Someone at my office gave me his laptop to check, a HP Compaq nx6120. The complaint was that when he was using it, it would sometimes freeze until he restarted it. He noted that whenever he put pressure on the area around which the hard disk should be that it would work better. Having that in mind, I removed the hard disk and noticed that it seemed to work well with a Linux live CD. I connected the hard disk somewhere else to run a check and noticed that it didn't seem to have any errors. The system has gone from bad to worse however as it doesn't even go beyond BIOS now, even when I use the Live CD, it just freezes at the opening 'page' when you turn it on.

You didn't say whether you tried booting Windows, or whatever operating system it has on it, from that hard drive on the other computer. If you did and it worked fine, or Windows worked fine (you might have had to run a Repair Setup to get XP to work), since it appears there is nothing physically or logically wrong with the hard drive itself, it is most likely the laptop has a loose connection and/or is physically damaged. If you didn't, it appears there is nothing physically or logically wrong with the hard drive itself, but there could certainly be something wrong with Windows, or whatever operating system, or the laptop may have a loose connection and/or has been physically damaged. "....it would sometimes freeze until he restarted it." Lots of things can cause a computer to freeze. "He noted that whenever he put pressure on the area around which the hard disk should be that it would work better." It shouldn't make any difference - that points to the laptop being physically damaged - ask the someone if it's EVER been dropped. " ...has gone from bad to worse however as it doesn't even go beyond BIOS now..." Some connection may be loose, especially if it was dropped. Try removing the AC adapter and main battery, then make sure the hard drive and ram are seated properly, then restore power and try the computer.

You could try changing a setting in the BIOS if it is there. Not sure about the BIOS on a Laptop. The setting is called "reset configuration data". Try Enabling for ONE boot cycle. That will sort out any resource conflict that may exist.

Could it be overheating?

Id throw it away if I were you

Dave The Snakes Your responses here have been less than helpful. This mornings treats are now bigoted (different thread) and stupid. If you don't have any useful information to share with the OP then DON'T post.