Laptop is dead, no lights, nothing, got a power surge was working for a day after by holding down power button for 20 seconds but nothing now

old Compaq CQ57 2011, year.
so it ran for 4 years and today fails?>?????
that evidence points to loss of power,
that means inside the PC, DC power rails dead.
yes do run sans bug huge battery on AP power pack
remove all USB devices first, any of 20 modules can short in any PC and shorts cause the VRM power regulators to shut off, making any PC maDE GO DEAD.
try a new power pack? using the wrong one are you, we have like 5+ powerpacks under our desk and all are now labeled to not mix them up. even blow up things using the wrong Power PaCK.
Then remove all HDD/SSD SATA drives
then remove the the DVD drive.
get screen and fans and bios page1 working first (a goal)_
ok do the 10 second hold power button down and release intel reset/??????
beyond this takes hard work on laptops, stripping it down to min.
the COIN cell is not dead at 4 year mark. it be good I bet.
PC allowed to cool 1+ hours is still dead.
all PCs made die of overheat (called saving their own bacon ,logic)
here is the strip down, it is amazing all that can fail and do.
even a bad PC ,DC jack cracked.

https://www.pcdied.com/PSU/strip-down-testing101.html#Laptop

good luck to you or others reading on Laptops ***** (any)

disconnect the adapter +battery HOLD THE POWER button by 30 seconds aprox, this trick is by eliminate all ESD.
Try again connecting the adpater +battery, if work is o.k
If the problem persist, connect only the adapt and see if the computer work, if does , connect the battery, if work is o.k .if doesnot.
The battery is faulty, RUN the software diagnostic with the adapter and see what going on inside of computer, the power supply inside can be faulty or the battery.

As a last trick, open the battery take out the small battery for CMOS, by 20 seconds. And turn on the computer can be TURN on.

God bless you

check your ram & hard disk.

If it does the same thing w/ the battery removed and just on AC, it's a power regulator problem on the motherboard. If it works with the battery out, the battery is dead and you need a new one.

Its an old trick that got my Dell laptop working
Unplug the laptop remove the battery press the power button,...nothing will happen, wait a few seconds put battery back in laptop plug it in hold upside down press power button until it boots
If that doesn't work it could be a bad/loose/dead bios battery What is the model of the laptop?

Please follow these steps VERY CAREFULLY:

1) Unplug the notebook from the ac adapter (charger power cord)

2) Take off the battery pack on the notebook

3) Once the ac adapter and battery is off the notebook, hold down the power button for 15 seconds

4) After 15 seconds, let go of the power button

5) Now plug in the AC ADAPTER (OR CHARGER POWER CORD) ONLY (DO NOT PUT BACK THE BATTERY PACK)

6) Now press the power button once.

7) If the unit boots, the unit suffered a slight surge

8) If the unit does not boot and remains dead, the unit suffered a severe surge and may be burned out and needs replacing

I hope this helps and let me know how it goes afterwards

Could be the power supply. (Likely built into the power cord). Heat could have been causing it to fail before. Possibly dead now!

Hi, My Name is Henry. I am one of the technicians here.

It may be that the battery has gone totally flat and needs boosting to start charging or simply that its dead. Another possibility is your ac adaptor charge. You need to check to see that that is working.

If still not working. I suggest you invite a Laptop repair technician.

Please do not forget to rate my solutions to you.

Regards
Henry
http://www.clickpcrepair.com

I had the same problem with the go 920, I thought it was broken, 
Solution was to insert pin into reset hole for 15 Sec, after which hold the power on button for at least 5 Secs