Hello tech guy forums,
First I want to say I used to have an account here and the people of this forum walked me through all kinds of hardware/software problems in the past, so thank you!
Here's the timeline:
A couple nights ago I tripped over the 1/8 inch speaker cord that was plugged into it's corresponding jack. The tension was enough that the plug actually broke off in the jack and the laptop took a 3' spill onto the carpeted floor.
The next time I tried to start my laptop, it took me to an error screen saying Windows had suffered an error and was unable to start. It gave me the option to start normally or run the Windows repair tool, which I opted to try.
Running the repair tool that time and each time since has resulted in a black screen that says "Windows is loading files..." followed by a low-resolution Windows OS background and a loading wheel next to the mouse cursor that spins without anything happening. I could move the cursor, but no new screen ever loaded.
After several attempts, I downloaded a Win7 .iso and put it on a bootable USB drive. I changed boot priority in BIOS and started up. This time I get the same "Windows is loading files..." screen followed by an "Install Windows" dialog box that asks for the installation language, time format, etc.
When I click "next" and "install Windows" it takes me to a "Setup is starting..." screen with the same loading wheel, and gets stuck there indefinitely. I can move the cursor around but nothing else. The last time I did this was before bed and it was still stuck in the morning.
Could this be damaged RAM or HDD, or is it possibly an OS issue?
I have a feeling the RAM is damaged but I don't know what steps to take at this point to narrow down the diagnosis. Can you suggest some methods by which I may provide more detailed information?
Thanks so much for your time!
Edit 1: Tonight I took the laptop apart to the extent I was comfortable with and tried running it after taking out the HDD (booting to USB) and each ram stick one at a time. I tried to peek in where the headphone jack was damaged but I couldn't get the shell open enough. Please help!
First I want to say I used to have an account here and the people of this forum walked me through all kinds of hardware/software problems in the past, so thank you!
Here's the timeline:
A couple nights ago I tripped over the 1/8 inch speaker cord that was plugged into it's corresponding jack. The tension was enough that the plug actually broke off in the jack and the laptop took a 3' spill onto the carpeted floor.
The next time I tried to start my laptop, it took me to an error screen saying Windows had suffered an error and was unable to start. It gave me the option to start normally or run the Windows repair tool, which I opted to try.
Running the repair tool that time and each time since has resulted in a black screen that says "Windows is loading files..." followed by a low-resolution Windows OS background and a loading wheel next to the mouse cursor that spins without anything happening. I could move the cursor, but no new screen ever loaded.
After several attempts, I downloaded a Win7 .iso and put it on a bootable USB drive. I changed boot priority in BIOS and started up. This time I get the same "Windows is loading files..." screen followed by an "Install Windows" dialog box that asks for the installation language, time format, etc.
When I click "next" and "install Windows" it takes me to a "Setup is starting..." screen with the same loading wheel, and gets stuck there indefinitely. I can move the cursor around but nothing else. The last time I did this was before bed and it was still stuck in the morning.
Could this be damaged RAM or HDD, or is it possibly an OS issue?
I have a feeling the RAM is damaged but I don't know what steps to take at this point to narrow down the diagnosis. Can you suggest some methods by which I may provide more detailed information?
Thanks so much for your time!
Edit 1: Tonight I took the laptop apart to the extent I was comfortable with and tried running it after taking out the HDD (booting to USB) and each ram stick one at a time. I tried to peek in where the headphone jack was damaged but I couldn't get the shell open enough. Please help!