Dell Inspiron 1000 wont boot

Hi, I picked up \
an Inspiron at a sale, clean and tidy and all necessary bits there (HD . DVD /RW and Power supply), Dell adaptor and full voltage OK.
On plug in mains battery charges well and holds charge well.
Problem is that; on pressing start button, the HD light flashes for a while and activity cab be heard for half minute or so and then stops. Th HD light remains on but there is no further activity, DVD drive does not respond and remains shut.
There is no display activity and and the other 3 lights in line with start button remain unlit.
Bit of a long shot I know but any suggestions on what might resolve the problem would appreciated.------------Or is it toast ??

regards

 

Greetings, bg9208...

Couple of suggestions:

1. Can you access BIOS? Press <F2> upon startup (it's usually F2 with Inspirons, but could be another function key or combination of keys) before Windows begins to load.

2. If you can access BIOS verify that all hardware is recognized (especially RAM - hope there is some memory in that machine!) and reset everything to "Safe" default, reboot to Windows to test.

3. If that fails boot to BIOS again. While in BIOS see if the DVD tray will open - if so, then set the boot order to "CD/DVD first" and insert a bootable disk (Windows, Linux, diagnostics, whatever) to see if the machine will boot to the optical. You can always get the disk out manually if the test fails.

4. Another shot: connect a discrete monitor to see if there's a change in symptoms.

5. One more: power down, flip the machine over, pull the memory access panel, re-seat/swap the RAM module(s).

 

Thanks for the reply caliban. No, can' get access to bios and display on screen. I nave gone a bit further and by using a stethascopen discovered that the sound on start up is the fan not the HDD. Attempted to remove and check using HDD from another laptop but enable to remove old one but while it feels loose it refuses to budge. Screws removed and not a lot to grip .. If I could get this out I could at least eliminate the HDD.
Got the cover over the RAM and have a metal bridge over black plastic sheet. reluctant to poke about without expert quidance,

regards (E&OE)