Laptop won't turn on: how to get your files back
A laptop that won't start is rarely a lost cause. In most cases the files are still on the drive, and the fault is somewhere else.
The good news: a dead laptop is not a dead drive
Your files live on the drive inside the laptop. Most failures are in something else: the charger, the battery, the screen or the main board. When that happens, the drive can be taken out and read on another machine, and your photos and documents are all still there.
Safe things to try first
- Check the charger. Try another socket, and look for a charging light on the laptop. A failed charger is the most common cause.
- Do a power reset. Unplug the charger, hold the power button down for 30 seconds, plug back in and try again.
- Check it isn't just the screen. If you can hear the fan or see lights, shine a torch at the screen or connect a TV or monitor. A faint picture means the screen has failed, not the computer.
- Unplug everything else. Remove USB sticks, drives and docks, then try again.
What not to do
- Don't reset or reinstall Windows if it offers to. "Reset this PC" and recovery discs can erase your files.
- Don't keep switching it on and off if you hear clicking, grinding or beeping from the drive. Each attempt can cause more damage.
- Don't let it "repair" the disk repeatedly. Automatic repair tools can make recovery harder on a failing drive.
Clicking or grinding noises? Switch it off and leave it off. That sound usually means a physical fault that needs a specialist lab, and running the drive makes it worse.
When to get help
If the laptop still won't start, or it starts but your files have vanished, stop there. We can collect it, take a full image of the drive and recover your files from the image, so the original is never put at risk. See our data recovery service.
Want us to take a look?
Data recovery is a flat £80 to £140 with free local collection. If we recover nothing, you pay nothing.