Hi

My 1 1/2 year old Compaq Presario V5000 seems to have a problem starting up.

This morning when I went to start it I could hear the fan running for a bit and then the LED/power/bat were blinking but nothing came back on screen. I tried holding the power button down to turn it off or restart but it wouldn't work. I took out the battery and the power cord and the same thing happened. Then I connected it with the cord from an HP laptop and it turned on.

I checked if it worked w/o being connected and it did; seems the battery works fine. Then I substituted the power cord from the HP for the Compaq's old one and it was still on.

Now I'm afraid to turn it off for fear it wont start again. I'm trying to google what could be wrong to see if I can fix it myself.

Does anyone have an idea of what could be happening?

I would really appreciate any help.

Thank you

Well it sounds like the power adaptor is shot but you maybe getting very lucky you will want to check the voltage and current ratings on the hp power supply to see if they are comparable to the compaqs original power supply... if not you may be doing more harm than good....

Shard, tks

I just used the HP cord to connect the computer but substituted it for the Compaq one once it started. It seems to be working but I'm worried that if I turn it off when I restart it wont turn back on so I want to fix whatever is wrong with it now that it's on :/

I really hope it's fixable seeing as the new HP I bought to work has Windows Vista and it's nothing but a nightmare and so slow I can't even browse the internet w/o the CPU usage jumping up and down to extreme numbers *sigh*

Well I'm a little unclear on what exactly is going on... is the power adaptor that came with it all one unit or is there a power cord that plugs into the adaptor? Whatever you did with the hp part if it's an adaptor then you have to match the voltage/amperage or you could cause problems... no matter how long you plugged it in for... If it is just a cord that you plugged into the compaq adaptor and then the adaptor into the laptop... maybe just replacing the cord portion.... but if it will run on the battery but not the compaq adaptor replace the power adaptor... you don't fix them...

The laptop is working fine now but when I first turned it on this morning it sounded like it was going to start (I could hear the fan starting to run) then the process stopped and the LED/power and other lights in the pc started blinking. It wouldn't turn on but neither could I turn it off by holding the power down.

That's when I tried taking out the batt and starting it with the HP cord (the whole thing, which I now see was wrong. Seems I was lucky!). After I got it running with the HP cord I unplugged it to see if it worked ok with just the batt and it did. Then I plugged the Compaq cord to see if that was the problem but was surprised to see it worked fine with it.

My problem is what happened when I tried to turn it on the first two times (blank -black- screen, blinking lights, wouldn't turn on but couldn't turn off either etc.). I'm worried that if I turn it off w/o fixing whatever is wrong it wont turn on again. That is, of course, if what is wrong is something i can fix.

Thank you so much for your replies

Again is it just a cord or is there a power adaptor? if so it is probably your adaptor.... when you plugged your compaq one back in with it running it may be just running on battery... IF you are terribly worried back up all your stuff and then try unplugging everthing and see if it will restart with just the battery.... if so then try removing the battery and try the compaq power if it will not boot that is probably your issue.... maybe take it somewhere that can test the cord/adaptor..

Thank you Shard


I got this reply from an HP representative:

Let me explain you the issue.

The laptop will sometimes have some issues with all the power LEDS
blinking but you will not be able to see any kind of display .

This is due to the static charge that is deposited on the capacitors of
the motherboard due to continuous powering ON.

However, this static charge needs to dissipated timely inorder to avoid
any such discrepencies. Not to worry, I will now provide you a work around
in this case which you can perform if you have any such issues in near
future .

1. Disconnect the AC Adapter.
2. Remove the Battery pack.
3. Hold the Power button down for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
4. Reconnect the AC adapter (do not connect the Battery now).
5. Turn on the Notebook power.

You can perform the above steps to drain out the excess charge
deposited on the capacitors of the motherboard with the steps mentioned
above.

I hope it's just that and nothing more serious.

Thank you very much for all your help on this issue

let us know if that works.... hadn't heard that one but I don't work on hp/compaq laptops that much ( i'm toshiba certified ) Thanks for sharing that info maybe it will help someone else in the future.