Dropping your laptop will almost certainly result in some damage, it may be from minor to severe. Often the damage isn't immediately apparent; this article describes the likely outcomes.

If it had been dropped on the corner or edge then you definitely are more likely to see cracks in this area, however, cracks and chips are more likely to be seen almost anywhere around the case. These are the most obvious signs of damage. Cracks usually only affect the looks of your laptop and shouldn't alter or affect the performance so can usually be ignored, however they indicate that the laptop has been dropped from quiet a height and further hidden damage could possibly be present.

When a laptop is dropped or banged when turned on then the hard disk drive will almost certainly be damaged. You'll most likely see any of these symptoms of this: clicks and banging noises, operating system not seen, crashing during operating system load, very slow operating system load, very slow laptop operation. If you observe any of these symptoms then a hard disk has probably been damaged and will need to be replaced immediately. When you've got important data then recovery must be attempted quickly as the more it is used when damaged the less likely it is to permit data recovery. The hard drive is usually only damaged when turned on; when off the heads park which protects it from minor bangs, however it suffers a sizable knock then damage can still result.

Check the display; if you observe any cracks, lines or bars down or across the display, blotches or what seems like ink leaking then the display may be damaged during the fall. Once broken, a laptop screen will need to be replaced since it cannot be repaired. This is a job for a laptop repair specialist as the new screen can easily be damaged during fitting.

When a laptop is dropped on its power connector, often the internal connections of the connector are damaged. Occasionally it's easy to see where the connector breaks or is bent. Based on the degree of damage and force you may find that the connector gets very hot during charging or operation or will not operate at all. This could indicate failure of the inner power connector.

If you can't see any apparent damage and your laptop won't power up with a picture then a number of RAM chips may have become dislodged from their sockets. Most laptops have a small RAM inspection door on their base, often secured by one or more small screws. Remove this door and remove and reinsert the RAM chip or chips.

If your laptop will not power up properly after you have checked all of the faults described above then the fault probably lies with the laptop motherboard. It is where the electronics are housed within the laptop. Laptop motherboards are often damaged when a laptop is dropped; a distortion can cause components to crack or electronic tracks can break, in either case the laptop will no longer work properly. If a laptop motherboard is broken it willit will eventually either need repairing or replacing; repair is a very specialized job and is only done by a small number of laptop repair companies.

The conclusion to this article would be to handle your laptop very carefully, especially when turned on and avoid expensive repairs bills and upsetting data loss.

Graham has had many years experience repairing faulty laptops, netbooks, notebooks and is able to repair usb flash drives; specialising in fixing motherboards at component level. Laptop repair is difficult but is very rewarding when an obscure fault is located and fixed.

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