[Bubba]

My friends laptop died. Someone told her it was the Mobo, but she asked me to look at it. The symtoms are:

At first, she said she would plug it in and the green light around the power button would come on but nothing would happen when she mashed the power button. By the time I got it, there are no lights whatsoever, anywhere when the power cord is plugged in. SHe said she hard two adapters and the same thing happened with both, but she only gave me one adapter. Assuming it's NOT the adaptor, is it possible that the PSU is dead, and if so, is it possible to replace one on a laptop? If not, can I get the Hard drive out and download her files onto my computer until she gets a new one or download the files straight to the new one?

[Carbon]

The PSU in a desktop converts AC to DC for usage during runtime - the DC conversion is handled in the adapter on a laptop and used to charge the battery, which then directly powers the components (still in DC).

It's most likely that if the adapter isn't toast the motherboard is indeed the thing that failed. Alternatively, some solder could have come off a joint and you could be looking at just a loose power button wire or something silly. Otherwise it's not worth replacing anything - laptop motherboards are expensive as hell and if you're out of warranty it's not going to be cost effective.

[Bubba]

ok thanks. What about tranferring the files from the hard drive? Is that a complicated process?

[Carbon]

Nah, it's probably even SATA if it's a newer laptop. Even if it's IDE the connectors are the same as on a desktop.