A Fort Lauderdale computer repair expert relays this story from a recent client who encountered a situation so many PC users are familiar with.

The client's Hewlett-Packard notebook computer was working fine one day, but the following morning - guess what - it simply wouldn't start.

The power would blink on, but it would promptly go off just as fast. Sound like something you have dealt with in the past?

If the power button were held in the on position, the power indicator and the machine's LEDs would remain lit, however, nothing would ultimately happen: no power-on self-test, no BIOS message appearing, and certainly no Windows operational.

The very first thought that entered the mind of the Boca Raton computer repair was that it was a power glitch. So after unplugging a machine, then starting it on battery power ... that turned out to be a no-go.

Removing the battery and using just AC power proved similarly futile.

Next? Installing a new memory module. Also no effect.

Attention turned to the hard drive.

Unable to solve this perceived power failure from a system CD, nor from a Windows installation DVD, the notebook remained inert even with a new drive in place.

Finally, after hours of work, the computer repair professional full-on disassembled the machine and concluded that the system board was fried.

It turns out HP tablets can be prone to motherboard failures, ones so bad that turning an 18-year-old laptop into a doorstop is not a rare case.