Things You'll Need:
- A Screwdriver
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Step 1
Open up your laptop's case. As the motherboard is inside your computer, you need to be able to see it to fix any problems. Unscrew any screws on the bottom of your laptop (most have at least nine) and carefully slide bottom cover off. This will expose the inner workings of your laptop, including the motherboard.
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Step 2
Make sure your laptop's power supply is working. This is the device that plugs into your motherboard and supplies your computer with power. Unscrew your power supply and lift it off of it's socket on the motherboard. Open up another laptop that you know is functioning properly and remove its power supply in the same manner. Take the potentially broken power supply and push it into the socket on the working laptop, put the laptop's back case on and turn it on. If it boots up properly, the power supply isn't your problem.
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Step 3
Check the functionality of all other hardware connected to your motherboard the same way you checked the power supply. If your RAM chips or video card are malfunctioning or have gone bad, this can make your motherboard malfunction as well. Remove the RAM and video card from their sockets and connected them to a computer you know works. From here you can replace them or continue to try and find the problem if they weren't the cause.
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Step 4
Make sure your BIOS is updated. If you are having a hard time connecting external hardware to your computer, the problem can lie with your motherboard but not any physical part of it. The BIOS is the computer program the motherboard runs in order to load your operating system and therefore run your laptop. Go to the web page of your BIOS manufacturer and make sure you have the latest version. If you don't, download the installation files and upgrade.
