Thinkpad T500 Stuck on Initial Boot Screen

[Kenny536]

Hello,

I have a Lenovo Thinkpad T500 notebook (Model # 2081CTO) that I purchased in mid-October of 2009.

I am running a Windows 7 64-bit OS.

Basically, I installed Avast anti-virus on the computer, and after installation, it asked me to restart, but after restarting, instead of loading the OS, it becomes stuck at the initial black screen before it even loads anything.. all it says is "ThinkPad" ... "To interrupt normal startup, press the blue ThinkVantage button. And it also has intel/lenovo logos on the right side. It has nothing to do with Avast, because minutes later I installed it on my other desktop computer, and it restarted just fine.

I tried hitting all the F keys and I tried the thinkvantage button, nothing works. I cannot get into the BIOS, nor the rescue or recovery, or anything. I tried putting in a windows 7 OS CD, but that didn't work either. I don't know whats wrong.

Although it seems like it is a a rare problem based on my google searches, if you click this link, you will see that I am not the only with this problem.

http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/T400-T500-and-newer-T-series/My-T400-Hangs-a-the-boot-stage/m-p/198592#M21074

In there, someone suggested messing with the CMOS, but it didnt do anything. All I have personally done is removed the battery, and have it on AC power, and vice versa, but that does not affect it at all. Still the same problem. I am going to try using PC Doctor and putting that CD in, but I doubt it will help.

I tried calling Lenovo in the middle of the night yesterday and they were not very helpful, they said we will send a box in a few days ... so basically they're going to fix it but all my precious data will be erased and it will take weeks before I get my laptop back.. and I need it right now for school!

Any help would really be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Kenny536]

I have a new problem . And this one was my fault - I did something stupid. I was attempting to back up my data via an external enclosure. So I took my hard drive out of my laptop, but I completely broke off the data connector on the hard drive - the black cover that is covering the golden vertical strips... now the hard drive is useless because there is no data connector.. the golden strips are completely exposed and the black data connector cover is broken in 3 pieces.

I bought another 2.5 SATA laptop hard drive and put that into the laptop, but the same problem occurs. I'm giving up on trying to fix my initial problem... atleast for now. Right now, before I send it in a couple days, I want to back up the data on my hard drive. But I cannot do that anymore because of the broken data cover. There is no way I can fix this on my own. What can I do to fix this?

Please help.

 

[daship]

Guess what. You just voided the warranty. Be prepared to pay Lenovo big bucks to fix it now.

 

[Kenny536]

You were wrong.

Lenovo fixed it for me free of charge (the initial problem, and they replaced the hard drive for me as well), they were extremely quick about it too, after the box came, I sent it that day, they got it the next morning and I got it back the day after that - there are certain parts that are customer replaceable that do not void the warranty. The problem was with the motherboard, it fused out or something, they replaced it.

 

[uranus_26]

Hi,

I had the same issue with my lenovo T500, My laptop was out of warranty. Lenovo said it would charge me more than $575 but I got it fixed myself.

Answer: Just do a BIOS reset. It will solve the issue.

How To do it? - Just remove the bottom screws for keyboard and mouse pad. Then while lifting the mouse and keyboard make sure you gently remove the ribbon cables attached below it. Then under the keyboard you will find a battery connection. Just disconnect the battery and start the computer. Your computer will start and it will have the BIOS reset. Then input time in bios and re-start after connecting the battery and rest of the parts like keyboard and mouse. This should solve the issue.

Enjoy.