Re: IBM Thinkpad will not stay on

Pokerskatershark wrote:
On Feb 6, 2:31 pm, "JFG" <j...@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
"Pokerskatershark" <pokerskatersh...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message

news:a1fe2c14-be58-4445-ba7e-d18ae5ec474e@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



Hi everyone,
I was given an old IBM Thinkpad and it will not turn on. I press the
power button and I can hear the fan turn on and the LCD lights blink,
but then the laptop shuts off immediately. The screen never comes on.
I don't know how old it is, but if I had to guess, I would say about
four or five years. It's running XP with a Pentium 4 (based on the
stickers on the front)
I have reseated the hard drive, battery and memory. I also tried
turning it one with the Thinkpad button and power button pressed
simultaneously, but still nothing.
I'm not sure what else to do.
Thanks a lot for any help!
First thing I think of is bad RAM. If it has two sticks, remove one and try
it. Then try with the other. If it's not RAM, then I'd try to boot it with
a dos boot disk. It it boots and stays on, then you probably have some
massive software mess that will require a reinstall of Windows. Or you
could download and boot PCLinuxOS and see if that works for that machine.
Maybe none of this will help, but it's all worth trying. Best, JG

I took the ram out and it still won't boot up. I also check the power
input and it seems fine. I'll try the CMOS battery tomorrow.

Thanks a lot for all the input!

First off, what is the model number? That makes all the difference in the world. The initial behavior says bad RAM.
I suspect bad Ram or a bad AC PSU. Some Thinkpads have a known issue with faulty RAM slots as well.

The power jack might be loose, but it is an easy replacement in a Thinkpad. (The mounting screw sometimes comes loose). (Only brand smart enough not to solder it to the motherboard).

It should boot whether the CMOS battery is dead or not.




--
The RIGHT REVEREND G.G. WILLIKERS
(formerly) Monsignor Boddom
.