1

Accidentally knocked my laptop onto the ground last night and have been having some trouble with it since. After picking it up, I opened the screen to make sure there wasn't any obvious damage and, since the screen wasn't cracked and I saw the login screen, I assumed everything was fine. Today, however, when I first opened the laptop, I was greeted with some white text on a black screen saying something about ensuring all devices are properly connected. I panicked for a bit, but after it finished doing whatever it was doing I pressed the power button once and was taken back to the login screen.

Everything seemed normal, but about an hour ago I got the BSoD while trying to send an email. The computer hadn't been off or even restarted for some weeks at that point, so I wasn't sure if it was related to the fall or not. Once the computer booted back up, everything seemed fine again, so I finished what I was doing and put the laptop to sleep by closing the lid. When I opened again just now, I entered my password on the login screen, but the loading took longer then usual and then it went to the BSoD. I restarted the computer again and that's where I'm at now.

What are the likely culprits and what can I do about it? Did something get knocked loose or is it more likely something broke? How do I diagnose and fix this?

UPDATE:
Here is the screen it was showing: enter image description here

The laptop started alternating between showing that screen and attempting to boot into windows. Boot attempts would fail. I went into the repair screens a couple times, but received messages saying automatic repairs weren't possible. I tried the installation disk as well, but it was also unsuccessful. I took the hard drive out and used an external enclosure, but still want able to boot. I put a brand new ssd into the laptop, but kept receiving errors from the installation disk when trying to format it. I used another computer to format the drive to ntfs and tried installing on the laptop again, but this time or failed during the actual installation.

There are obviously problems with the laptops hard drive now, but I don't know if there are physical problems or if parts of the data were corrupted by the laptop. Given the problems trying to install to the ssd, I'm thinking there is something wrong with the sata connection.

Any tips on further diagnosing this?

Improve this question
4
  • 2
    You could open the case, and check whether the disk etc. are properly seated and powered. Then you could test the disk using the official diagnostic tool provided by its manufacturer, as well as the RAM through Memtest86+. Also, having the BSOD details might help. Check if you have some crash dump files in the C:\Windows\Minidump folder. If that's the case, copy the whole folder on the desktop, and compress it in a .zip/.7z archive. Upload it somewhere (e.g. ge.tt/about), and post here the link for further diagnosis.
    – and31415
    Commented May 13, 2014 at 7:53
  • 1
    Also, as per and31415 comments, also make sure the RAM is still seated. The issue you describe does sound like something has been knocked loose...
    – Dave
    Commented May 13, 2014 at 8:47
  • 1
    And it could well be that the disk is damaged in a critical section. Read my long answer here superuser.com/questions/719860/…
    – Jan Doggen
    Commented May 13, 2014 at 11:22
  • I bet for a loose component. Open the laptop and ensure everything is tightly coupled. Even the BSOD tells you so: "check cable".
    – Ángel
    Commented Sep 10, 2014 at 18:13

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
0

Mine showed the above screen when the power adapter got broken The only remedy was to replace it with a new one and charge it until full, wherein I rebooted

Improve this answer
-1

You most likely have destroyed you disk (assuming you have a HDD , not an SSD). Unlike SSDs , HDDs have mechanical components which can break when your laptop falls and cause read / write errors. This is the reason why Windows is BSODing and the black screen saying no boot device is coming.

The only solution is to replace the disk. It could also be possible (but very very unlikely) that the SATA controller of the motherboard is damaged

Improve this answer
5
  • No.. please do not answer unless you're sure of the problem. The problem has not been fully diagnosed yet.
    – AStopher
    Commented May 3, 2016 at 12:27
  • It has to be the disk.The disk is the component which will most likely fail when dropped. Some laptops (like mine) has a accelerometer sensor to detect if the laptop is being dropped and park the hard drive before it drops
    – Suici Doga
    Commented May 3, 2016 at 12:30
  • No, it doesn't have to be the disk at all. Anything from RAM to PSU could cause the error. I agree that it's likely the disk from the information given, but I disagree that we should make that assumption.
    – AStopher
    Commented May 3, 2016 at 12:33
  • Only disks break when dropped. The motherboard cannot crack unless it was from very high
    – Suici Doga
    Commented May 3, 2016 at 12:33
  • Yes, but the RAM could have been dislodged if it wasn't installed properly, or one of the cables form the PSU could've fallen out.
    – AStopher
    Commented May 3, 2016 at 12:34

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .