After shutting down my HP LAPTOP, it won't restart. If you push the "on" button, there's no response. I noticed that about 3 days before this happened, the system cannot "find" nor "load" the sound card/device. Speaker icon was "crossed out". What seems to be the problem and how to fix it? Thanks in advance!

You didn't post the Make, Model of Laptop or the OS you are using. I'll use a Win 7 solution. Boot the Laptop, open the Control Panel, select Power Options, set to High Performance, select Change Plan Settings, set SLEEP to Never, select Change Advanced Power settings, go through the settings , set SLEEP and Hibernate to Never, Power buttons and Lid to shut down. Always shut down and unplug your laptop when not in use to prevent damage from power surges and possible Fire hazard IF the battery malfunctions. A reboot every day will reset the computer.

Try checking if your power button is defective. Check if it's stuck.

Could you be a bit more specific? Could you tell me the correct sequence you spoke of? I am trying to understand , you shut down using the windows 7 shut down and it re starts? Your response didn't clear up my confusion. I can remember ever encountering this. Just a thought have you done a Maleware scan lately? If not try MALWAREBYTES found at : http://www.filehippo.com/download_malwarebytes_anti_malware/Install and Run a FULL SCAN and a program CCLEANER found at : http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/ Install and Run, it's a good program to clean the junk files out and speed up you system. That a good place to start.

Is the fan dirty/dusty is there sufficent air flow? Try a Cold-Restart, unplug AC cord, remove battery, hold down on/off button for 10 seconda, replace battery, plug into AC outlet, start normally. if that fails Try a system restore/recovery. That's a start. It sounds like a hardware issue, the shut off issue. The DVD/CD sounds like a driver issue. Thouroghly clean the fans, get more air flow, use a laptop cooler if necessary, Restore/recoery if necessary.

That is a software issue with the OS. Was it always like this? If not, try a system restore to some time in the past when you know the unit was working fine.

take out the battery, then take out the memory. Put one of the two memory modules back in, and turn it on. If everything looks ok, shut down and put the other one back and try again...if everything is ok...then ok. If it doesn't work after the first one, let me know...

It is asking for the recovery discs that should have been made in the event there was a problem with the recovery sector on drive D or the hard drive failed. The only option is go to www.hp.com contact customer support and the technical department to see if they can sell you the much needed discs.

If you do an illegal shut down which is power off by holding down the power switch for 8 seconds. The HP computer will then boot with the scandisk program, which will restore your hdd to perfection. Windows XP or later now use 'system restore' to rearrange registry from a previous calender date that the computer used to work perfectly.

Compaq's are famous for over-heating, if you didn't have a cooling pad under the laptop it may have burned up some components, or it could just need time for the components to cool.

Try this,

Unplug the laptop, remove the battery from the underside (there should be a catch to push, and the battery will pop out). Then wait a few seconds and put the the power cord back in and the battery. Hold down the on button for a few seconds and boot it up.