Us coders may not be the most adequate crew for troubleshooting hardware when it comes to technical issues, or at least that's what I've heard from a big part of programmers that would only focus at what they're good with: software.

Even if that's a prooved fact, there is always a major benefit at knowing how to repair your own workstation if any hardware issues come along, rather than spending a whole afternoon waiting for Customer Care Services to assist you over the phone, if you're not transferred a million times first and hear a bunch of technical scripts from someone who assumes you don't know a thing.

There are a few things that you might wanna double-check before going further into the tech wise advices that are to follow, for example: power adapter, stick of memory, hard drive, or other component that has been plugged into another system and is known to be working properly. If this is the actual source of the problem, you just saved yourself a LOT of time!

Sometimes simple things like this can make us lose it! If that was not the case, then keep reading to see the practical list of troubleshooting yourself.

Power problems

Symptoms: Computer won't power on, battery won't charge.

If the computer simply isn't responding to any attempts to turn it on, you may be having power problems. Remember that there's a difference between not powering on and not booting—a computer with power problems won't light up or make any noises when the power button is pressed. If lights and fans are coming on but the operating system won't load, you may have a memory, hard drive, or even motherboard error instead.

As a first step, unplug the computer from power and remove any batteries, then press and hold the power button for 10 to 15 seconds. This will completely power cycle the computer, draining out any electricity that may be left lingering in its circuits (some desktop motherboards have a light on the motherboard that will stay on for a while after the computer has been unplugged—once this light goes out, you've discharged all of the power). If you plug the computer back in and still have no luck, it's time to start troubleshooting the different stages of the journey between the wall and the computer:

Start with the surge protector. Does the computer behave the same way if connected directly to the wall, or to another outlet that is known to be working normally?

Look at the power brick if you've got a laptop. Most power bricks have two cords: one that runs from the outlet to the brick, and one that runs from the brick to the computer. If either of these cords can be detached from the brick, try again with a known good cord if you have one. If you've got a desktop, you'll usually just have one cable to check, the one that goes from the outlet to the back of the computer. If your laptop’s cables and adapters are working normally, you’ve probably got a motherboard problem, and it’s time to call support.

If you’ve got a desktop, your problem could be either with the motherboard or with the system’s internal power supply. Again, a known-good power supply will tell you exactly which is the problem, but be sure to check for things like the aforementioned motherboard status light—if it lights up when the computer is plugged in, it may point to a motherboard issue rather than a power issue.

If your computer will turn on but your battery won’t charge, you’ve almost certainly got a bad battery. As always, try a known good battery in the computer (and, if you can, try the suspect battery in a laptop that is known to charge) and make sure it’s not an issue with the contacts in the computer.

If you do have a bad battery, it likely isn’t covered under warranty unless it failed prematurely. If the battery is less than a year old, you may be able to get a replacement. But if the battery is over a year old, any loss of capacity or breakage will generally be seen as “normal wear and tear” and you’ll have to buy a new one. Most laptop manufacturers will insist you buy a first-party battery to avoid voiding the warranty on the rest of the computer.

Within the next days we'll show you tips n tricks to trubleshoot Memory, Hard drive, Display, Motherboard and so on.

If any doubts, ask DebuggerGuys!!!