Computer's screen goes white on start-up, then shuts down entirely

My best friend has had some problems with her laptop of late. She started the machine up today after leaving it sit for a while to go to lunch, and it went straight to a white screen. Thinking it was a glitch, she attempted to reboot, but the machine has yet to boot since the incident. She is convinced that it's something to do with the lower half of the laptop, since the monitor and everything was working fine before, as well as her USB mouse, but when she tried anything with the keyboard or the start-up key, nothing happened. If anyone has any kind of solution, it'd be greatly appreciated.

She owns a Dell XPS M1530, with Windows Vista. Hopefully that'll be enough information, otherwise, I can get whatever else is needed to fix the problem. Thanks!

-Ron

 

To be clear, it displays a white image when you start the computer? Does it display the white image and then stay on, or does the laptop shut off?

 

It displayed the white image once, and then it stopped displaying things altogether, and the power button didn't seem to work.

 

All right. When you press the power button, can you hear the fans in the computer spinning?

 

Nope. There is no apparent activity at all when she attempts to turn the machine on.

 

First thing I would check is power. Check to make sure the power cable is securely plugged into the back of the computer and the wall. If that does not work, perhaps your power cable or wall outlet is damaged. Also check to make sure any power switch on the power supply is on ( the "|" symbol ) and that the voltage on the power supply is on 110V.

If looking at those easy things didn't work, you may try a different power supply you know works. You could get one from a friend or just buy one and keep it for a spare if it doesn't fix you problem.

Those are the things I would check first. Lets see what happens.