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A friend's laptop is having problems booting after she attempted to clean it (with compressed air). I can enter the BIOS to change settings and bootup devices but I can never make it any further than this (the BIOS splash screen prompting F2 for settings, F12 for boot menu).

  1. If I attempt to boot to the recovery CD or Windows installation CD, nothing happens (it never makes it there).
  2. If I attempt to boot to the hard drive nothing happens.
  3. If I physically remove the hard drive I can boot to the CD just fine (but can't get any further).

Based on this information I am assuming a hard drive problem and am considering getting a replacement for the laptop (if I can).

Is there anything I could be overlooking / other things I can try? Does this sound worth my time or is it time for a new laptop? I don't have much hardware to try and swap in to test with.

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Strange that it doesn't boot the CD with the hard drive installed. If you get a new hard disk and it doesn't work, then you can buy a USB enclosure for it and give it to your friend as a backup solution for their new laptop. – Paul Dec 6 '11 at 5:04
@20121205 What is the make and model of this laptop? – Moab Dec 6 '11 at 20:10

closed as not a real question by Sathya♦ Dec 9 '11 at 5:10

It's difficult to tell what is being asked here. This question is ambiguous, vague, incomplete, overly broad, or rhetorical and cannot be reasonably answered in its current form. For help clarifying this question so that it can be reopened, see the FAQ.