Labtop won't boot

[LouisL]

When I start up my laptop the screen just shows its logo with an all black background. I was wondering how I would go about diagnosing what the problem is. I had experienced a blue screen right before this had happened but did not have the chance to write down the information.

my laptop is a Sony VAIO VGN-NR110E

- I've had it for 3 years now
- It's running on windows vista
- 2gigs ram
- dual core intel processor

 

[808Alaska]

how far does your computer boot till?
can you access the BIOS?
Do you have a windows recovery disk?

 

[Jorsoft]

The first thing I would check off the bat is the memory and possibly the hard drive. Download and run Memtest 86+ and also a hard drive diagnostic to see if there are any errors that come up.

So the blue screen just flashes quickly then, correct? When you see it try and look to the middle of the screena nd see what kind of error it address (if it references a specific device or driver, a memory fault error, etc. that will help)

Give our Troubleshooting Procedures guide a look as well:
http://www.techist.com/forums/f77/pc-troubleshooting-procedure-list-208005/

 

[LouisL]

I was able to find out what was wrong, apparently the laptop won't recognize the hard drive. Could this either be due to the fact that some wiring is loose or that the hard drive is dead?

 

[Jorsoft]

It's possible it was a bad connection (you can connect it firmly and try again) but it's more likely that the drive is dead or has become corrupted. You can download and use a hard drive diagnostic pretty easily to check it out. Most manufacturers have one available, just google for it.

Is the hard drive being recognized at all in the BIOS when it's connected or does it still say there's nothing there?