Sony Vaio VGN-AR51M - Not booting up

[arsdigo]

Good Morning,

I am the proud owner of a Sony Vaio VGN-AR51M laptop computer. It has been generally very reliable in the past and when there have been problems, I've normally been been able to fix it.

However, it has recently developed a problem of not booting up when turned on.

The exact symptoms of the problem are as follows:

I turn on the power button, the laptop does turn on - there doesn't seem to be a problem with the power supply as I can do this operation in three power configurations (1. Just the power cable, no battery. 2. Just the battery. 3. Just the power cable)

After it has turned on, the fans start whirring and the CD drive clicks and whirs for a bit.

Normally what happens after that is the screen lights up and a Sony Vaio logo pops up and it commences to boot up Windows, but the screen will not light up (not just back light failure)

After the CD drive buzzes and whirs the computer enters a stasis. Only the power button works (to turn it off again), nothing else will respond.

Is there anything I can do or where is the problem: in mother-board or grafic card???

Thank you in advance for advice.

[Blencogo]

Just to be clear - you are saying that the Vaio logo no longer appears?  The screen is just black?

It could be a motherboard problem - possibly the graphics chip - and if it is, you will need to contact one of Sony's Service Partners close to where you live.

There is one thing you can try first.  Try reseating the RAM memory modules as a bad connection could give the simptoms you describe. Take care to avoid static electricity by earthing your hands against a metal part of the chassis before touching the modules.

If that does not help, have a word with one of Sony's Service Partners.  You can find a full list here: -

http://support.vaio.sony.eu/computing/vaio/contacts/asc.aspx?l=en_GB&m=VGN-AR51M