How to Troubleshoot a Lenovo R40 Laptop

The Lenovo R40 laptop was originally built by IBM between 2001 and 2005. IBM sold its personal computer division to Lenovo in 2005, including the ThinkPad brand. As part of the sale, IBM agreed to provide marketing assistance through 2010. Many Lenovo R40 laptops shipped to customers with both the IBM and ThinkPad logo. The Lenovo R40 uses the Intel Pentium chip set. Processing speeds range between 1.3 and 2.4 gigahertz, depending on configuration. Random Access Memory (RAM) ranges from 128 megabytes to 2 gigabytes. It is a durable laptop designed for business use. All troubleshooting should begin from a hard reset of the system.

Hard Reset

• 1

  Remove all external devices from the laptop, power down the laptop and remove both the AC adapter and the battery pack.

• 2

  Plug the AC adapter directly into a power source and reboot the laptop without installing the battery pack and see if this resolves the problem. If the problem is solved, turn off the laptop, reinstall the battery pack and reboot.

• 3

  Recharge the battery pack after rebooting. In many instances a low battery will cause the laptop to lower display lighting, minimize Windows screens and display low power warning messages. After fully recharging the laptop, reboot and check for error messages. If the problem is resolved, visit the Lenovo and Microsoft websites and, using their respective "Search" fields, locate and update the laptop's drivers, utilities and operating system software.

Troubleshooting a Blank Screen and Power Problems

• 1

  Listen for sound of the hard drive spinning or the fan operating if you reboot and your display remains blank. No sound indicates possible problems with the power system. Hearing the fan and hard drive while the screen remains blank means possible video or display problems.

• 2

  Examine the power cord and power source. Make sure both are operating correctly. The best technique for testing the power cable is to plug directly into a functioning power outlet and attempt to reboot. You should also check the power outlet by placing another household appliance into the outlet to determine if the outlet is working.

• 3

  Examine the battery pack. A good technique, if possible, is to replace the battery pack with another battery that you know is working and fully charged. If the replacement battery works, your original battery pack may be defective and needs to be replaced. If the problem still remains when attempting to boot with the replacement battery, you may have internal power supply problems that should be resolved by a trained technician.

• 4

  Connect an external monitor to the laptop and reboot, looking for lights, listening for sound and checking for the Windows logo screen. If the monitor works, use the "Function" and "F5" and "F6" keys to switch to the laptop display and adjust the display lighting by using the appropriate "Function" and arrow keys.

Troubleshooting a Blue Screen

• 1

  Reboot the laptop. If the computer reboots properly, troubleshoot the specific system or device that is not working. If you see a blue screen with an error message, respond to the specific error message by visiting both the Lenovo and Microsoft websites. Input the specific error message in their respective "Search" fields. Perform the recommended fix from the results of your search.

• 2

  Remove external devices if you have rebooted and the laptop fails to operate properly and you have a blue screen. These are signs of device conflicts. A hard reset, as mentioned above, often resolves device conflicts.

• 3

  Reboot and depress the "F2" or "F8" keys and start your laptop in "Safe Mode with Line Prompts." If your computer hangs before reaching the Windows logo screen, there will be a series of device checks visible on a black screen. Write down the last known operation being performed by the laptop. Visit the Lenovo and Microsoft websites and use the "Search" field to find the solution to the onscreen device problem. Reboot the system after resolving the problem as recommended by either Lenovo or Microsoft.

• 4

  Reboot and depress the "F2" or "F8" keys while the operating system is loading and select the "Last Known Good Configuration" option. This will enable the system to boot from a configuration that previously worked. If the laptop successfully reboots, go to "Start," "Control Panel" and "Add and Remove Programs and Windows Components" and remove all recently installed applications. Restart the laptop after applications have been removed to determine if the problem has been resolved.

System Restore and Restoration

• 1

  Click on "Start," "All Programs," "Accessories" and "System Restore." Follow all the onscreen prompts to restore the system to a date when the laptop was operating correctly. This is very similar to booting from "Last Known Good Configuration."

• 2

  Visit the Windows and Lenovo websites, download and install all updates for the operating system, utilities and drivers. Visit the website of your antivirus software provider and download the latest updates for this application. Run a full scan of the laptop for viruses.

• 3

  Insert your Windows Recovery CD-DVD in the optical disk drive and reinstall the operating system, utilities and drivers if the laptop is still encountering problems. Back up all data stored on your hard drive prior to using the recovery media because this operation will wipe the hard drive clean. Follow all onscreen prompts for the restoration of the system. Update the drivers, utilities and operating system after completing the reinstallation. Updates are found by visiting both the Lenovo and Microsoft websites and navigating through their "Support and Downloads" tab on the menu bar.