Laptop not charging: It’s not always what you think

If your laptop is not charging, it’s not always a problem with the battery.

Laptop batteries are also a common scapegoat for many other laptop hardware issues.

We’ll walk you through why your laptop is not charging and how to fix it.

About Safemode Computer Service

Safemode Computer Service is located in Enmore, Sydney NSW 2042, we provide same day PC computer repairs in Sydney.

We are rated in Best 3 PC Computer Repair Centre in Sydney, from 2016 to 2022!

Since 2004, our technicians have repaired a number of problems on computer PC, notebook and laptop computers, Apple Mac computers; including all makes: Dell, Lenovo, HP, Apple, Acer, ASUS, Gigabyte, Clevo, Razer, Samsung, Toshiba, Sony, Apple.

We service Sydney, inner city, Inner West, Eastern suburbs, lower north Sydney area.

How to save your laptop from liquid damage

If you paid attention in grade school science, then you should know that liquids and electricity don’t mix. We know what can happen when you touch a lightswitch when wet hands, and that same accident can happen when you spill something on your laptop. It can also cause significant damage to the electronic circuits on your laptop.

When these accidents happen, it’s always important not to panic, and always put your safety before the laptop. At the same time, there are also ways to save your laptop from liquid spill damage, as much as you can.

What happens to my laptop after I’ve spilled something on it?

Sometimes an innocent knock from your arm can tip your drink right all over your keyboard. It happens, sometimes these things just do. Just how much trouble are you in? Depending on the type of liquid and how much of it was spilled on the laptop, it can go from completely fine to completely dead. Let’s see why.

Steer clear of these liquids

As computer technicians who have been in the game for a long time, we’ve repaired a fair few liquid spill damaged laptops. It’s not just water spills too, we’ve seen different kinds of liquid damage from coffee, wine, or even seawater. The amount of liquid could also affect the scope of the damage on your laptop. It could be just a splash of water, or a flood from leaving it out near an open window during a rainstorm.

Some common kinds of liquid spills include water, coffee, wine, or soft drinks. Naturally, the more pure the type of liquid, the less trouble it will bring. With drinks like water and black coffee, repairs jobs are quite manageable. This is because it does not leave much residue that needs cleaning up when the liquid evaporates naturally. In certain cases, laptops with water spills can survive without needing any repair work. Still, water can definitely damage or rust up the circuitry and connective points on your laptop.

Sugary drinks and corrosive liquids on the other hand though, are much trickier to handle. These not only ruin electronics, they also leave behind sugary residue that can stick up and ruin your keyboard. This makes it harder to clean the laptop. Even if your keyboard does survive, the sugary substances can cause sticky keys and wreck the keyboards mechanisms.

Corrosive liquids like beer and seawater do the most damage. If these liquids get into the motherboard, they can corrode the connective points and complex circuitry on it. The motherboard is the nervous system of a computer, so this sort of damage could possibly kill your laptop entirely.

Some accidents are hard to avoid, but it’s still a good idea to get a good understanding of what could happen to your laptop if it does happen. It might also make you more careful of your surroundings while you use your laptop too.

What not to do after you’ve spilled on your laptop

You may have heard of certain urban myths or hacks to clean and fix liquid spill damages. Some people may tell you to soak your laptop in a tub of uncooked rice. It is believed that rice can absorb the liquid in the laptop and fix it.

A laptop has a lot of complex components that can’t possibly be saved by rice. This will even bring in starch and dust into the laptop. After a liquid spill, you can’t necessarily undo what’s already damaged with these repair hacks. You might even cause more damage with the rich dust and starch inside the laptop.

What to do after you’ve spilled on your laptop

We’ve mentioned this before, but remember to keep a cool head when dealing with accidents. First thing you should do after you’ve gotten your laptop wet is to turn it off first. Don’t worry about properly shutting it down, just press and hold the power button until it shuts off. We have to be quick and dirty about this.

Remove the laptop from the wet surface, and disconnect it from the power adaptor if it is still connected. If your laptop has a removable battery, take that out too. You should also disconnect other peripherals like USB drives and mice. They draw power from your laptop, so it’s better to be safe.

Now that you’re safe from electrical shock, you can try wiping off the liquid on the laptop’s surface with a lint-free cloth. Turn it upside down to drain and dry, and that’s it.

Run diagnostics on your hardware

After the above steps, you might just be able to turn on your laptop again. If not, you should probably take it to a professional instead.

If you can turn your laptop on and it still runs, the next step is to run diagnostics on your hardware to access the damage. Sometimes it’s not apparent how much of your laptop is affected by the liquid damage, so it’s a good idea to run checks on your system.

Most computers have a built-in diagnostic tool that runs before your laptop boots up. This is known as boot diagnostics, or pre-boot diagnostics. It’s a simple and basic tool you can use to find possible faults and errors on your hardware. You can test parts on your laptop like the hard drive, RAM, or battery.

To run boot diagnostics, you’ll need to press a key specific to your laptop’s brand. This might be “D” if you have a Macbook laptop, or “F12” for Dell, “Esc” for HP, and “Enter” for Lenovo, Acer, Asus, and IBM. Press and hold this key after restarting your computer to run the tests. Your laptop will then detect and report any possible errors on your hardware.

If you do find errors, you should then take it to a computer repair shop. Liquid spill repairs are quite complicated and difficult to perform, especially on parts like the motherboard and keyboard. For badly damaged laptops that are completely dead from liquid spills, it’s best to check with a repair shop to see whether it’s salvageable.

Liquid spill repairs is a common laptop repairs that we see every week, including Apple computers. It may surprise you but this is very common. If you’ve spilled water onto your laptop, you’re not alone. In fact, I’m guilty of this too. I spilled an entire cup of hot coffee onto my Dell laptop.

10 Computer myths debunked: common misconceptions about computer repair

Just like urban legends, there are a few common misconceptions about computer repair that a lot of people believe. Because of how they’ve been talked about so much, people do start to believe them. However, some of these are not true. Oftentimes believing in these myths can lead to misdiagnosis or improper treatment of computer issues. They could make more trouble without fixing the real issue.

Even if some of these myths were true at some point of time, computer technology has advanced so far ahead that a lot of things have changed since then. Those truths don’t apply anymore, and become myths.

As computer repair experts, we thought we’d shed some light on these common misconceptions and bust these myths. Here are the top 10 computer repair myths busted.

1. We can repair only the failed part of a whole component

Most of the time when a piece of computer hardware is failing, you’ll need a full replacement of the part. Computer users will sometimes request to replace only a small part of the component, without understanding how the hardware works. Of course, this doesn’t apply to all computer parts, some parts we can indeed fix the problem area on its own.

Small parts that require complete replacements

An example of this would be laptop video card repairs. In most laptops, the video card is mounted and embedded on the motherboard. That means that it’s impossible to take it out from the motherboard without breaking it. So a laptop video card replacement essentially means a motherboard replacement. There is an exception though, for the Apple Macbook Pro 15-inch 2011 model. The video card on this Macbook is a known issue, which created a demand for an advanced method to replace the video card on its own.

On desktop iMacs from 2012 and onwards, a cracked glass panel on the screen would also call for a complete screen replacement. It is a fragile 27-inch screen panel, and cannot be replaced on its own. This would cost at least $700 to replace the whole screen.

For laptop keyboards, even when one key is not working properly, the whole keyboard needs to be replaced. Each key cap that is mounted on the keyboard is connected to its mechanics, and replacing the single key won’t fix the problem. The key could be jammed, or have accumulated rust on its connective points. Either way, we have to replace the whole keyboard to fix a keyboard failure.

Misdiagnosis?

Sometimes users might misdiagnose their laptop problems as well and request single replacements for the wrong part. We’ve gotten requests over the phone to replace the laptop screen hinge, which is a solid metal part that is quite hard to break. It usually is either the front bezel or back cover of the screen, or the upper cover of the keyboard that is actually broken. These parts may also require complete replacement of the screen, depending on the model of laptop.

2. Batteries last forever

Contrary to some belief, laptop batteries are consumable parts. They last 2-4 years, depending on use and charging cycles. We can expect these batteries to fail just in the same way as the batteries in toys, cameras, and phones.

Failing laptops can expand, leak corrosive liquid, or even heat up quickly and catch fire. So if you notice an error message like “service battery”, or “replace battery”, it’s best you get that checked out as soon as possible.

3. You need to drain your laptop’s power before charging the battery

Laptop batteries are lithium-ion batteries, which allow you to charge it many times without harming its battery life. It will continue to hold charge even after multiple charge cycles.

Some computer users believe that it would benefit battery life to drain the laptop’s power before charging it again. There’s actually no real proof of this, and you can even leave the power cable plugged in the whole time you use the laptop as well.

4. My laptop is not turning on because of a dead battery

Unless your laptop is not plugged in and has no power, this statement is not true. A laptop does not need a working battery to turn on. As long as it has a power supply from the charging cable, it should turn on and boot up just fine.

When a laptop is not turning on at all, this would usually mean a more serious hardware issue. A part essential to the start up process may be faulty, and is causing your laptop to be unresponsive. You could likely have a hard drive or motherboard issue, or even have a faulty video card or RAM. Just remember, you probably don’t need a battery replacement when you can’t turn on your laptop.

5. Having lots of files will slow down your computer

Will having lots of files clog up your system and slow your computer down? The answer is, no. Having more files on your hard drive will only take up its storage space, and not its performance.

The thing that will slow down your computer is having lots of startup programs. These are apps that start running once you boot up your computer. This can cause slow boot up times, or slow down your computer’s performance. You can check on the impact of these startup programs from the “startup” tab of Task Manager. You may also disable these apps from starting automatically from boot up, to smooth things over.

6. A virus is making my computer go crazy

Computer viruses are often the scapegoats of computer issues. They are often blamed for most computer issues, which most of the time turn out to be a hardware issue. Most computer users don’t expect their hardware to fail, so they turn to thinking that they have a virus.

Something like the keyboard making jumbled or incorrect input or image distortions are often incorrectly thought to be virus infections. These are actually hardware failures that need replacing. A computer virus is a program that infects your OS, and can’t damage your hardware.

To be fair, computer virus infections can cause significant changes. Just not damage. Some signs of a virus infection include inappropriate pop-up windows, browser homepage changes, slow performance, and data security breaches. To combat this, make sure you’re browsing the web safely and install antivirus software to protect yourself.

7. Antivirus will stop me from having any computer virus

While antivirus can help you browse the web safely and protect your computer from viruses, there’s no guarantee. Even with a paid subscription of the best antivirus software, computer viruses today are very advanced and can be smart enough to find a way in.

Think of it this way: When we are sick, medicine or treatment from a doctor will cure your illness, but will not protect you from illness forever. Antivirus works the same way, it is definitely useful, but is not effective 100%.

8. Magnets can harm hard drives

Because of how magnets can wipe floppy disks, some continue to believe that magnets can harm other storage devices like hard drives. Hard drives are quite sturdy, and can’t fall from a magnet. Unless it gets hit by substantial force, the hard drive cannot be damaged with simple domestic magnets.

The only magnets that can destroy a hard drive are industrial-strength ones only found in labs or junkyards. These are the magnets that can distort the drive. Otherwise, the only way to wipe a drive is by using software to overwrite its memory sectors multiple times.

9. Wiping the hard drive can fix bad sectors

Wiping a hard drive can delete everything off the drive, including all the files and the OS as well. Users might come up with this idea to fix a failing hard drive, but it will not fix the drive. Bad sectors are permanently damaged parts of the hard drive.

Wiping the drive will only remove the data stored on it, but you can’t necessarily “delete” bad sectors. The only way to fix a faulty hard drive is by replacing it completely. If the damage is not that bad yet, disk repair utilities can sometimes solve some soft bad sectors, but that is not a true fix. It may only buy you another year or so on the drive, until you have to deal with it properly.

10. Only techs can fix computer issues

Just like other DIY projects, you totally can fix your computer by yourself! Most computer hardware replacements are pretty straightforward. You won’t need to get a technician to do them.

Take hard drive replacements for example — they are installed just the same way they are taken out, just by unplugging and plugging in the SATA cable. Even tech beginners can try this and nail it on their first try.

While more advanced computer repairs like motherboard or battery replacements should be left to the professionals, we do encourage DIY repairs. Not only can this save you the time and money, but the sense of accomplishment that comes with it is a pretty good feeling too.

Do your research

Computer myths that have sustained over time should definitely be debunked, as it can prevent you from diagnosing and repairing your computer properly. With a good amount of research, you should be equipped with the right tech know-how to treat your computer.

Need help with computer repairs in Sydney?

You might not all have the time or technological knowledge to deal with your computer issues on your own. That’s where we can help you out. At Safemode Computer Service, we offer the best professional computer repair services in Sydney. We can diagnose and repair computer issues like hard drive failure, liquid spill damage, and virus removal.

Located in the Inner West, our experienced technicians can help you diagnose your faulty computer in no time and offer the right advice to fix it. Call us about your computer issue, or visit our Enmore store today.

Laptop not turning on? Here’s how to diagnose your laptop for issues

Are you pushing every button on your laptop and it’s giving no sign of life?

It seems to be completely dead. You might be thinking that the battery is dead or it’s something to do with the power supply.

Let’s not jump to conclusions yet. Trying to fix a computer issue without thoroughly diagnosing the problem could waste you unnecessary money and labour.

Not to worry, we can show you how!

To find the right solution to your issue, we must accurately identify your specific startup issue.

When we say that a laptop is not turning on at all, it means that it appears to be completely dead. There is no response when you press the power button to turn it on, even when it is plugged in.

Other startup issues might include situations when the laptop turns on, but stays on a black screen.

Or it may turn on, but never boots to Windows or MacOS. It might even shut down after a few seconds while it is booting up.

If your laptop does not turn on all, you’re at the right place. Check out our other guides which can help you with

How to find out why your laptop is not turning on

Your laptop relies on its different components to work. Every part is necessary for the laptop to work properly, run software, play videos, and more. So once a part starts to fail, it may become quite noticeable when you use the laptop.

When your laptop won’t turn on, it means that a part essential for startup is out of service. The whole process will then be disrupted and the laptop won’t respond.

These essential components include the hard drive, motherboard, video card, and RAM.

A faulty power adaptor may also be the cause of a dead laptop.

To find out why your laptop is not turning on, you may try testing each of these components and repair faulty parts as needed.

When you can’t turn on your laptop at all, there are less options for diagnostic tests. You’ll have to make use of methods that involve taking out the part to test it.

If you do manage to turn on the laptop, you can run more tests on your system with pre-boot diagnostics and analysis software to get more conclusive results.

Hard drive failure

The hard drive is used as the startup disk for your laptop. Along with your files, it contains the boot files and operating system used to start your computer.

Whether your drive is a hard disk drive (HDD), or a solid-state drive (SSD flash storage), it can accumulate bad sectors and fail eventually. These bad sectors cause permanent damage which can corrupt files or even completely remove them.

When the boot files or OS is corrupted, your laptop will have trouble starting up. Essential files are missing or inaccessible, so the laptop might not even turn on. Other hard drive issues could include the blue screen of death (BSOD), SMART failure, or a Mac startup question mark folder screen.

How to fix a failing hard drive

The solution to a faulty hard drive is to first test it out to confirm the problem. Now as your laptop is not turning on, we’ll have to take the entire drive out and test it on a different device, preferably a desktop computer. Connect the drive via a SATA to USB enclosure and use hard drive analysis software like WD Data Lifeguard to diagnose problems.

If your laptop does manage to turn on to the logo splash screen, you may also use pre-boot diagnostics to test your system. At the logo splash screen, hold down a specific key to enter boot diagnostics. There you can test not only your hard drive, but components like the battery and RAM too.

After you confirm a hard drive failure, the next step is to replace the hard drive. While a quick fix with software can get your laptop on again, this is only an emergency fix that might only get you one more year on the drive. Replacing or upgrading your drive can get you a significant and long-lasting fix for your laptop. Learn more replacing a Dell, HP, or Apple Mac hard drive.

Motherboard, video card, and RAM failures

The motherboard (or logic board), video card, and RAM are all components essential to the laptop’s startup process as well as normal functioning.

We’ve put them together in one category because the video card and RAM are commonly embedded on the motherboard in modern laptops these days. So if you find an error with either part that is on the motherboard, you can conclude a motherboard failure.

The motherboard of a laptop computer is the circuit board where every part of the laptop communicates with each other. The processor makes decisions and these instructions are sent through the motherboard to be carried out by the respective components.

So when the motherboard starts to fail, components lose their communication channel and can’t work together. This could make the laptop unresponsive when you try to turn it on.

Components built-in on the motherboard, like the RAM and video card, are responsible for multitasking and the display respectively. When the video card fails, it can’t properly generate the laptop display feed, or not at all. For a RAM error, it will fail to provide readily available storage memory for quick multitasking purposes. These two parts also play a critical part in your laptop’s startup process.

How to test for motherboard issues

A motherboard failure is one of the hardest parts to test and repair, as there is no specific test for it. We’ll have to deduce the issue by eliminating other possible causes. This involves testing the RAM and video card.

Unfortunately, if your RAM and video card are both embedded on the motherboard and you can’t turn on your laptop to perform diagnostics, there’s no other option for you at home. Certain models of laptops do have detachable RAM chips, so you can test that. All you need to do is swap out the RAM with a spare stick of RAM and see if your laptop turns on or not. If it does turn on again, you can solve your RAM failure with a new replacement. If not, you might have a motherboard issue.

As we’ve mentioned, motherboard repairs are very hard to do. The motherboard is a delicate and intricate piece of circuitry, with a lot of connective points that regular consumers might not be familiar with. That said, you might want to get the help of a professional technician to repair your motherboard. Learn more about motherboard failure in our guide to motherboard repairs.

Power adaptor failure

A laptop’s power adaptor, or the PSU, is used to charge up your laptop for you to use it on the go. Your laptop requires a certain amount of juice to startup if it’s not plugged in. When you notice that your laptop isn’t turning on even when it’s plugged in, you might have a faulty power adaptor.

How to fix a power adaptor failure

Power adaptors can break from natural wear and tear, or maybe from accident damage like spilled liquids. You can simply test this out by using a spare adaptor on your laptop. If the light comes on and it charges your laptop, you’ve fixed the problem!

After following the above steps, you should be able to narrow down the culprit behind your laptop’s “murder”. Then you can move on to looking for replacement solutions to your faulty components. You may also use YouTube and repair guides on ifixit as a starting point to fixing your laptop all by yourself.

Professional repairs

The limited options to testing your laptop for issues when your laptop won’t turn on at all can be pretty frustrating. You might not have the time, nor the tools. So is it time to take it to a professional for help?

It might be a good idea to just take your laptop to a repair shop, to save yourself the hassle.

Safemode Computer Service can fix this for you.

Conveniently located in Inner West Sydney, we are a quick stop from Sydney CBD as well. Call us up to set up an appointment, and we can help you test your laptop in-store.

Our trusted services are highly-rated across Sydney, and we take pride in supporting the community. We also can help you with computer upgrades, computer virus removals, and liquid spill repairs. Book an appointment at our Enmore store today.

Why motherboard failures are so hard to test and repair

If we think of a computer as a living being, the motherboard would be the nerve centre that connects everything else together. These components include the processor, storage, video card, and so on. The brain of the computer, the Central Processing Unit (CPU) then decides what to do with all the information and signals passed along through the motherboard.

So a motherboard failure would mean problems with other components connected, thus harming the entire performance of the computer. With the nerve centre down, the brain cannot work properly to send signals to the rest of the system.

Such failure will usually cause the computer to stop working suddenly and can be very frustrating to test and repair as well. Motherboard repairs or replacements are known as the hardest repairs to perform. For most laptops, the entire board including the CPU will need to be replaced if any faults are found on the motherboard. These faults may range from overheating damage or blown capacitors.

With that said, any suspicions about motherboard failure should be tested thoroughly to make a diagnosis. By testing, you may conclude that the motherboard is indeed faulty. Or, you may find that it is completely fine and that you have other hardware issues that is the actual cause of your problems.

Before we start with how you can test for motherboard issues, let’s find out what usually causes these failures and what you can do to protect it. Understanding why these things happen can be helpful to find the right solution to the issue.

What is a motherboard?

A motherboard (known as logic board for Apple devices) is a crucial part of a computer. It is the circuit board where all components of the system is plugged into. As an input / output system, the motherboard is where interactions within the computer happens. Each motherboard model may differ from each other, from its form factor to where each component is fitted.

The three main components that makes your computer work is the processor (CPU), storage (hard drive and RAM), and the motherboard. All three parts must work together to create a smooth computing experience for the user.

The processor and storage, along with other components such as the keyboard and video card are connected via the motherboard. Then the CPU works out how things interact, and the motherboard passes along this information to each component. So without the motherboard, things can’t work together, and nothing will end up operating.

What happens when a motherboard stops working

With a motherboard failure, components can’t interact with each other. This generally leads to unexpected system crashes, or complete computer failure. There usually aren’t many early warnings to prevent such faults, as your system will just stop working without a functioning motherboard. The main thing you can do is to find out what’s really causing your issues, and then get a repair.

Causes of motherboard failure

Overheating

All components, including the motherboard, need to be cooled consistently to work properly. Components like the CPU and video card generate a lot of heat. If this heat is not dispersed, it will create significant damage to the motherboard. The cooling system of your computer keeps the temperature at the right limit. This prevents further damage from overheating.

So if the cooling system is unable to work properly, the motherboard will be at risk of overheating. Overheating can occur from faulty cooling fans, or from dust buildup that traps heat. This can cause connecting points or parts of the board to warp.

Liquid spill

Knocking over a drink on a laptop is surely one of the greatest human fears of the modern age. While other components can suffer damage from a liquid spill, the motherboard will be the first thing to go. Liquids can cause significant damage to the intricate connection points of the motherboard and cause eventual failure.

If you find yourself in this situation, the first thing you should do is to remove the laptop from its power source. Unprofessional treatment and cleaning like using a hair dryer to dry the laptop can cause further unwanted damage.

Natural wear and tear

Laptops can generally last pretty long, until any one component starts to fail. Long term use can affect the condition of the motherboard, but the actual failure of it is quite impossible to predict. Still, considering the lifespan of other components, long-term use can cause a motherboard to fail.

How to protect motherboard from damage

Keep ventilation outlets clear

Fans can only work properly with clear ventilation outlet for proper air flow. Using your laptop on top of cloth surfaces or with any blocked ventilation can escalate the heat buildup. Keeping the outlets clear and clean of any dust that can block airflow can promise proper laptop cooling.

Bust the dust

It’s safe to say that dust in any situation is not ideal. Dust that is collected inside your computer can trap heat. This trapped heat means extra work for the computer fan that it may not be able to handle.

Not to worry that much though, you don’t need to clean your computer too often. Cleaning your laptop or desktop computer once a year should be sufficient to prevent excessive dust buildup.

Make sure your cooling system is in shape

Having an efficient cooling system means that your computer can work properly at the right temperature. Having a laptop or desktop computer that is always running too hot might mean that your fan can’t keep up with the heat.

You can run diagnostics to check on the status of your cooling system. You can do this with built-in system diagnostics or pre-boot diagnostics. This can help you keep everything in tiptop shape.

How to test for motherboard failure

Unfortunately, the motherboard is one of the hardest components to test and repair. There’s no specific test to directly find motherboard failures. The only way is by eliminating other possible hardware issues. By doing a little sleuthing, you’ll be able to find out whether the motherboard is the culprit behind your hardware issues.

Before we begin

Depending on the status of your computer, there are a few steps you may be able to skip, or will still need to do. This includes whether or not your computer passes POST, and whether certain components are built into the motherboard or not.

Computer POST

POST (power-on self test) is a test that a computer performs to make sure everything is working fine before booting up. If the computer passes POST, then boot up will continue, where the logo splash screen will appear. The computer will not start up at all if it doesn’t pass POST.

After your computer passes POST, you’ll need to test your hard drive, RAM, and GPU. If not, you’ll only need to test your RAM and GPU.

Built-in components

Most laptops these days have built-in GPU, some also have built-in RAM chips. These are built-in onto the motherboard. If you are able to diagnose issues on the built-in components, it’s almost certain that the motherboard is also faulty.

Now we can begin testing for motherboard failure by eliminating other hardware issues.

Testing for hard drive issues

Considering that your computer passes POST, you’ll need to run tests on the hard drive. When you reach the splash screen during boot you can run diagnostics by pressing a specific key to your computer’s brand. That’s “Esc” for HP, “F12” for Dell, “Enter” for Lenovo, and “D” for Apple. Be sure to use the right key to your system.

Boot diagnostics will run tests on hardware components to find any problems. You’ll be able to find potential problems with your hard drive, along with other components too.

If your computer boots successfully to Windows, you may use chkdsk or dedicated hard drive analysis software. Apple Mac users may use Disk Utility First Aid or specific hard drive analysis software for Mac.

Chkdsk / First Aid

Both chkdsk and First Aid can attempt repairs or mark bad sectors to be skipped. Even if your hard drive isn’t the root of your current problem, these disk checking tools can be useful in preventing premature disk failures. So it may be a good idea to keep regular disk checking practices.

Dedicated hard drive analysis software

Software like SeaTools for Windows and WD Drive Utilities for Mac is used to perform quick or extended tests on hard drives. These free tools can diagnose and attempt repairs on issues found on the hard drive.

To use this test method, you’ll need to connect your hard drive to another desktop computer via a SATA to USB enclosure box. Then, the enclosure powers the hard drive from a separate power source to keep the drive isolated for thorough testing.

If you find that your hard drive is working fine, you may check it off the suspect list and move on to the next component. However, if you do find issues on your hard drive, we can also help you find the right repair solution. Read our guides on how to test and repair a hard drive for Dell, HP, or Apple laptops or desktops.

Testing for RAM issues

RAM comes in two forms on a computer. It can come in stick form that is connected to the motherboard, or as built-in chips on the motherboard. Depending on the model of your laptop or desktop computer, the RAM test method can vary.

For desktop computers both Windows and Apple (iMac and Mac Mini), RAM can be removed and tested for issues. Most Windows laptops have removable RAM as well. Most Apple laptops from 2012 and onward have their RAM chips built-in onto the motherboard. You can check whether your RAM is separate or built-in on the motherboard by looking up the specs of your device, or simply open your computer to take a look.

Testing RAM when your computer passes POST

Both separate and built-in RAM can be tested with boot diagnostics if your computer does pass POST. You may also run RAM test software like MemTest86 if your computer boots up successfully. Both methods can find possible issues with your computer memory.

You may move on to the next component test if you do not find any issues with your RAM. If you do find issues with your built-in RAM, then you can conclude that you have a motherboard failure. This is because the built-in RAM is part of the motherboard.

Testing RAM when your computer does not pass POST

If your computer does not POST at all, you’ll need to test for RAM issues with a spare stick of RAM. This involves checking to see whether the problem remains even with a different RAM stick put in. If your computer passes POST with this other RAM, then you’ve got a RAM failure. Otherwise, you might have a motherboard issue if the computer still doesn’t pass POST. Note that you can’t use this method for built-in RAM.

Testing for GPU issues

Most laptops and Apple desktop Macs have their video cards built into the motherboard these days. Windows desktop computers do have separate video cards.

If your video card is built-into the motherboard and your computer does not POST, there’s no way to test it. If it does POST and you do find issues with the built-in GPU, then there is a problem with the motherboard.

How to test for GPU issues

To test your video card, you can use boot diagnostics and analysis software like FurMark (Geeks 3D). This is for situations where your laptop or desktop does successfully boot.

The only way to test the video card if your computer does not post is when it is separate from the motherboard. You can do this by testing removing the GPU and testing it on a different desktop computer.

Two outcomes will conclude that you have a motherboard failure: All other components other than the motherboard have passed their diagnostic tests; or you diagnose issues with a component built into the motherboard. Now you can start thinking about a repair solution.

Replacing a faulty motherboard

Now that you’ve confirmed that your motherboard is faulty, you’ll need a replacement.

Buying a motherboard replacement

Motherboards are complex pieces of hardware, and different models of motherboards only fit specific computer models. Because of its form factor and configurations, you can’t necessarily “upgrade to a better motherboard”. Each motherboard essentially works the same as a circuit board for your system. So you may want to buy the exact same motherboard model as a replacement for the faulty one.

You can find the motherboard model number in the specs of your device, and look for that exact same model in-store or online. Branded ones like Apple, HP, Dell, and Lenovo have universal model part numbers that you can look for online. For brands that do not have specific part numbers like Acer and Asus, you’ll need to do a little close searching to find the right motherboard replacement.

Replacing your motherboard by yourself?

For the technologically-adept, replacing a motherboard by yourself can be the repair solution for you. However, a motherboard replacement is one of the most complicated computer repair jobs to do, and a DIY solution can be very tricky. This is true even for us, as experienced technicians.

Due to the intricate parts and connecting points of a motherboard, everything on the computer will have to be taken out and put back in for this repair. Such a challenging repair usually has a 70-80% success rate. So even if you are keen on DIY projects, you might still want to put this in the safe hands of professionals.

Still, for the ones confident in a DIY repair, you can find motherboard replacement guides online. Popular tech site ifixit offers repair guides for specific computer models, you’ll surely find the right guide for you there 👍

Professional repairs

Don’t want to do all this work? Leave it to the professionals. You might not have all the tools needed, or even the time to go through all the steps. That’s where a professional repair technician can help you. It’s still a good idea to have an understanding of the entire test and repair process though.

You can get specialised professional support and repair at an an authorised service centre for possibly no fee, if you are still under warranty or accident care cover. For this reason, you may want to check your warranty before you take your computer there. You might still be able to get support with an expired warranty for a fee. If not, a third-party repair service is your only option. Apple users with computers from 2012 and before will also need to seek advice third-party repair services, as Apple may not provide support solutions for them.

As an established computer repair service in Inner West Sydney, we at Safemode Computer Service can help you with your motherboard problems :) With 20,000 repairs under our belts, our experienced technicians understand how difficult motherboard repairs can be, and treat them with precision and care. Situated in the vibrant Inner West suburb of Enmore, surrounded by Marrickville and Newtown, we could be a closer option for you if live in Inner West Sydney. We can help you thoroughly test your laptop or desktop computer and offer the right repair advice and solution.

Got any questions for us? Call us to make an appointment or come by our Enmore store today.