Laptop dead after reinstalling Vista?

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dtzihe · #1 Post by **dtzihe** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 6:56 pm

Hello, I have a T60 8744-5BU. I had upgraded to Vista a couple months ago and decided to do a clean reinstall this morning using the upgrade CD. The reinstall went fine and Vista booted up. I then downloaded system update and updated a few things. After the updates, the computer rebooted. When I returned, the computer had shut down and now it won't turn on!

The screen is completely black. Three indicator LEDs are on: the "power on", the "battery", and the "power plug". When I try to power on, the "hard drive access" light blinks once and then the system hangs. Again, nothing ever appears on the screen.

I have tried removing and reinserting the battery - no help.
I have tried connecting an external monitor - no image.

Please help! Thanks!

#2 Post by **Kyocera** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 7:10 pm

No bios screen or anything?

#3 Post by **ryengineer** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 7:22 pm

dtzihe wrote:I then downloaded system update and updated a few things. After the updates, the computer rebooted. When I returned, the computer had shut down and now it won't turn on!

Dead motherboard perhaps.

Did those updates include a BIOS update as well? and were you running on battery when you applied those updates?

insomniac59 · #4 Post by **insomniac59** » Sun Jul 01, 2007 5:48 pm

Man, you guys are scaring me with this killer BIOS update. I've been tempted to apply it a couple times now but the thought of killing my notebook always stops me.

#5 Post by **jdhurst** » Sun Jul 01, 2007 6:30 pm

I put Vista (albeit a Release Candidate) on a spare hard drive on my T41, and it did not kill the machine, so it is highly unlikely Vista is the culprit.

With respect to BIOS updates, I have done them all and I am current. I will say, however, that I will not attempt a BIOS update without a floppy driver because (1) the machine may need a controller update (easy to do sequentially with a floppy) and (2) one may need to return to the prior BIOS (also easy to do with a floppy).

... JDH

#6 Post by **ryengineer** » Sun Jul 01, 2007 6:32 pm

insomniac59 wrote:Man, you guys are scaring me with this killer BIOS update. I've been tempted to apply it a couple times now but the thought of killing my notebook always stops me.

There is nothing to be scared about BIOS update, everything should be fine as long as you don't accidently power off your system during the flash process and follow the instructions carefully.

#7 Post by **GomJabbar** » Sun Jul 01, 2007 7:35 pm

What was it Forest Gump said?

I have not shyed away from BIOS updates, but I also follow jdhurst's method of using a floppy after once having an unsuccessful - yet uneventful BIOS update attempt from Windows.

dtzihe · #8 Post by **dtzihe** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 3:34 pm

It might have been a BIOS update! And yes I did do it on battery. I recently connected my laptop to an external monitor and I could see the screen. It said "CMOS checksum bad", but that may only be temporary from me powering off the computer by force so many times. I was able to get into system recovery and I tried to use my recovery disk that I burned from my other T60, but it said that the system recovery ability was not available on this machine.

So, what can I do? Is my motherboard dead? Am I completely screwed?

dtzihe · #9 Post by **dtzihe** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 3:37 pm

Also let me add, I recently added a gig of ram before all of this happened.

#10 Post by **Kyocera** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 3:52 pm

From what I understand about disrupted bios updates Yes, your motherboard will need replacing.

When I have updated my t60 and any other of my thinkpads it always gives very specific instructions, make sure the battery is fully charged and the AC adapter is plugged in, I would not even have a machine docked or have any peripherals connected when doing a bios update, just to be on the safe side.

dtzihe · #11 Post by **dtzihe** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 3:58 pm

I have updated my BIOS before (a long time ago), but I remember I had to use a special Lenovo BIOS update program. This time, I just used Lenovo System Update and selected two fairly standard updates. I think one was an ethernet adapter update and another was a wireless thing. So, I no longer believe I did a BIOS update.

PS: Is motherboard replacement covered under warranty? I have the 3 year.

#12 Post by **ryengineer** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 4:07 pm

dtzihe wrote:PS: Is motherboard replacement covered under warranty? I have the 3 year.

It is. Just be cautious in what you tell lenovo about this...

dtzihe · #13 Post by **dtzihe** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 4:27 pm

Huge sigh of relief - I am a college graduate student (my parents bought the laptop for me). So what should I tell Lenovo? What should I NOT tell them?

Thanks!

#14 Post by **Kyocera** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 5:24 pm

rye wrote:It is. Just be cautious in what you tell lenovo about this...

YES, YES, YES. In a way you really don't know what happend so that is the way to go right now. "My machine won't turn on and I have no idea why"......

dtzihe · #15 Post by **dtzihe** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 2:56 pm

Apparently, the BIOS error came from shutting off the computer improperly. Somehow, everything works now and I am able to restore my computer! It turns out you cannot use the T60p restore DVD for the T60 though. I called Lenovo and they agreed to send me the Restore CD's for free. I had to talk to them for almost a half hour though. Thanks to everyone for their help and advice.

Laptop dead after reinstalling Vista?

Laptop dead after reinstalling Vista?

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