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If your laptop or netbook has fallen on the floor, you want to read this article carefully. It contains directions and help to get you back on your feet and have your laptop functioning again, if at all possible. I have included the most frequently reported laptop and netbook ailments after they fall on the floor. If your laptop or netbook is showing any of these symptoms, you may find a solution below. Most of the solutions are DIY, do it yourself, fixes. Some will require a professional help and with some others, the laptop or netbook replacement is the most economical solution.

Here are the top symptoms that typically occur after a laptop or netbook has fallen on the floor and their corresponding quick fixes. Disclaimer – any work that you perform on your laptop or netbook is your sole responsibility. The author can not assume any suitability of the quick fixes for any purpose. Also, you are solely responsible for any accidental or incidental damage to your laptop. Read the manufacturers directions before opening your laptop or netbook. Make sure you disconnect your laptop from any power source and make sure you are well grounded and in touch with the laptop case before attempting to open your laptop case.

Symptom: CD drive not working. Fix: Open the laptop case and reseat the CD drive connector.

Symptom: Laptop or netbook screen is cracked in several places. You may or may not see an image. Fix: If you don’t see an image at all, you can still plug the laptop into an external monitor and work from there. Once you see the computer video output, transfer all data, either to another computer via ethernet or wireless or on burn the data on the CD/DVD recordable disk. You can replace the screen if this is financially reasonable, otherwise your best bet would be to replace the laptop or netbook altogether.

Symptom: Laptop is not charging since the fall. Fix. The charging unit could be unseated. See if you can open the laptop and reseat, otherwise take your laptop to a repair shop. Make sure it is financially reasonable to replace anything. You must estimate what your laptop is worth to you.

Symptom: CD/DVD drive won’t open after the fall. Fix. Use a pin and push through the small pin hole on the CD/DVD door next to the light. The CD/DVD should open.

Symptom: USB plugs such as wireless mouse plug, broadband dongle, or broadband antenna are damaged. Fix: First make sure the plug or dongle is really not working by testing it on another usb port, and on another computer. If plug or dongle or an antenna does not work on another computer, replace it.

Symptom: USB plugs, broadband dongle or antenna damaged but work on another computer. Fix: Open the laptop case and reseat the USB connector to the motherboard. If that doesn’t work, the USB port on the laptop may need to be replaced.

Symptom: Broke wireless pcmcia card. Fix: Replace pcmcia card with a usb wireless card.

Symptom: Windows Vista or Windows 7 won’t boot. Fix: This is likely a hard drive problem, see below.

Symptom: Hard drive problems. These can be especially critical if the laptop was actively using hard drive for writing data. There can be several symptoms, such as no signal on screen, operating system not booting, or hard drive light not coming up. If you can get to Windows Safe Mode by pressing F8, you can try checking the hard drives using chkdsk c: /f as I mentioned in one of the previous articles. If that fails, you may need to replace the hard drive and reinstall the operating system. Then you will need to restore your data from the backup.

Here you have it. Nine quick fixes or suggestions for what to do when your laptop falls on the floor. It is usually an unhappy event. But at least you have a chance of a quick fix now. As a bonus, check your laptop manufacturer’s technical details of your laptop. You may find the shock tolerance values for the laptop both when laptop is active and when it is not active, or is turned off. You might be surprised that a laptop is a lot more tolerant to shocks when turned off or sleeping or hibernating. Consider putting your laptop to sleep or hibernate, or turn it off completely when not in use. Not only will you save energy and wear and tear on the parts, you will also better protect your laptop against unexpected shocks such as when the laptop falls on the floor.

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