Laptop Won't Turn On? — Victoria Repair Checklist

Before you assume the laptop is dead and start shopping, run through these checks. Half the "dead" laptops that come into the shop just needed a hard reset or a different charger.

1. Confirm power is reaching the laptop

• Try a different outlet. Surge bars die quietly.
• Try a different charger of the same wattage and connector. Bad chargers are the #1 cause.
• Look for a charging LED on the laptop. No LED = either no power or the DC jack is loose.

2. Do a hard reset (drain residual power)

1. Unplug the charger.
2. If the battery is removable, take it out. If it's internal, skip this.
3. Hold the power button for 30–60 seconds.
4. Plug the charger back in (leave the battery out for now), and press power once.

On many ThinkPads there's a small pinhole reset button on the bottom — press it with a paperclip for 10 seconds. This recovers a surprising number of "won't turn on" laptops.

3. Is it actually off, or is the screen dead?

• Press power, then shine a flashlight at the screen at an angle. If you can faintly see a Windows login behind the dark — the backlight is dead, the laptop is fine.
• Listen for fans or feel for heat on the bottom. If the laptop runs warm but the screen stays black, it's a display / cable issue, not a dead board.
• Plug into an external monitor with HDMI / USB-C. If the external works, it's the screen.

4. Liquid spill or recent drop?

Don't keep trying to power it on — every attempt accelerates corrosion. Unplug everything, leave it upside-down on a towel, and text the shop with what was spilled and when. Spill cleanup in the first 48 hours has a much higher save rate than after a week of "letting it dry in rice".

5. When to bring it in

If none of the above worked, it's likely a charging-circuit, board, or storage issue. At The Laptop Garage in Victoria I can usually tell you in 15 minutes whether the laptop is worth fixing or whether you're better off with a trade-in against something in inventory. Paid diagnosis — but the quote you get is firm and you decide before any work starts.

Text Dylan at (250) 986-6407 or book a repair. Most jobs are same-day.