HP Pavilion dv6-6117dx Troubleshooting

The laptop will not power on or show any signs of charging.

Ensure the power adapter is plugged in and the charge light is on. If the light is not on, and the adapter is plugged in, the adapter is faulty. Consider purchasing a replacement adapter.

If you can only turn on your computer when the power is plugged in, you may have a faulty battery. You will have to contact the manufacturer and purchase a replacement.

You have trouble listening to sound through an external speaker such as headphones or desk speakers.

Different audio devices use different kinds of connections to your computer, such as a headphone jack, USB input, etc. First make sure that your headphones have a compatible input for your computer. Then make sure the input is plugged completely into the computer. You may have to unplug the device and plug it back in.

If the audio is not performing correctly, the audio driver may be corrupt. First you will need to uninstall the current driver. You can do this with the following steps:

• Open the Windows Start menu, search for and open “Device Manager”
• Click the arrow to the left of “Audio Inputs and Outputs”
• Right-Click on your audio driver
• Click “Uninstall”
• Visit your device manufacturer’s website
• On the support page download and install the latest driver for your device
• Test to see if the audio is working correctly

Your speakers or headphones may not be set as the current output device. Run the Windows Diagnostic Troubleshooter on the device with the following steps:

• Right click on the audio icon on the taskbar located at the bottom right corner of your screen
• Click Troubleshoot sound problems

You can power on your computer and sign in, but it looks like the computer doesn’t load anything at all.

A lot of issues in Windows can be solved by simply restarting your computer. Hold the power button on your device for six seconds to force a shutdown, then press the power button again to turn on the device.

The task bar and desktop icons that you normally see on your screen are part of a program called Windows Explorer. If your screen is only showing your desktop background, you can manually run Windows Explorer with the following steps:

• Open Task Manager by pressing Control + Shift + Escape on your keyboard
• Click "File" at the top left corner of the window
• Select "Run new Task"
• Type "explorer" as the task you want to open
• Click "ok"

Your computer takes a long time to open programs and respond to any command.

Open Task Manager by pressing Control + Shift + Escape on your keyboard to see a list of programs currently running on your computer. If there are any programs that you are not currently using you can click on the program and then click "End Task" in the bottom right corner of the window. This saves on computer recourses and will increase performance. If even after ending the tasks your computer is running slow, you can try to upgrade your ram [guide still under development].

From time to time your device may come out with newer, more efficient drivers than the ones that were installed when you first got your computer. To install the latest drivers for the HP Pavilion, you can visit the HP support website, select Software and drivers, and run the HP support assistant. The HP support assistant will detect what kind of computer you are using, and what the latest drivers for the computer is. Here you can download and install and recommended drivers for your computer.

Your computer may have come with its own antivirus when you purchased it, but if it did not, or if it has expired, you can download a free antivirus online. We would recommend visiting Malwarebytes’ website and downloading the free version of their software, which can be found under the downloads tab. Once you have downloaded and installed Malwarebytes you can run a scan on your computer that will detect whether there is any malware eating away at your computer’s processing power. Malwarebytes will automatically quarantine these processes and give you the option to delete them.

Your hard drive may be dying and need replacing. You can either replace it with another hard drive, or upgrade it to a faster solid state drive. You can follow our guide to do so here.

You are within range of an available wireless network but still can’t access the internet.

The password to the wireless network may have expired or changed, but your computer still has the old settings saved. You can clear out these settings with the following steps:

• Click the WiFi icon on your taskbar in the bottom right corner of your screen and select "Network & Internet Settings"
• Select WiFi in the left column and click "Manage Known Networks"
• Select the network you are trying to connect to in the list of available networks
• Click "Forget"
• Reconnect to the wireless network again as if it was your first time connecting

Just like Windows, a lot of issues with internet connections can be solved by restarting the adapter. This can be done with the following steps:

• Click the WiFi icon on your taskbar in the bottom right corner of your screen and select "Network & Internet Settings"
• Click "Network and Sharing Center" at the bottom of the window
• Click "Change adapter settings" in the left colomn
• Right-Click the wireless adapter listed and select "Disable"
• Right-Click the wireless adapter listed and select "Enable"
• Try to connect to the wireless network again

From time to time your device may come out with newer, more efficient drivers than the ones that were installed when you first got your computer. To install the latest drivers for the HP Pavilion, you can visit the HP support website, select Software and drivers, and run the HP support assistant. The HP support assistant will detect what kind of computer you are using, and what the latest drivers for the computer is. Here you can download and install and recommended drivers for your computer.

If all else fails your network adapter may be broken and need replacing. You can follow our guide here.