[deputyb716]

I have about a 5 year old Dell Inspiron 1501 laptop. I attempted to get on the computer and found that it would not boot. Pressing the power button, the lights on the keyboard comes on, the processor fan spins for a second then everything just seems to stop. The power light and the battery charge light remains on and you can feel a slight vibration coming from the underside of the box (possible fan). The screen remains blank/black. I have done the following things in an attempt to correct the problem.

1. Removed all power sources
2. Removed the hard drive
3. Removed the memory
4. Removed the CMOS battery

Nothing has made a diffference and booting remains the same. It does not seem to be entering the bios and screen remains blank/black and no beeps or other audio/visual confirmation of booting.

Any and all assistance is much appreciated!!

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If me, I would connect an external monitor and see what happens.

[Digerati]

If me, I would connect an external monitor and see what happens.

[deputyb716]

Can anyone help me???

thanks!

[phillpower2]

If me, I would connect an external monitor and see what happens.

Can anyone help me???

thanks!

Digerati offered assistance but you did not reply with the results of the suggested initial test!
Did you try connecting to an external screen by way of the laptops VGA port and if so what was the outcome?

[deputyb716]

tried connecting the laptop to an external monitor, same results: nothing past the initial lighting of the power button and fan coming on for a brief second.

Bad mobo?????

[phillpower2]

tried connecting the laptop to an external monitor, same results: nothing past the initial lighting of the power button and fan coming on for a brief second.

You may need to toggle between screens using the Fn and one of the F1 to F12 keys (possibly F5).
If you shine a flashlight into the screen and look closely can you see anything in the background as in the desktop/icons.

Bad mobo?????

Possibly a bad video chip which is as good as a bad MB as there are very few replaceable parts on a laptops MB.
Do you have the operating system or system restore disk/s that was supplied with the laptop?

[deputyb716]

tried connecting the laptop to an external monitor, same results: nothing past the initial lighting of the power button and fan coming on for a brief second.

You may need to toggle between screens using the Fn and one of the F1 to F12 keys (possibly F5).
Tried that, nothing.....

If you shine a flashlight into the screen and look closely can you see anything in the background as in the desktop/icons.
Nothing on the screen and no beeps indicating the computer is booting.

Bad mobo?????

Possibly a bad video chip which is as good as a bad MB as there are very few replaceable parts on a laptops MB.
Do you have the operating system or system restore disk/s that was supplied with the laptop?

Will not boot with the disks either......

[phillpower2]

Thanks for the update, can I ask when you removed the Ram did you try powering up to see if you got any error beeps?

[deputyb716]

Just tried, nothing different..........

[phillpower2]

Sorry I cannot think of anything further at present and it would appear that the issue is terminal, you could try removing the HDD and powering up but as you are not even getting a BIOS or splash screen it suggests that the problem is not with the HDD or OS.

[deputyb716]

any idea of what i could replace to help the issue? I've already got the box torn down and can easily replace whatever needs replacing. I just don't know where to start and hate to spend a lot of $ replacing stuff that doesn't need replacing. Any ideas??

[Digerati]

I agree, this looks bad. I would suggest you remove the hard drive and install it in an enclosure, or as a secondary (NOT boot) drive in another computer, and copy off any files you do not want to lose.

[phillpower2]

any idea of what i could replace to help the issue? I've already got the box torn down and can easily replace whatever needs replacing. I just don't know where to start and hate to spend a lot of $ replacing stuff that doesn't need replacing. Any ideas??

I agree, this looks bad. I would suggest you remove the hard drive and install it in an enclosure, or as a secondary (NOT boot) drive in another computer, and copy off any files you do not want to lose.

If you follow the guidance offered by Digerati you will at least be able to establish if the HDD is good or not before possibly spending cash on a lost cause.
There are a minimal amount of components that can be replaced on a laptop MB and especially by the average user who is not a hardware repair Tech.
Not sure where in the world you are but this replacement laptop MB equates to $86.25 http://www.dellparts...p?prod=UK-UW953