Black screen with single blinking LED

[KoppingJ]

Ok, I will try those extra steps when I get home this evening and consider just buying a new laptop. What would be the easiest way to get the data off the hard drive?

[Bruce_T]

And a quick follow up: a picture of the board shows that the CPU is socketed, not soldered-on.  So, you may not need a new system board after all - just a replacement CPU.  But as Pervez and I said... you should only perform this level of service if you are both experienced and comfortable.

Good luck!

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[Bruce_T]

Hi Sanchertx...

If he's getting a 1-blink during BIOS boot validation, he won't be able to get to diags.

thx...

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[Sanchertx]

Yes, correct - I saw LED blink and no mention of keyboard or certain key.

For some reason, I was thinking flashing cursor on screen 🙂

[KoppingJ]

So do you know if there is a recommended CPU I can try? Also, what is the easiest way to backup data from the hard drive?

[Bruce_T · Accepted solution]

Hi KnoppingJ...

I know the CPU is an AMD, but I don't know which one you have in your model.  It would need to be identical.

I've migrated data in similar situations twice before - it really is pretty easy to do if the drive is still functional and if you don't have an encrypted drive (or some other drive protection) in place.  What I did was remove the hard drive, plug it into an external USB adapter, and copy the data to the new system that way.  Here's an example video on how to do it; a quick search on Google shows multiple videos and products to support this.  Please note that we have not tested, and cannot recommend or endorse,  this or any other third party video and/or product.

Good luck!

DISCLAIMER: I am an HP employee, but I am not a spokesperson for HP.

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[KoppingJ]

Thanks, I think that is everything. I will probably move my data to another computer and then see if I can track down a processor to install. I'm an IT person, but don't usually do too much on the hardware side, so I want to try it just to get some experience.