Repair & recovery
Work out what has actually failed
A machine that will not start, a black screen with the fans running, a clicking drive, a spill. Each page walks the checks in the order we run them on the bench — cheapest and most likely first — so you can often resolve it yourself, and arrive knowing what was ruled out if you cannot.
All 17 pages in this section
- The laptop will not turn on at allWhy won't my laptop turn on?
- The laptop powers on but the screen stays blackWhy does my laptop turn on but show nothing?
- The laptop gets hot and shuts downWhy does my laptop overheat and switch off?
- The battery will not chargeWhy is my laptop plugged in but not charging?
- The laptop has become unusably slowWhy has my laptop got so slow?
- The laptop keeps showing a blue screenWhat causes a blue screen error on Windows?
- The laptop restarts on its ownWhy does my laptop keep restarting by itself?
- Something has been spilled on the laptopWhat should I do if I spill liquid on my laptop?
- Some or all of the keyboard has stopped workingWhy have some keys stopped working on my laptop?
- The touchpad has stopped respondingWhy is my laptop touchpad not working?
- The laptop will not connect to WiFiWhy won't my laptop connect to WiFi?
- The USB ports have stopped workingWhy are my laptop USB ports not working?
- The fan has become loud or is making a new noiseWhy is my laptop fan so loud?
- The hard drive is clickingWhat does it mean when a hard drive clicks?
- The drive is not detected by the computerWhy is my hard drive not showing up?
- Files have been deleted or a drive was formattedCan deleted files be recovered?
- The external drive is not recognisedWhy is my external hard drive not showing up?