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Dell Inspirion laptop has gone dark


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#1
tomzto

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Laptop does not power on, no signs of life. New battery had no effect. Charger has diode lit until it is plugged into the laptop, then immediately extinguishes. Last time I tried it, an odor was emitted from the laptop. I'm trying to determine whether this well-worn machine is worth repair or ready for replacement, depending on cost of repair. Any help in assessing the situation appreciated. 

 


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#2
ZEUS_GB

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Hi tomzto and welcome to G2G.

 

An odour coming from a laptop is never a good thing.

 

What is the make and model?


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#3
tomzto

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Its a Dell Inspirion 14R-5420


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#4
tomzto

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Perhaps my question should be:  'How do I retrieve files not yet backed up from a dead laptop and transfer them to a new machine?'  


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#5
ZEUS_GB

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With a Dell if the power adapter LED goes out it's usually a motherboard fault. 

Judging by the age of the model I would assume it's out of warranty.  You can of course check on the Dell warranty checker on the Dell support site by entering your service tag number and clicking on the warranty check option.

 

As for recovering data from the hard drive, the easiest way of doing so is to take the hard drive out, put it in an external enclosure and then connect via USB to another computer.  External enclosures are ten a penny and can be purchased from lots of retailers.


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#6
tomzto

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You've been very helpful. Thank you, that was the information I needed and I appreciate the speedy replies. I've ordered a new machine and now know how to transfer the files.


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#7
ZEUS_GB

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Hi tomzto,

 

Glad I could help.

 

The hard drive in the laptop you have will be a SATA so you will need a SATA enclosure for 2.5in laptop drives.


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