I have a Sony Viao laptop and is about 2 years old (bought it in 2005)

Today i switched on the computer and started browsing through the internet. After about 15-20 minutes the computer froze completely. I could not move the mouse cursor or press any button on the keypad (i.e. try to access Task Manager). I then held down the power button to switch it off but nothing happened. The screen was working and the laptop was still on (fans still can be heard etc).

So the only way i could shut it down was to take the battery out - this is exactly what i did. Then i left it for a couple minutes before piecing back the battery and mains adaptor and tried switching it back on again, result = nothing, my laptop is officially dead weight!!!

As i am insured with PC World i gave them a call, not even them could tell me what happened to my laptop. Its now gonna be picked up on Monday and sent away for it to be fixed... But what happened to my laptop??

The good side is that i may get a new (better) laptop if they cant fix it... Whats the worse that could happen to my laptop for them not being able to fix it??

Thanks

Whats the worse that could happen to my laptop for them not being able to fix it??

Since you have it insured, it seems to me the worse that can happen is all your data will be lost. I hope you had a backup or at least kept your hard drive before sending it in.

As far as what happened - there's no way to tell at this point as it could be one of many things, caused by who knows what, or to what extent. Often one failed component takes out several more in the same circuit.

BTW, I generally am not in favor of extended warranties or insurance policies - I think most are simply rip-offs. I would never get or recommend one for a desktop PC. However, laptops are different. They are more prone to problems, more expensive to repair, easily dropped or stolen. I hope it pays off in your case. Unless your laptop shows some form of obvious abuse, it should be covered.

thanks for your responce...

Well its been 10 days in the engineers hands since it got picked up but every time i call up for an update they say its still being looked at and nothing has been confirmed.... Guess im in a queue or something.. Im hoping that the data wont be lost on the laptop because i have stuff on there that i really need.. The harddrive cannot be taken out without unscrewing the whole laptop which i did attempt with no luck!!

I'll leave it for a couple more days before getting a new update on the situation!

Good luck and keep us posted.