[dnrflorence]

I work with a man who has a Dell Laptop. Recently his grand daughter picked it up off of the table and then dropped it on the floor. Now when you press the power button the green power light comes on for a split second and then it goes right back off. Has anybody ever dealt with this kind of thing before? Is there anybody who can help trouble shoot laptop problems? Let me know. Thanks in advance.

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well...when the words "dropped" and "won't turn on" come into play...then it's usually a pretty funky failure....could be anything really...could be as simple as something disconnecting inside the LT...or as complex as an HD read head coming apart....it's virtually impossible to troubleshoot PHYSICAL damage over an internet forum like this...and i don't like suggesting people take apart their laptops...if the thing is under warranty...he'll need to see if droppage is covered (probably isn't)...if this is a buisiness laptop...hopefully he was smart enough to put it on his insurance so that he can get a replacement....

you could try opening the thing up and seeing if anything got jarred or unplugged...but...without knowing what's broke..it's hard to find it

[dsenette]

well...when the words "dropped" and "won't turn on" come into play...then it's usually a pretty funky failure....could be anything really...could be as simple as something disconnecting inside the LT...or as complex as an HD read head coming apart....it's virtually impossible to troubleshoot PHYSICAL damage over an internet forum like this...and i don't like suggesting people take apart their laptops...if the thing is under warranty...he'll need to see if droppage is covered (probably isn't)...if this is a buisiness laptop...hopefully he was smart enough to put it on his insurance so that he can get a replacement....

you could try opening the thing up and seeing if anything got jarred or unplugged...but...without knowing what's broke..it's hard to find it

[dnrflorence]

Thanks for the follow up. I was afraid that I would get that answer. He says that it doesn't really matter if I tear in to it because it doesn't work anyway. I may start on it soon. Any suggestions on what to look for?

[Samm]

Thanks for the follow up. I was afraid that I would get that answer. He says that it doesn't really matter if I tear in to it because it doesn't work anyway. I may start on it soon. Any suggestions on what to look for?

Just about anything - loose or damaged : internal cabling, PCB components, cpu, ram etc. It may help if your friend knows which bit of the laptop hit the floor first, as this may give some indication as to where the damage is most likely to be, and possibly the type of damage you need to look for.

Before you do though, have you tried powering the laptop on without the power adapter connected (i.e battery only) & without the battery (i.e power adapter only)?

[dnrflorence]

Yep! No luck either way. The same thing, a quick flash of the green power light. Anything else to try first?