Question

I have an IBM thinkpad laptop. I can turn it on and all the lights come on but the screen is very faint and can just about make out what I think is the home screen. Then it beeps couple of times then nothing happens. What's wrong? Ideas???

Answer 1

If your laptop won't turn on, you could have any number of problems. The problem might be a genuine power issue derived from either battery failure or simply a loose AC adapter. Conversely, it may only appear to be a power failure, and the problem may lie with another component. Errors in brightness settings and LCD display malfunctions can both make a laptop appear to be powered off, and all these problems will need to be corrected.



Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions



Things You'll Need

Replacement battery

Replacement LCD display

1

Look at the battery indicator light on your computer. Is it on? If so, check your brightness settings. If your laptop appears that it is not on, it may in actuality have lowered brightness settings. If the brightness setting is at its lowest setting, the laptop screen will be completely dark, and the laptop will appear to be powered off, even though it is not. Try cranking up the brightness settings.



2

Check your AC power adapter. Is it snugly plugged into the wall or surge protector? Make sure the connection is made and it is not loose. Also, try connecting the power adapter into a different wall outlet.



3

Check the status of your laptop battery by considering how long you have had the same battery. Most modern batteries are only good for about 1,000 full charges. After that point, the battery can and eventually will greatly deteriorate. Replace your battery if necessary.



4

Replace your battery by powering off your laptop and then flipping it over and locating the battery cover outline, which will be near the bottom back of your laptop. Remove any screws with a Phillips screwdriver and pop off the battery cover. Slide out the old battery. Put in the new battery by sliding it in until it clicks, and then replace the cover.



5

Consider replacing your laptop monitor. Your laptop may power on, but if the monitor display does not work, it will appear to be off and you will not be able to operate the machine. Check to see if your current LCD display works by plugging your laptop up to an external monitor using a VGA cable. If the external monitor displays your computer contents, your computer motherboard and underlying systems are still working, but your display will need to be replaced.



6

Replace an LCD display by removing the screws around the bezel of your current display with a Phillips screwdriver. Pop off the bezel carefully and remove it. Then, locate the screws on the two metal brackets beneath the bezel and on either side of the display, and remove these too.



7

Disconnect the inverter cable, which is plugged into the inverter. The inverter is located just beneath the display, at the bottom-center of the laptop. Then, pull back and slide out the old display, and replace it with the new. Put the metal bracket screws back in place, reconnect the inverter cable, and then pop the bezel in place. Replace the bezel screws.

Answer 2

As a lover of Thinkpads, I'll be happy to help you if I can.



It sounds like your laptop can get to Windows but you can't see what is on the screen. It sounds to me as if the light in your display isn't coming on.



Ideas:



Hook up your Thinkpad to an external monitor and start it up. See if you get picture on the external monitor. If so, what? If you can get to the Windows home screen, can you log in and do other stuff? Most Thinkpads will be able to display things on the external monitor and on the Thinkpad display at the same time. If everything works ok on the external monitor than you are most likely looking at a problem with the display or its configuration.



Look for the brightness controls on your Thinkpad keyboard. Look for little blue graphics on a key that have a little sun icon with arrows pointing up or down. Hold down the "Fn" key on the keyboard and hit those little sun with arrow keys at the same time. See if you can manually increase the brightness of your display with the sun and up arrow key.



I realize this may be easier said than done, but temporarily swap out your existing RAM with different RAM modules. Bad memory or bad memory slots can cause all kind of strange behavior.



Try the external monitor first. That will be the most telling.

Answer 3

then you desire a technician. yet in keeping with threat attempt to income decrease back the means grant to the motherboard. it somewhat is the sole concern there is that if it wont start up. Cuz if that element's crashed, it does now no longer act that way.