After upgrading the hard drive it’s not detected by the laptop BIOS. The hard drive doesn’t appear in the BIOS.

Possible cause:

1. Hard drive is not connected properly.
2. Hard drive not supported.
3. Bad hard drive.

Possible troubleshooting steps and repair solution:

1. Make sure the hard drive is properly connected to the motherboard. Try reconnecting the hard drive. Find out if the hard drive appears in the BIOS after reconnecting.

2. Enter the BIOS setup menu and load default settings. Safe settings and restart the laptop. There is a chance that your new hard drive will be detected after that.

3. If you installed a larger hard drive, make sure it’s supported by the laptop. Some older laptops will not support large hard drives. In some cases, a larger hard drive will be supported after you upgrade laptop BIOS to the latest version.
Upgrade the BIOS if needed.

4. Try installing the old hard drive. If the old drive is detected but the new one is not, it’s possible that your new hard drive is defective.

It takes a few minutes to boot my laptop to the desktop. I have to wait for a long time before I can run programs or open windows.

Possible cause:

1. Not enough memory installed.
2. Lots of software applications loading on startup.
3. Hard drive is failing.

Possible troubleshooting steps and repair solution:

First of all, take a look at the amount of memory installed into the laptop. It will take a long time to boot the laptop if  it doesn’t have enough memory. For running Windows XP I would suggest at least 512MB and for Windows Vista or Windows 7 at least 1GB in order to operate smoothly.

More applications you have loading on startup, more time it will take. If you not sure which application is causing the problem, you can back up all personal files and reinstall Windows from scratch. Most likely the laptop will run faster after a fresh install.

If the laptop is still slow, test the hard drive. It’s possible the hard drive is failing and has to be replaced. You can use hard drive diagnostic utilities found on Ultimate Boot CD (google UBCD). If the hard drive fails test, replace it with a new one and reinstall the operating system from the recovery disc or installation CD.

The hard drive does not show up in the laptop BIOS.

Possible cause:

1. Failed hard drive.
2. Defective hard drive cable.
3. Failed hard drive controller on motherboard.

Possible troubleshooting steps and repair solution:

1. Most likely this is hard drive related problem. Apparently the hard drive is bad and has to be replaced.
You can test the hard drive by connecting it to another working computer via an external USB enclosure ($15-20 in local computer store).
If the hard drive will not pop up in My Computer when connected, it’s a bad drive.
On the other hand, if the hard drive works fine with another computer, the drive could be OK and the problem is related to the hard drive cable (if you have it in your laptop) or motherboard.

2. In some laptops the hard drive is connected to the motherboard via a cable. If the cable is bad, the hard drive will not appear in the BIOS. Try replacing the cable.

3. In most laptops the hard drive is connected directly to the motherboard. If you tested the hard drive and it’s good but will not appear in the laptop BIOS, most likely you have a problem with the hard drive controller on the motherboard. In this case the whole motherboard has to be replaced.

Just in case, you can try reflashing the laptop BIOS and load default BIOS settings before replacing hardware parts.

No bootable device found or detected message appears on the screen when laptop starts.

Possible cause:

1. Hard drive disconnected from motherboard.
2. Hard drive is blank.
3. Failed hard drive.
4. Motherboard failure.

Possible troubleshooting steps and repair solution:

If no bootable device error message appears on startup, it means the laptop cannot see the hard drive, the hard drive is blank, the hard drive failed or the motherboard has a failed controller.

1. Access the hard drive and make sure it’s properly connected to the motherboard. Try reconnecting the hard drive. Remove the hard drive from the laptop and install back in. Test the laptop.

2. You can get this message after the hard drive replacement. You can see the error message because the hard drive is blank and the laptop cannot boot from this drive. Install the operating system from the laptop recovery disc or installation CD.

3. It’s possible you getting this error message because the hard drive failed.
Listen for the hard drive noises when the laptop starts. If the laptop doesn’t spin, most likely you have a failed hard drive.
Also, you can remove the hard drive from the laptop and test it in an external USB enclosure. Connect the enclosure to another working computer and try to access the drive.

4. If you can access the hard drive and it works fine when connected to another computer (via USB enclosure or hard drive adapter) but doesn’t work when installed into the laptop, most likely this is laptop motherboard related failure. Apparently the motherboard has a failed hard drive controller. In this case the motherboard has to be replaced.

The laptop turns on, starts loading Windows and freezes at the loading page. The only way to turn the laptop off is hard power down.

Possible cause:

1. Memory failure.
2. Corrupted software.
3. Hard drive failure.

Possible troubleshooting steps and repair solution:

This problem could be related to the memory failure. Here are some things you can try:
- Download and run Memtest86+ memory test. If you are getting errors, the laptop has bad memory.
- If you have only one memory module installed, try moving it into the empty slot and test the laptop. If the laptop still fails, try replacing the memory module.
- If you have two memory modules installed, remove them one by one and run Memtest86+ (Google it) with each module installed separately. Find the faulty module and replace it.

If reconnecting and replacing memory doesn’t help, this could be software related problem. Back up all personal files using an external USB enclosure and reinstall Windows from scratch.

There is a chance that you have faulty hard drive. Turn on the laptop and listen for sounds coming from the hard drive. If the hard drive makes repetitive clicking sounds before the laptop freezes, most likely you have a faulty hard drive. Replace the hard drive with a new one.

You can test the hard drive with utilities found on Ultimate Boot CD (Google it). Burn this utility on a CD, boot the laptop from the CD and run hard drive diagnostic utility.

The laptop starts with a PXE-E61 media test failure error on a black screen. The operating system will not load.

Possible cause:

1. Hard drive is blank.
2. Poor connection between hard drive and motherboard.
3. Failed hard drive.
4. Failed hard drive controller on motherboard.

Possible troubleshooting steps and repair solution:

The problem is related to the hard drive. The laptop displays this error because it cannot see the hard drive or data on the hard drive.

1. If you get this error message after the hard drive replacement, simply reinstall the operating system and it should be fixed. Most likley the new hard drive is blank and the laptop cannot boot from it.

2. Enter the BIOS setup menu and find out if the hard drive is listed in there. If the hard drive is not listed, try reconnecting the drive, maybe it’s not making good contact with the motherboard. Unplug the hard drive from the motherboard and plug it back in.

3. If the hard drive is listed (or not listed) in the BIOS, remove it from the laptop and test in an external USB enclosure. Connect the enclosure to another working computer. Find out if the hard drive spins or detected by the OS when connected to another computer. If the drive doesn’t spin and not detected by the OS, you have a bad hard drive.

4. If the hard drive works fine while connected to another comuter, but doesn’t work when installed into the laptop, most likely there is a problem with the controller on the motherboard. The motherboard has to be replaced.

The laptop makes weird rotating noise. The noise either starts as soon as the laptop turned on or it start intermittently.

Possible cause:

1. DVD drive failure.
2. Cooling fan failure.
3. Hard drive failure.

Possible troubleshooting steps and repair solution:

There are only three parts inside the laptop able to make weird rotating noise.

1. If the noise starts when you are playing a CD or DVD disc, most likely it’s related to the optical drive failure. Test the optical drive with different CD and DVD discs. If the laptop make nosie with all discs, replace the optical drive.

2. Take a look inside the fan grill on the bottom. If the noise appears when the fan starts spinning, most likley you have a faulty cooling fan. Replace the fan.

3. The last part able to create weird rotating noise is the hard drive. If the laptop freezes while making noise, it’s possible that you have a failing hard drive. In this case back up all persoanl data ASAP because the hard drive can fail any moment. Do not store any important data on a noisy hard drive.

The laptop hard drive light stays lit constantly. After the laptop is turned on, the initial logo appears on the screen and after that the hard drive light comes on and stays lit without blinking. The operating system will not load.

Possible cause:

1. Hard drive failure.
2. Motherboard failure.

Possible troubleshooting steps and repair solution:

Most likely this problem is related to the hard drive failure and the hard drive has to be replaced. If replacing the hard drive doesn’t fix it, apparently this is the motherboard failure. There is a slight chance that you have a faulty hard drive controller on the motherboard and the hard drive not working properly because of that.

Here’s one way to test the hard drive. Remove the hard drive and install it into an external USB enclosure. You can find this enclosure in any local computer store for $15-20. After the hard drive is installed, plug the enclosure into any other working computer. If the drive will not appear in My Computer and you cannot access it, you have a bad hard drive.

Also, you can use this external enclosure to back up personal files in case if you have the motherboard failure.

The laptop freezes randomly for a few seconds. After a while it starts working properly but eventually freezes up again. Time intervals between these failures may vary.

Possible cause:

1. Software related problem (spyware or virus).
2. Failing hard drive.

Possible troubleshooting steps and repair solution:

First of all, scan your laptop for viruses and spyware. Remove any malware and test the laptop again.

If the laptop still freezes intermittently, back up all personal data and try reinstalling the operating system from scratch.

It’s possible that this intermittent freezing is related to the hard drive failure. Listen for sounds coming from the hard drive when the laptop freeze up. If the hard drive makes repetitive clicking sounds, most likely it’s failing.

In some cases, reformatting the hard drive and reinstalling software from scratch fixes the problem. If not, you’ll have to replace the hard drive with a new one.

The laptop will not load Windows after it was dropped. The laptop turns on as normal, the logo appears on the screen but Windows will not start loading. The screen shows only white writing on black background.

Possible cause:

1. Hard got disconnected from motherboard.
2. Hard drive failure.

Possible troubleshooting steps and repair solution:

First of all, access the hard drive and take a closer look at the connection between the hard drive and motherboard. It’s possible that the hard drive got disconnected from the motherboard when you dropped the laptop. Try reconnecting the hard drive, simply unplug it from the motherboard and plug back in. Test the laptop after that.

Listen for sounds coming from the hard drive. Can you hear the hard drive spinning? If not, most likely the hard drive has been damaged and has to be replaced.

To confirm the hard drive failure, you can install it into an external USB enclosure (about $20 in a local computer store) and connect to another working computer. If the drive doesn’t work even in the external enclosure, you have a damaged drive. On the other hand, if the drive works in the enclosusre but not in the laptop, it’s likely that the motheboard was damaged when you dropped the laptop.