Dell Laptop doesn't power up

Palliser

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 26, 2002
Messages
207
Hey all,

Had a quick question. This kid that lives in my apt. comlex dropped his Dell (3 inches from the floor according to him) and now the thing doesn't power up. I've tried to boot it with no battery with cord plugged in to power supply, battery with cord plugged in to power supply, and just battery no cord.

Everyonce in a while the lights on the front (hard drive, networking etc...) will flicker. But the machine will make no attempt to boot or even make a sound.

Any thoughts?

Thanks ahead of time!
Pal
 
He did not drop it 3 inches, he is exaggerating. Tell him to save his lies for Dell customer service.


Repair will be very expensive if it isn't a problem with the wiring from the converter to the board, but the odds of it being just that are nearly impossible. If it is under warranty, go for it.
 
Yeah, bummer for him, his warranty expired a couple months ago. Yeah I doubt it was that close to the ground.
 
Once I saw someone's Dell laptop not be able to power on also. I tried booting it up with all the different combinations you mentioned. I noticed that the power lights flickered when I tried booting it up with the battery in (power cord or no), but they didn't flicker when I only had the power cord plugged in (no battery). To me, this means that the power cord doesn't work (or there is something wrong with the laptop's power jack), and that there is enough juice in the battery to flicker the lights, but not boot up the computer.
Solution: send it back to Dell. Because I don't know how to fix it.
 
What happens when you try to power it up? Nothing? Or does the power light come on for a second then go off? Try reseating the RAM maybe.

If it's not under warranty take that thing apart and take a look around, those things are easy to take apart.
 
You might have a stand-off inside the notebook that has broken off and is causing a short in the system board. My 8200 stopped taking a charge last thanksgiving and it pissed me off because it was out of warranty. I took the thing apart and lo and behold a small motherboard spacer had broken off and was shorting out, once the Laptop was back together there wasn't a problem.
 
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