Question:
Like a dummy, I left my Acer laptop on Standby and plugged into the wall for two weeks while I was gone on vacation. When I got back I discovered that the laptop was dead. The screen is blank and none of the lights will come on when I press the Power button. I asked my neighbor if we had any lightning storms while I was gone and she said we had had several.
My guess is lightning struck the laptop and fried it along with my cable modem and wireless router (which are also dead). How do I find out what the problem is so I can decide whether to have the laptop fixed or not? –Bill McCarroll
Answer:
Bill, I’m making an educated guess here based upon experience, but I’m thinking that your laptop itself is probably just fine. If your Internet connection to the router was via Wi-Fi, the only path for the lightning to follow into the computer would have been through the AC power adapter/battery charger. Judging from past experience, in the vast majority of the cases where lightning comes in on the power line, the surge takes out the AC adapter and leaves the computer itself untouched. If you’re lucky, such is the case with yours.
My recommendation is to try a new power adapter first thing. You purchase one at Wal-Mart and give it a try, and if all goes well you’ll find yourself back up and running just for the cost of the adapter. If not, simply return it to Wal-Mart for a refund (keep a close eye on the return period).
I don’t think it is, but if the laptop itself is indeed “fried” your best bet is to simply replace it. It will likely be pretty expensive to repair, and even if you do have it fixed there will probably be some components inside that were damaged and ready to fail at any minute. Assuming that the hard drive isn’t dead, you can remove it and retrieve your files from it by connecting it to another PC via a USB adapter cable (available either online or at Best Buy). Good luck!!
About the author: Rick Rouse is the owner of RLROUSE.COM. He is also an A+ Certified Computer Technician with over 30 years of experience in the industry.