OT: Hand-me-down Thinkpad is down for the count (?)

[J R FOX jr_fox@xxxxxxxxxx]

This may be a shot in the dark. I'm only posting this
here because a number of you have some experience with
laptops, and my experience with them is infrequent and
fairly minimal.

I got an A21M Thinkpad from a relative a few days ago.
 The power On button was flakey from the git-go;
sometimes it started right up, but other times it
required 20 or more presses to start it up. (I tried
varying degrees of pressure and duration, in case that
made any difference, but I could see no pattern to any
"technique" that worked.) For most of the last few
days, I could eventually get it going. Over that
time, I removed about 3/4 of the old data files that
were personal to the former user, plus any programs or
data that were of no continuing relevance for my own
use. I also began replacing, updating, or installing
apps that I intended to use. None of these tasks
reached completion, and all of this work may have well
gone to waste, as this Thinkpad now will not power up,
no matter what.

The battery was at full charge when the laptop ceased
working, and still glows green from its LED. Whether
it is plugged into the wall or not makes no
difference. My first suspicion leans toward something
electrical involving the Power ON button, or perhaps
the power supply itself. Considering what an A21
sells for used -- even if in very good condition -- I
seriously doubt that it would be worth repairing.
(This is _one_ of the reasons I have steered clear of
buying a laptop in the past, as I find the
cost-to-risk and trouble-to-risk equations
unfavorable, and feel that I'm out of my depth. This
is in contrast to my having built desktop systems,
swapped parts around to troubleshoot them, etc.) I do
recall either reading online or on one of these lists
about an overheating problem with some older laptops
that can be ameliorated by cleaning some part of them.
 That is what I'm trying to retrieve here . . . or any
other good suggestions.

Failing that, I suppose all I can do is to extract the
hard drive, and either dispose of the laptop or
reserve it for parts. The components seem to be
uneconomical to replace; it is often cheaper to buy
another used laptop of the same model -- if one can be
found at an attractive price -- until one has the full
parts complement to make up a functioning unit.


 Jordan