What to do When the Laptop Falls

Posted on January 2nd, 2008. Written by Rico.

Big name manufacturers design a surprising amount of ruggedness into their products, so recovering laptops that fall to the floor (and look relatively intact) is usually a simple matter of:

1. Turning it off or shutting it down. If the laptop is non-responsive, hold the power button down for a few seconds. Failing that, take out the battery to cut power.
2. Removing the battery. If that wasn’t done in step one.
3. Waiting for an hour or so. Many modern laptops are designed to “reset” themselves when they’re cut off from power.
4. Putting the battery back in and turning the laptop on. If the screen looks weird or nothing happens, turn the laptop off by holding down the power button for a few seconds. Whether or not it goes off, remove the battery.
5. Sleeping on it. Some laptops need more time to recover. Keep the battery out of the laptop, and set them aside for the night.
6. Trying again. Put the battery back in and try again. If the laptop doesn’t start up properly or nothing happens, turn the laptop off by holding down the power button for a few seconds. Whether or not it goes off, remove the battery.
7. Having it checked by the technician. If none of the above steps work, you’ll have to concede defeat and have your laptop looked over by a pro.

Take note, the above procedure is only designed to get your laptop working again so that you can finish that report or presentation. Once you’ve gotten it to work, back up all your work files on a disk, turn the computer off or shut it down, and have it checked by a technician ASAP.

Rico

Rico Mossesgeld is the founding editor of Technograph. Learn more about him at rico.mossesgeld.com/about.

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