Laptop powering on, but no display. Need a plan B to secure my bondage collection.

Postby SolidSnickerdoodle » Sun Mar 19, 2017 11:33 pm

Posting here because computer hardware isn't exactly sexy or fun. Unless you're into that.

For the last year or so I've had a problem with my laptop. Specifically an issue where the laptop itself will power on, but not the display. It used to be a rare occurrence that I would have to shut it down and boot it up again. But over time it became more common, resulting in me having to make a good 10 or so attempts for the display to light up in conjunction with the power. And as of yesterday, the display will not power on at all, no matter how many attempts I make (I tried for 3 hours). This is actually what I was afraid would happen, and part of the reason I was asking about external hard drives as a backup plan. Needless to say, all of my files are now stored away on a computer that I have no ability to access. I'm actually posting this from the family computer in Incognito mode which sucks and is no fun at all.

As it turns out this is a fairly common issue with the front runner cause being a bad RAM stick. Apparently, they can deteriorate over time which keeps the computer from initiating tasks and booting up fully. That's the theory right now anyway. I've tried cleaning it, and it looks like I may just have to replace it.

But in case this doesn't work and I for some reason have to get another computer, is there a way for me to transfer my files from my computer's hard drive into another computer? Or at least onto an external hard drive for the time being? Everything I have is saved on my C-drive (thank God I had the foresight to do that). The system itself still performs fine and there is no data corruption or problems with the OS. I just can't access them directly because there's no display.

I've never worked with an internal hard drive before, so I'm unfamiliar with how they operate. Is there a port where I can hook it up to another device? Is it that simple? Also, if anybody has any other thoughts on what else might be causing the problem I'm all ears.
Last edited by SolidSnickerdoodle on Fri Mar 24, 2017 8:33 pm, edited 2 times in total.
There is only one God, and his name is Death. And there is only one thing we say to Death: Not today.

Re: Laptop powering on, but no display. Need a plan B to secure my bondage collection.

Postby drawscore » Mon Mar 20, 2017 5:42 am

A good reason for keeping files backed up on removable discs and/or drives. I don't keep anything on my hard drive, and I keep the thumb drives out of my computer, except when in use.

My advice, is that the next time you can get your computer up, you download your files to a thumb drive, take your laptop to the computer guru, have the hard drive wiped, and donate it to the Salvation Army. Then, go to a local pawn shop, and get a new (to you) computer. I've seen some really good deals on computers at Cash America Pawn and Value Pawn (Two national chains). You can get a $400-$500 computer for half that.

Drawscore

Re: Laptop powering on, but no display. Need a plan B to secure my bondage collection.

Postby Oohmynameisblue » Mon Mar 20, 2017 8:47 am

drawscore wrote:donate it to the Salvation Army.

Why the salvation army

Re: Laptop powering on, but no display. Need a plan B to secure my bondage collection.

Postby chadmc90 » Mon Mar 20, 2017 2:48 pm

tapeandrope666 wrote:What OS is it? If its not 8 or higher you can just rip out the HDD and put it in another computer. If its 8 or newer tho I'm not sure have you tried plugging in an external monitor? If it powers but not lights up that could help :)


I believe it still works with Windows 8+ unless you have the drive encrypted.

But you're right, he should try to connect an external monitor to it. If it works fine with it then it's not your ram, but rather an issue with the display. If it's ram the system won't even boot to Windows.
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Re: Laptop powering on, but no display. Need a plan B to secure my bondage collection.

Postby Lake Lover » Mon Mar 20, 2017 3:07 pm

Oohmynameisblue wrote:
drawscore wrote:donate it to the Salvation Army.

Why the salvation army


I think the Salvation Army is a very big operation spreading the Christian gospel of Salvation and a helping hand for those in need as it does around the world. The store where donors drop off USABLE clothing,furnishings, tools, books, and yes, computers, gives the donor a receipt with an estimated value for the donation. It is readily accepted as a charitable donation if claimed on your income tax forms.

Re: Laptop powering on, but no display. Need a plan B to secure my bondage collection.

Postby SolidSnickerdoodle » Mon Mar 20, 2017 9:23 pm

Lake Lover wrote:
Oohmynameisblue wrote:
drawscore wrote:donate it to the Salvation Army.

Why the salvation army


I think the Salvation Army is a very big operation spreading the Christian gospel of Salvation and a helping hand for those in need as it does around the world. The store where donors drop off USABLE clothing,furnishings, tools, books, and yes, computers, gives the donor a receipt with an estimated value for the donation. It is readily accepted as a charitable donation if claimed on your income tax forms.

Should have mentioned this. I've tried hooking it up to an external monitor (my TV) in an effort to bypass the display. But it still doesn't work. So I know it's an internal issue, not a problem with the backlight/inverter.

Also, I have Windows 10 for those of you wondering. Does that determine how I transfer data over? Again, probably seems strange that I'm asking this on a bondage forum, but it does concern bondage.
There is only one God, and his name is Death. And there is only one thing we say to Death: Not today.

Re: Laptop powering on, but no display. Need a plan B to secure my bondage collection.

Postby chadmc90 » Mon Mar 20, 2017 11:28 pm

If the hard drive is removable, you can find tools online to allow you to hook it up to another computer.

Here is a link to a SATA to USB adapter: http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/2521702741 ... noapp=true

You can find similar products other than this as well. Hope this helps.
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Re: Laptop powering on, but no display. Need a plan B to secure my bondage collection.

Postby drawscore » Tue Mar 21, 2017 11:32 pm

[quote="Oohmynameisblue"

Why the salvation army[/quote]

They are rated pretty high on charity monitoring sites, in that at least 80% of cash donations, and profits from their thrift stores, go to help people. There are some charities where only a dime out of every dollar, or less, goes to that end. For example UNICEF. Look up what the head of that agency gets, and the perks of office,

A donation of your old computer might seem like giving them worthless junk, but they do have some skilled techs that might be able to bring it back, and then sell it in one of their thrift shops. Give them the chance to do it.

Drawscore

Re: Laptop powering on, but no display. Need a plan B to secure my bondage collection.

Postby BranBTAT » Wed May 03, 2017 3:20 pm

I don't know if you have fixed your issue but if not, I can offer what I know. If your drive is encrypted and you do not know the key, then that's a whole different rabbit hole. If you have one of the few few computers (mostly very small laptops and things like tablets) that have the hard drive soldered onto the motherboard, then it's not removable. Otherwise though, it should be fairly easy to do.

Firstly, you may not even need to transfer files, just the drive. Take the old drive, plug it into the new computer in the right spot and that may be all that is needed. Some newer OSs will realize it's a new computer and refuse to boot though. If it doesn't work or you decide you want a clean drive, install an OS on a new drive (which may already be done when you buy the computer), plug in the old drive, boot the computer, and your old drive will be under My Computer (or whatever it's called these days) next to your new hard drive. Your main drive will be "C" and the old one will be "D" or some other letter. You can then open and copy as normal.

If you don't feel comfortable messing around with the insides of the computer, there are cables like Chad has mentioned that you plug the old drive into and it basically shows up on your new computer like a giant flash drive. I personally use this one as I have harddrives from the early 90s and they use a different kind of connector to newer drives (Chad's link only does newer drives) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DQJME7Y If you want to go further, you can also buy cases to put a drive into that basically make it an external drive. An external harddrive is just a case, one of those cables I linked, and an internal hard drive. If you want your drive connected a lot of the time, then a case or external drive is recommended; the basic cables don't provide the support needed for everyday drives. Plugging it into your computer's inside and just mounting it in the case works too.

Whether you decide to plug the old drive into the motherboard or use an adapter USB cable, you can copy the files over to an external drive (or another internal drive). Just open it in My Computer (or whatever it's called now) and copy as you would any file.

Re: Laptop powering on, but no display. Need a plan B to secure my bondage collection.

Postby drawscore » Thu May 04, 2017 12:19 pm

Oohmynameisblue wrote:
drawscore wrote:donate it to the Salvation Army.

Why the salvation army


The Salvation Army has 80% or more of their donations go to charity. Many charities pay their CEO'S exorbitant salaries, while giving 10% or less to charity, I wouldn't donate a nickel to UNICEF.

Drawscore