Laptop repairs

1. you press the power button. See this article from Tom’s Hardware for a more comprehensive list of the keys used to enter the BIOS for each brand of laptop. If you can access the BIOS but can’t get any further with a regular boot (a.k.a. an attempt to turn on the computer where you don’t hold the BIOS key) your laptop probably works fine, but you have an issue with the operating system. Check these extra troubleshooting guides for what to do when Windows doesn’t start (or Linux if you have that installed).

If none of these steps work, you might need to replace the motherboard or take it to a repair shop that can work on the issue with the motherboard. If the laptop has a separate power input board that is attached to the motherboard with a cable, you could try replacing that part first. Sometimes the motherboard works fine but isn’t receiving any power because of a bad power port.

The general rule of thumb for troubleshooting is that you want to rule out all other issues before deciding to replace/fix the motherboard because it is one of the more expensive components.