HP Pavilion dv7-6178us Troubleshooting

The laptop will not turn on or show any signs of powering on

Make sure the power adapter is plugged into the computer and all connections are firmly connected. Make sure the power adapter is the correct cord for the laptop as different power adapters may not be compatible. Try different power outlets to plug into the power supply. If the laptop still does not turn on

If the laptop turns on while the power adapter is plugged in but turns off when the power adapter is disconnected then the battery may have a faulty connection or is failing. Turn off the laptop and disconnect the battery from the back of the laptop. Check to see if there are any bent, dusty, or missing pins coming out of the battery. Reconnect the battery and try to charge the battery with the power adapter. If the batter still does not charge then the battery fails.

No sound coming out of the speakers or muffled/crackling sounds.

One common problem with not being able to hear sound from your device may be as simple as accidentally pressing the mute button. Check the menu bar on your screen, usually at the top or bottom, and look for a speaker icon. It may have a red line through it or just be at a very low volume. If neither apply, this is not the issue.

The next possible cause of no volume being produced by your device is similar to the first. It could be that you have muted the sound on whichever application you’re running, such as Youtube or Spotify. Applications like these have their own speaker icon and can allow you to mute volume. Check to see if there is a line through the icon or is highlighted.

Laptop overheats to temperatures that burn you or forces the laptop to shut down and laptop temperature do not cool down.

When there are high temperature levels the first thing to check is if there is an accumulation of dust in the laptop. Opening the bottom of the laptop and remove any dust stuck in the fans or the fan vents. Using air in a can is the safest method to remove any excess dust.

If the computer overheats and shuts down due to overheating check to see if the fan is operating correctly. The fan is located behind the vents, or splitter area, on the bottom of the laptop. If there is no noise at all then the fans have failed and need replacement. If there a small amount of noise while overheating then the fan needs to be cleaned and unblocked of dust.

You are attempting to use the keyboard as usual, but there is no response.

First, press the escape key multiple times, this should open a setup menu. If the setup menu does not open, then the integrated keyboard is not working and can be repaired or replaced. This can also be solved by connecting an external keyboard through one of the USB ports.

Your computer screen is not showing anything, even though the computer is on.

A step you can try is attaching an external monitor. You can plug in an external monitor through a number of ports on the laptop, and then press f4 until the monitor screen displays what your laptop would be showing. If the external monitor is displaying, then there could be a conflict between the graphics driver and the LCD display. In which case, updated drivers can be downloaded from HP’s website.

If the computer starts up but then freezes after logging in or at the login page then there could be a failing part of the computer. On startup press the delete button multiple times to access the bios. In the bios find the hardware test to test the hardware. If a part fails then it needs replacement and is the cause of the freeze up.

Trackpad on laptop is not working as expected.

First, check to see if there have been changes in your sensitivity settings. A change in this setting would severely change the speed of the tracker on the screen. There is also a setting to adjust the motion of the trackpad. Both of these settings can be accessed in the settings application. Under the mouse/trackpad icon, it will give you these options to adjust the sensitivity and speed. These can be accessed under the windows bar.

Most users may eat or drink around their device. This will cause grease and moisture to develop on the track pad. This may also happen with lotion or oil. When the surface of the track pad is covered by clumps of residue, the trackpad will be unresponsive. To avoid this, simply wipe down the surface with lint-free slightly moistened cloth. If this helps, you should look into purchasing a trackpad protector to avoid residue settling on the surface.

When using the trackpad, a common mistake is that many users use two fingers two scroll. On this device, this action will result in no movement of the mouse tracker. To avoid this, simply use one finger to navigate your tracker on the trackpad.

Jewelry may cause interferences when use a device with a touch surface. Try and remove bracelets or rings and see if this puts and end to the slow tracker. Additional interferences may be bluetooth devices or wireless interactions; these may cause the mouse to either move slowly or not move at all.

The cursor/tracker may be hidden on the edges of the screen. To find the cursor, glide your fingers along the trackpad until you see your cursor on the screen. If you do this and you can still not see your cursor, you should reboot your device. This requires a manual shutdown and restart for your device.