My laptop quit on me

[CountAllVotes]

It is a Lenovo Thinkpad W520.

The message I can see says:

It says "MEDIA TEST FAILURE" on it.

and also, "Check cable".

It is an old laptop. Any ideas what I can do?

Thanks for any help at all.

[ItsjustMe]

1. It may be a hard drive issue

If you decide to replace it, check out slick deals for some good deals

[Basso8vb]

2. Could be a failed hard drive or the cable connecting it to the motherboard.

Might be worth having a repair guy take a look at it before replacing it just to be sure.

Usually when I see this it means the drive has failed though.

[CountAllVotes]

3. That's what I think too

There is a neighbor nearby that I've never met that wanted me to come to his house last night at 9:00 PM to have a look at it.

I was afraid to do that so I told him it was too late for me.

Just don't know who to trust these days!

Thanks!

[CountAllVotes]

4. Detection error on HDD

Just got this message after hitting F1 a bunch of times.

I think the old laptop is a goner.

Anyone agree?

Thanks.

[ItsjustMe]

5. New hard drives are not very expensive.

If the computer itself is in good shape, just have some nerdy kid in your neighborhood install a new SSD drive. You'll be back up in no time.

[CountAllVotes]

6. I wonder if I can do it myself?

The local computer shop wanted hundreds of dollars to fix this!

Yikes!

[ItsjustMe]

7. It depends on the model of your laptop

It's very easy on my two old laptops, but more difficult on my new laptop.

Do a search on YouTube for the model of your laptop, chances are good you will find a tutorial on how to replace the hard drive.

[canetoad]

8. I'm sure you could

If it's an old machine, the hard drive bay might not be suitable for an SSD but a regular old HD will be easy to do.

Try working on the theory that the machine is useless now, so what have you got to lose? And you may learn something useful.

There are only a few part on the bottom of the case that open: battery, RAM and hard drive compartments. Look! I found you a pic.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ThinkPad_W_series

I think the middle cover is HDD. Unscrew, carefully remove noting how the connector works, slip in a new one, reverse process and you're done. It's fiddly but not difficult.

Bottom side of a ThinkPad W520 with removable covers for modular components and replacement battery with extended capacity


On edit: I'd suggest taking off the bottom cover, locating and removing the hard drive BEFORE you purchase a new one. Then you can look at the cable and connector - I don't think this machine has an IDE cable but it might. Those are the old flat, ribbed ribbon cables. Just make sure that what you put in has all the same features as what you're taking out.

[ItsjustMe]

9. I'm sure that CountAllVotes

Laptop has a SATA 2.5 hard drive, a SATA 2.5 SSD drive will fit with no issues, and it will perform much better. I put SSD drives into both of my old laptops, and they happily run Windows 10 with no issues. Both of my old laptops are about 20 years old.

[CountAllVotes]

10. The born again Christian that was going to help me wants $200.00

To hell w/that!

NO WAY!
I can get a replacement one of a better quality for not much more than that!

[ItsjustMe]

11. I wouldn't charge you a dime.

$25.97 plus tax and you would be on your way.

It only takes a few minutes to download and install Windows 10 or 11.

Not a bad buy for $230 plus tax.

[CountAllVotes]

12. You can buy the HD w/Windows on it for that spefific laptop

So it would be a matter of taking out the old one and putting the new one in.

A 10 min. job at the most.

He also wanted another $25.00 fee for recycling the old HD!

What nerve!

[CountAllVotes]

14. I could ship it to you w/a check!

Seriously!
My eyesight is old and taken a few too many hits over the years.

I'd try it myself but I don't think I can't see well enough to do it!

I appreciate your kind gesture in any event!

[ItsjustMe]

15. My eyesight is not all that great either these days

Good luck with the new/used computer, it has good specs.

[CountAllVotes]

16. I hear you

Isn't getting old fun (not!).

Thank you for your help and I'm pretty sure the new/old one will work out just fine.

It made more sense than going on with this mess here!

Take care.

[CountAllVotes]

13. new/used one enroute (enough already!)

Lenovo ThinkPad W530 i7 32GB 1TB SSD Win10 Upgraded, Fast and Reliable Grade A

I decided to go for the one above.

Price was $350.00 + tax.

I'm using an old one now and I have no idea how long it will last as it has a rather nasty virus that has infected the email.

Hope this new/used one works out.

I don't feel like dumping over $250.00 into the old one that was made in 2006 is says on the bottom of it.
I guess it worked a long long time!
This updated model was made in 2014 so it is a lot newer with a lot more GHZ (3.60 GHZ), etc. I do like the surround sound system on it. Great if you like to burn CDs, etc.