Sony Vaio PCG-5N4L Troubleshooting

Your laptop will not turn on.

Your laptop will not turn on even when supplied with external power from a wall outlet.

Before suspecting a problem with the laptop or the battery, check to see if the green light on the power brick is illuminated when it is plugged into a wall outlet. If the light does not illuminate, the power brick/cable will need to be replaced. If the light does illuminate, continue to the Drained/dead battery step below.

Before anything else, attempt to charge your battery.

Your laptop powers up but only when supplied with external power. Follow this guide to replace the battery.

The monitor does not display any information.

Turn on your laptop by pressing the power button for three seconds The power button is located in the hinge on the right side.

Your laptop is turned on but the screen is still darkened.

Locate the F6 key at the top of the keyboard and the Fn button near the lower left corner of the keyboard. Increase the screen's brightness by simultaneously holding the Fn key and pressing the F6 key repeatedly.

The computer is turned on and the screen does not respond to adjustments made with the brightness keys.

Your screen is faulty and may need replacing. Follow this guide to replace the screen.

Your laptop does not load Windows and instead takes you to an error message.

If your computer crashes during normal operation or crashes during memory intensive tasks, you may have bad RAM or not have enough RAM. Follow this guide to install additional RAM or replace current RAM.

Even though you have a hard drive in your computer, there may be an error. This can happen when the user shuts off the computer by pressing the power button instead of initiating the shutdown sequence through the operating system. To resolve this issue, get a Windows Vista DVD. Boot to the DVD, and choose “Repair your computer,” then click next. On this screen, pick “Startup Repair” and let it run. After this, your laptop should boot correctly. If it does not boot correctly and still has issues, you may need to replace your hard drive.

Your laptop will not read CDs or DVDs.

If your laptop optical drive does not open or does not read CDs or DVDs, the optical drive may be faulty and needs to be replaced.