Dead Laptop Mysteriously Comes to Life

A while back I started a thread concerning my Toshiba laptop. One day it worked fine. Next day it wouldn’t even turn on, using either AC or battery. Even the light on the front, showing connection to AC, remained unlit. Yep, she was completely dead. So, I went and bought a new HP laptop but kept the Toshiba in order to salvage the hard drive.

I asked a friend to assist me since he had the small tools necessary for the operation. We met at a local library to perform the job. On a whim, I plugged the Toshiba into a socket and voila, First thing I noticed was the AC light was lit, whereas it was dead before. I proceeded to turn the machine on and it fired up like it normally used to. My PC wasn’t subject to any jarring while en route to the library, so that couldn’t have been the fix. Besides, I had tapped on it several times to see if that would do anything. It remained completely dead.

Anyhow, I’m happy to have it back in working condition, although now I have 2 laptops but will never know the mystery behind the sudden resurrection of my Toshiba

BTW, this may be related: Before my Toshiba died, the battery would never charge over 85%. Now it goes the full 100%. Go figure.

Sounds like the EC (embedded controller) for it was reset after it lost juice and it fixed a bug.

rvcjew said:

Sounds like the EC (embedded controller) for it was reset after it lost juice and it fixed a bug.

Yes, that's almost certainly it.

Should it happen again, you don't have to wait weeks/months for it to discharge on its own. You can reset the internals by removing the power cord and battery, then press and hold the power button for at least 30 seconds. This should drain all residual power.

Mr Ed said:

Thanks, guys. That's good to know. Unfortunately, the whole bottom of the computer needs to be removed to get at the battery, not like my original Toshiba, which had a dedicated compartment for easy battery removal. Anyhow, it can be done, if needed. Wish I knew that before. I wouldn't have had to buy a new laptop. Live and learn. Thanks again.

Normally internal battery devices have a reset hole for this purpose.
FAQ: How to reset the battery on Toshiba laptops that do not have a removable battery

Mr Ed said:

Oh well, owning 2 laptops isn't a bad thing. Might be good to have a spare, or I can use this one for experimentation purposes.

errr... would owning four (at last count) be though a bad thing?

My System Two below is the 'experimentation purposes' one