Laptop not used for years now won't turn on!

[racheyh]

I had a laptop while at uni but since getting a pc haven't used it (about 4 years) anyway had a brainwave that I would give it to my 3 year old for Christmas because a) he would think that was the coolest thing ever! b) it would be getting used instead of sitting in cupboard c) it's free!

Anyway plugged it in and power is getting to power lead as little green light comes on the adaptor thing (sorry I'm a complete technophobe!) But the light that used to come on the actual laptop to say it's getting power or charging or whatever doesn't light up and it won't turn on. So it seems like to power isn't going into the laptop ITSWIM

Can anyone help please?

1. I'd suggest you remove the battery / open the battery compartment

• you might find it useful to have some gloves, or a bowl of water (so if there is any leaked liquid, you can wash immediately). Don't let the battery near the water, of course!

2. if you've not switched the laptop on for all that time, then (assuming the battery looks in reasonable condition) it might take 24 hours to overcome the fact it would have been completely discharged.

Even after that, it may not 'hold' the charge, but assuming the 'charge' or 'power' light comes on, you may be able to run the laptop with the charger in

[ Don't worry, I've run one 24x7 for over 30 months - it was a 'rescue' job where someone had spilt a large glass of wine into the keyboard... battery is only good for 5 minutes or so, laptop keyboard is useless for all but the number row of keys, but a plugged in USB keyboard and mouse make it fully usable again! ]

3. if you continue to get no light coming on the laptop, double check the contacts - remove the battery first and where the power plug goes into the socket on the laptop, see if there is any rust or grime on either the pin, or the other part (thin 'ribbon' of metal to make contact with the outer part of the power plug).

Also check the outer part of the power plug (mains lead disconnected) and if you have something abrasive then use that to rough-up the outside of the plug to give more surface area to make contact with the 'ribbon' in the laptop socket.

After that, come back and someone may have better ideas! As a new battery may cost 50-100 pounds it's debatable about best route to follow...

At least some of the laptops that I've had are quite happy running without a battery in them. I've failed to have a laptop run without it's battery, but in all honesty it's not something that I've tried on all of them so perhaps some will only work if they've got a work battery.

It's therefore quite possible that this laptop just isn't getting any power full stop, either to charge the battery or to run the machine.

So certainly follow the three steps above but then also try to power on the machine with the battery unplugged.

If it still doesn't work and the lights on the laptop are still not appearing then I'd think it at least reasonably likely that the battery is not the issue and that the fault lies somewhere between the adapters power block thing (where I think the light is that's coming on) and the power system of the laptop. Buying a new battery could therefore be a complete waste.

Do you have any other adapters that have the same plug and give out the same voltage (check this carefully, don't plug anything in unless you are sure it's the same)? That would at least let you check if the fault is in the adapter or somewhere within the laptop.