Hey everyone! I hope you can help me out with a big issue I'm having. Last night, I was chilling in bed, watching YouTube and maybe had Spotify open. My laptop was resting on my lap. After about 45 minutes, the screen went black for a second and then displayed a bunch of random colors, almost like static but colorful. It made a screeching noise, and in a panic, I just slammed it shut because it was late and my family was asleep.
Now, the laptop won't turn on at all! I've tried everything I could find online - powering it on and off, charging it for 2.5 hours, and even attempted the Windows+B method, but no luck there. I'm in a bit of a bind since I rely on it for school, and classes start in just 2 days, plus I haven't told my parents yet! My laptop is an HP ProBook 445 G8, bought last summer. I mainly use it for schoolwork and YouTube, and I haven't gamed on it in a while. Any suggestions would be awesome!
2 Answers
When you say you just closed the laptop, did you fully shut it down or just let it go to sleep? If you only closed it, it could be stuck in sleep mode. It sounds like the color display might be a graphics issue. You mentioned that the power button light comes on and the fan is loud; that’s a good sign! Have you tried doing a hard reset? You can remove the battery (if possible) and hold the power button for about 15 seconds to drain residual power before reconnecting everything. Also, check if connecting it to an external monitor works!
Sounds tough! It might be a hardware failure, especially since you saw weird colors. If the hard reset doesn't work, it could be a sign that the graphics card or motherboard has issues. Before panicking, maybe try booting in Safe Mode if you can! Just keep holding down the F8 key after turning it on. If that doesn’t work, it might be worth taking it to a professional.
Thanks for the tip! I’ll definitely try the Safe Mode thing, and if that doesn’t help, I guess I’ll have to consider a tech shop. I just can’t believe this happened right before school!
Great advice! I had a similar issue and doing a hard reset helped me. Just make sure the laptop is off completely before disconnecting the battery. Also, if it turns on but the screen stays blank, it might mean your laptop is outputting to the external monitor, so keep an eye on that!