no take battery out and all leads still nothing

is it the motherboard or ???

It could be a motherboard fault but it could also be memory or a poor conection somewhere. Another thing that you could try is removing the hard disk and see what happens. Obviously it will not boot if you do that but if it got past the initial boot it would sugest a disk problem.

The other thing to check is is the fan running.

As a last resort, you could try leaving it in the fridge overnight.

have had the back off FAN NOT RUNNING
do i put whole laptop in the fridge over night or take the fan off

When hard drive removed
just get the same as i did before just to packard bell screen

If the fan is not runnng then you need tosort that first. Can you turn the fan by hand? Is it solid with dust?

If you can unplug it, put a voltmeter on the motherboard socket. Be careful not to damage anything, you are really at the stage where youshould take it to the repair shop.

My coment regarding the fridge was based on the hope that thermal change can sometimes bring electronics back to life. I've been lucky with hard disks using this method although they ar partly mechanical. Leaving in fridge does have it's dangers though hence it is a last resort. You have found one fault, so I would sort that first.

can turn by hand

have no voltmeter

can turn the fan
but seem to spring back does not look solid, should i vacum out

Vacuming has been known to work but it also has the potential to do damage. Be careful and do it at your risk.

Sorry Breydon, had to go out.
Sounds like a hardware fault, not a software one.
Somebody with electronic diagnostics needs to have a look, imo.
P.C.s are relatively easy to fiddle with, but laptops are tricky.
If the fan is not cooling the main processor, then the software should boot up & then shut down & continue doing this, in my experience. Hope it isn't one you bought in a pub!!!

Thanks ExecLine. Will try. Funny thing I was talking to someone yesterday afternoon and they were suggesting the same thing.

Will let you know.

My Java plug-in is 1.6.0_7

Checked it out though and it says I have the latest version and there are no more updates. Also cleared the cache from the Java TIF. All to no avail!

I wonder if it is something to do with pop-ups.

Will investegate shortly. Will also see if I can get thr' to Selftrade IT.

Christ, I'm losing enough money with them so they should help! :-(

My friend has inherited a computer but its password protected (Windows) so he can't get on it.

There is nothing on the computer that is needed so if a format of the hard disk is needed then thats ok.

How do I help him ?

Cheers

Is it nicked

No :-)

It was literally inherited by a mate from a neighbour who died.

If you have got the original Windows disk, try:
http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/Pub0009/LPMArticle.asp?ID=305

Friends of mine were given a computer from a single uncle who died and were surprised to find that there was a lot to look at. A whole side to Uncle's life that no one knew existed :-)

Just rang my mate and there are no disks with the computer HARRYCAT.

Is it possible to just reformat the whole thing from a copy of Windows XP ?

Unlike Kayak's mate my mate isn't nosey :-)

Dil

You can reset the Windows password by using this NT Password Reset. Last time I used it, it was an ISO image that could be burnt to a CD which you use to boot the computer and then reset the Windows password.

Once you get Windows running, run Belarc Advisor to recover the Windows Key if you haven't already got it. Reformatting the disk is never a bad idea on an unknown machine, but you may as well get any info and program keys off the disk first. If you go for a complete reinstall, you must have an XP SP2 disk if the hard drive is bigger than 125MB.

Edit

I've just read your last post. Any XP installation disk will do but note my comments re SP2 and you have to have thecorrect version (Home or Prof). You also have to recover the key first.