# What could be wrong with my mother's laptop **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 4, 2009, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-wrong-with-my-mothers-laptop/516235 "2009-11-04T01:14:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MannyL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@MannyL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MannyL)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-wrong-with-my-mothers-laptop/516235/1 "2009-11-04T01:14:49Z")
I gave my mother my old laptop. It’s a Toshiba A65-S126. The other day she had it in her walker when it fell out and onto the floor! :eek: Now when you press the power switch the keyboard lights up briefly and the fan in the bottom spins. There are no beeps and after about 5 seconds it powers off again. I’ve reseated the memory and hard drive. I’ve also tried it with the batter installed and removed. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-wrong-with-my-mothers-laptop/516235/2 "2009-11-04T03:36:53Z")
Almost anything could be wrong. Processor unseated, cracked circuit board, other components damaged. Unless you are a skilled repair person, you are unlikely to be able to fix it - it’s dead, Jim - let it go. ---
**Author:** ![MannyL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@MannyL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MannyL)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-wrong-with-my-mothers-laptop/516235/3 "2009-11-04T03:45:20Z")
Well I’m not able to solder things but if it’s a lose part I could try to reseat it. I’ve put together my past three desktop systems and the fact that it starts to power then die is a little promising ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-wrong-with-my-mothers-laptop/516235/4 "2009-11-04T03:54:08Z")
Shake it - do you hear anything rattling? ---
**Author:** ![MannyL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@MannyL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MannyL)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-wrong-with-my-mothers-laptop/516235/5 "2009-11-04T03:56:32Z")
No, nothing is rattling ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-wrong-with-my-mothers-laptop/516235/6 "2009-11-04T04:03:42Z")
I guess you don’t have much to lose by tearing it apart and looking for anything obvious. There are probably take-apart instructions on the web. Good luck. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-wrong-with-my-mothers-laptop/516235/7 "2009-11-04T05:00:42Z")
I have this unit. The chances of you being able to fix the unit is near zero. It is unlikely that something is loose and far more likely something is broken. ---
**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-wrong-with-my-mothers-laptop/516235/8 "2009-11-04T14:33:03Z")
I have a similar problem with my Tosh A60 - sometimes it starts to boot, other times it just sits there shining its blue power light. I’ve just taken it in to a repair shop so will report back tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-be-wrong-with-my-mothers-laptop/516235/9 "2009-11-05T08:23:31Z")
> [@MannyL](#): > > I gave my mother my old laptop. It’s a Toshiba A65-S126. That’s a 5 year old machine – circa-2004 design. It’s obsolete. Get your mother a new replacement one. She deserves it – she carried you for 9 months, and then raised you for 18 years! 🙂