Need Advice! T400 not booting completely

So I've had my T400 for almost 2 years and I am not the most basic of users.

It has worked almost flawlessly until I tried to boot it this morning. It would boot most of the way and then not finish. The last thing is usually the Lenovo battery meter. It looked like it was fine but I could do nothing. The cursur was spinning and google chrome would not open at all.

I tried booting into safe mode with networking and it just froze before even reaching the desktop.

I am currently on the same computer but put back my old HDD that I upgraded from back in to make it a usable computer for now.

Does anyone have any idea what it might be? A couple days ago it also froze on a Virus Scan.

I was considering reformatting it anyway. I would just like it to be free if possible. Should I send it in? Any ideas?

 

you can try to do these things:

+ in boot menu, select Last good known configuration, you'll get it back to work if it's a software problem (windows, driver, etc,...) and you're lucky enough

+ in BIOS, try HDD diagnostics feature to make sure the HDD is fine

 

I tried the last known good configuration and it had the same results.

I tried fixing any boot issues today from that menu after pressing F8 or something like that but that didn't seem to change anything.

Also, I didn't see any option for fixing or checking the HDD. Is that in the same menu along with the last good configuration?

 

no, HDD diagnostic feature is in the BIOS, you need to press F1 button in boot process to access this. I can't remember exactly where this function is located in BIOS menu, but it's up to you to play around with it

 

As vimvq1987 said check the HDD. Does it click heavily while it tries to loads the OS? If so it's a sign of a dying hard drive and best to get it replaced in this situation.

 

looks like a harddrive to me. is the system boottime very slow ?
or just like it usually was

 

It does not click at all. I thought it was a hard drive also... but nothing out of the ordinary happens except that it won't boot completely. During the boot up it gets all the way to the desktop and then doesn't not load the lenovo battery meter, etc. Most of the deskop icons are also white papers or boxes rather than there logos.

It is not any slower than it was. I usually do not turn it off, i put it on hibernate. Like I said above. It doesnt seem to be a serious issue except that it is pretty useless at the moment. I thought it was a hard drive but it doesnt mater any weird noises and it boots at a normal speed. I'm think it might be software but I don't even know where to begin to explore the software issues.

 

you can use HDD Regenerator in hirent boot cd to check the hdd. if it boot so slow, i think there are some bad sector on the hdd. backup your data asap.

 

Thats another thing. I currently have the original HDD in it which works just fine. (I upgraded it almost as soon as I got the computer).

I connected the "bad" hard drive to an external enclosure connector and got everything I needed off of it just fine. I had no problems doing that.

Another question. Anyone know how to send in a laptop in to Lenovo? What they might tell me or if they are going to charge me? I do have a 3 year warranty that has another year on it.

 

You would need to call Lenovo warranty support in USA, and the support staff will tell you how to do send the laptop in.

Unless you drop the laptop or spilled something on the laptop, then you wouldn't be charged as such since you are still under warranty.

 

This is good to know.

It also brings up another question. What are they going to say when they notice the HDD is not what they shipped it with? (I upgraded it myself) Is that going to be an issue?

 

they would just leave as it is, they won't say anything, these are all customer replaceable units.

 

I found a store that is a warranty repair service provider for Lenovo. I guess I will take it there tomorrow and see what they say.

 

Took my computer in today.

It is not covered under warranty because the HDD is the problem. I put that HDD in and not lenovo. I guess it makes sense but is that right?

Also, anyone have any suggestions on HDD? I think I'm going to go 500GB 7200RPM Western Digital for 75 on Newegg.

 

Did you try the hdd diagnostic from the BIOS on the aftermarket hdd?

 

Yes I did. It spent about 5 minutes testing at 0% before it said disk read error.

A little off topic but, if I have to get a warranty replacement from Western Digital/Seagate (Not sure which one. It's at the shop and I can't remember). Is there any possibility that they would send me a refurbished or recertifed HDD rather than a brand new one?

 

that really depends on the hdd company's replacement policy, it is best that you inquire with the hdd manufacturer or the place where you bought it from.

Even if they given you a refurb hdd, they would usually replace the header and platter, which are the components that are most prone to failure.

 

Would anyone happen to know the difference between refurbished and recertified?

I guess I am not really pressed for time but I think $70 bucks for a new one (500Gb) might be worth it.