There’s nothing worse than being greeted with a black screen when trying to power up a laptop.

We have a tip that has helped many of our customers get their laptops working again without requiring a visit from a TechSolver.

Woman frustrated with laptop

How to fix a laptop that won’t start up

So you’ve opened up your laptop and it hasn’t woken up like it usually does.
You’ve tried pressing the power button but there are no signs of life at all.
You’re tried different power cables and still, it won’t start.
Even holding down the power button for minutes at a time has no effect.

Before calling a technology specialist, try this tip to drain residual electricity.
It’s easy to do, there’s no risk and it might just do the trick.

Who should try this?

Users who get no response from their laptop when pressing the power button.

Who won’t it help?

This won’t help you if your screen shows any kind of activity during the startup process.
There’s no harm in trying but we wouldn’t expect any change in behaviour.

What brand will this work on?

Dell, HP, Samsung, Toshiba, Acer, ASUS, Sony, Lenovo, IBM – well, all of them really.

About laptops and residual electricity

Laptops can fail to start if they detect residual electricity on the motherboard or its components.
This safety mechanism avoids too much electricity overloading components.
You might see this behaviour if your laptop powers off suddenly while you are using it.

How to fix this problem

The fix is very simple:

  1. Unplug the power cable from your laptop
  2. Locate and remove the battery
  3. Press and hold the power button for 30 seconds
  4. Re-insert the battery and plug in your laptop
  5. Attempt a restart and cross your fingers

With a bit of luck, your screen is now showing signs of life and the operating system is booting up.

Why does this work?

Removing the power cord and unplugging the battery removes all sources of electricity. Pressing the power button starts the laptop which will try to use whatever electricity it has to power up.

The laptop only has residual electricity available which is usually entirely consumed within seconds.
Holding the power button down allows plenty of time for the laptop to completely drain itself of electricity.

Did this fix your problem?

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