Power problem on laptop

My Acer Aspire 3680 with Vista has been refusing to start from the power button for months without a couple of dozen attempts, curses and threats to take it to a shop. I accidentally started it by holding down the power button and hitting a key. Then I found out it would start right up if I just open the lid and hit a key without pressing the power button at all. In the meantime the battery reached critical the other night and the key trick didn't work. I finally got it going by pressing the power button over and over in several sets of tries and now the key trick works again. I've tried removing the battery, unplugging it and holding the power button for up to a minute several times. That didn't seem to help. Now I'm leaving it plugged in and closing the lid (I'm afraid to shut it down) so I can start it by hitting a key but I don't like leaving it on all the time, even on a chill pad. What's wrong and what can I do to fix it?

Thanks for any help you can give me,

Lu

Anybody out there?

I got an online diagnosis (for $14) of faulty motherboard, matter of time (how long?) before it won't start at all. Acer wants $199 + one way shipping to fix it since it's out of warranty but didn't say what's wrong. Geek Squad thought half-a-dozen different things but hasn't seen it yet. I'm thinking I could back it up and restore factory settings but I'm afraid I'd just make things worse. It's running fine and doesn't seem to be overheating or anything.

Any ideas?

It's Suggested that you consult Acer, not some dodgy computing store

~Acid

DoctorAcid wrote:

It's Suggested that you consult Acer, not some dodgy computing store

~Acid

I did consult Acer. See above. Since it's out of warranty it will cost me $199 + one way shipping. That's all they would tell me. I'd rather put the money into a new computer if it needs a major repair like a new motherboard.

If it's something simple that could be fixed easily I'd like to try that. Any other ideas? What about restoring the factory settings?

Consult an Expert for Restoring Factory Settings. I Would Reccommend it but
try and Save Anything you Need! Then Do it. I Wouldn't Risk Doing it if i didn't know what would happen

~Acid

The only local experts would be the Geek Squad at the dodgy computer store. My trustworthy computer repair guy and guru (who gave free estimates) went out of business not long after Best Buy came in.

Is there an expert in the house?

I don't know what would happen especally since I don't know exactly what's wrong. I'm not sure if that's the right thing to do. If the computer is going to die anyway I suppose it doesn't matter, but I'd like to get closer to the time when I'm seriously in the market for a successor.

I've already transferred important stuff into an external hard drive to free up memory so there's not much left but saved games and articles. Is it okay to just leave it plugged in and let it hibernate and start it the way I've been doing or will that hasten its demise?

Thanks for the reply. I appreciate it,

Lu

I Have Had that before on a NEW Computer... Don't know what happened.. A Simple Restoring Factory Settings Did the Trick... Hmm For Leaving it Plugged in... HMM. It Will Possibly Corrupt it More

I Am An Expert but not at Settings... Only Software Engineering ^_^ Glad to Help, Ask me Anything


~Acid

I just reread the instructions on the site and I'm not sure I can power it up to do the restoration.

http://www.GeekPolice.net/tutorials-guides-f13/acer-system-recovery-partition-hotkey-instructions-erecovery-t7449.htm

I've been checking the Net for a week and it seems it could be anything from BIOS upgrade needed to the mother%$#&^%board. I checked Acer for the download but it said not to do it unless they tell me to. That's when I contacted them but we didn't discuss BIOS.

Assuming I'm able to shut it down and power it up (doubtful) and try getting it back to factory settings, what's the worst thing that could happen?

You Completely FRY your Hardware ^_^

~Acid

Hm. IOW, I'm between a rock and a hard place. Since it's running well I may leave well enough alone for now while I search for something with a dedicated graphics card and a reasonable price.

I did back it up today.

Good.


~Acid

Update:

Instead of risking fried hardware I took the Acer to Staples for a $40 custom repair with no diagnostic. The repair guy thought it was a Vista problem. He was able to get it to turn on and off again but it's still weird in sleep. There might be more of a hardware problem than he'd thought previously. Since he couldn't fix it all the way there was no charge!

I may have located my old repair guy who gives free estimates - just in case.

Since I can now turn it off and on I don't need to leave it in sleep. I can continue to use it while I save up for the gaming machine.

Thanks for your help.