I push "on" on my laptop flashes red on the "HD disk" icon 2-3 blinks & stops even when plugged

winfotech

I push "on" button (in the hinge) my laptop flashes red on the "HD disk" icon 3-5 blinks & stops even when plugged in.  That is pretty much the whole story.  Yesterday morning I woke up and the screen was black and the laptop was "power off".  I normally leave it on 24 hours a day, but didn't worry about it until today, I could not get the machine to start.  

I push the power button, the hard disk access light blinks about 5 times, then nothing.  Screen does not light up, no sounds at all.  In fact when I unplugged it from the AC adapter, and plugged it in again to check that it wasn't just a loose plug problem, the "external power" light does not come on either.  

Yes, the other end of the AC adapter is plugged into a power strip, and the "power on" light at the front of the laptop case never lights up.

 

I need some suggestions for troubleshooting this, because it looks like this 5 year old laptop can be replaced on ebay for less than $200 but that still a lot more than a live tech support call would cost to talk to Gateway's techs.  

 

 Any ideas for troubleshooting (or known solution) Gateway Laptop model # NV52)

 

Any help would be appreciated.  Not a lot of data on the hard drive, but some small but critical info is irretrievable if I can't get it working again.

 

Thanks

[edited for privacy]

 

 

Tommy-Acer

It sounds like power is not getting to the notebook from the adapter.

 

There are three components to the power system; the ac adapter, the battery, and the power board in the unit.

If the AC adapter or the power board fail, the system only has the battery for as long as the charge lasts.

 

I would proceed as follows:

Take the battery out of the unit. Does the unit power up only on AC ?

If so, you may have a battery issue.

If not, you might try another AC adapter.  If that does not work it would be the power system inside the notebook.