dell 6 year old laptop won't start dos???

My six year old Dell Laptop will not crankup with the screen formal starup procedure...to continue anything!!!
It starts, it beeps, and the lights blink and the drive just keeps running!!!
I tried working with the drive on my main puter???
May have messed it up???

Any Ideas???

I am ready and been told to dump it in the garbage???
Just want to put win95 on it and use for misc. records and some
files for my keeeping and not even connect it to the net!!!
Just important records of pers. buss,,,

Thanks in advance...
Tinkertoy

 

Do you have any messages on the screen or does it stay blank?

 

Thanks for the reply...

Nothing comes up on screen...
But it did load up before I messed with the drive...
Had win 3.1 on it!!!

Tinkertoy

 

How did you mess with the drive? What did you do to it?

 

Again, Thanks very much for your time on this...

Following some tips on this site from a couple members,,,
removed it from laptop, bought the correct cable to connect it to
my regular PC...found it on main and tried to format it I thought
it worked, and put it back in laptop and ,,, here we are???

Much Thanks,
Tinkertoy