Laptop Won't Boot

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by aeidein, May 5, 2016.

  1. aeidein

    aeidein Private E-2

    Hi guys,

    I have a 2007 Dell Inspiron 1420 (replaced video card and keyboard, swapped out one of the RAM sticks; W7x64) that had been running beautifully as my main/only computer up until a few weeks ago, when it started having intermittent difficulty waking from sleep (it would power off instead). A few days ago, it began having difficulty booting - I had to remove the battery, drain the power, and reattempt until it booted.

    Now, it won't boot; the power indicator lights up, fan runs, and CD drive works, but the screen remains blank.

    I've tried running it off AC power with the battery removed, removing each RAM stick, and checking for dust/dead roaches. I know it's a super old laptop, but if anyone has any ideas on troubleshooting, I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks for reading.
     
    aeidein, May 5, 2016
    #1
  2. plodr

    plodr MajorGeek Super Extraordinaire Moderator Staff Member

    since it is soldered to the motherboard, how did you replace it?
     
    plodr, May 5, 2016
    #2
  3. aeidein

    aeidein Private E-2

    There was a class action lawsuit against Nvidia, so Dell replaced the video card for free despite being outside the warranty period.
     
    aeidein, May 5, 2016
    #3
    plodr likes this.
  4. falconattack

    falconattack Command Sergeant Major

    Hi my friend :)
    My first thought : Have you checking your hdd by hocking up to another desktop ? :cool:
     
    falconattack, May 6, 2016
    #4
  5. plodr

    plodr MajorGeek Super Extraordinaire Moderator Staff Member

    Thanks for clarifying that. My first thought was that if you replaced it, you might have damaged something but that's not an issue.

    So when you say the screen remains blank you never see a thing? If so, it seems like the video chip is gone. Even if the hard drive was toast, you'd at the very least see a Dell logo before any sort of error once Windows tries to load.

    To test, you could try loading a bootable CD or a bootable USB stick. If the screen stays black, you know what the problem is.
     
    plodr, May 6, 2016
    #5
  6. davismccarn

    davismccarn Specialist

    Support for your laptop: http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/product-support/product/inspiron-1420/diagnose
    Click the manuals link and get a copy of the service manual. With the PC off and the battery removed, take out the hard disk drive and the optical drive then try turning it on. If it works, then one of them is bad. Try putting the hard drive back to see if it boots. Its rare; but, I have seen a few PC's hang on identifying the SATA/IDE devices.
    If it doesn't work, the video fried itself, again. The system board's part number is probably near one of the memory sockets. Verify it before you order one!
    $40.00: http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Dell-In...495486?hash=item35ffe578fe:g:dPUAAOxywh1TDNrW
     
    davismccarn, May 9, 2016
    #6

MajorGeeks.Com Menu

Downloads All In One Tweaks \ Android \ Anti-Malware \ Anti-Virus \ Appearance \ Backup \ Browsers \ CD\DVD\Blu-Ray \ Covert Ops \ Drive Utilities \ Drivers \ Graphics \ Internet Tools \ Multimedia \ Networking \ Office Tools \ PC Games \ System Tools \ Mac/Apple/Ipad Downloads

Other News: Top Downloads \ News (Tech) \ Off Base (Other Websites News) \ Way Off Base (Offbeat Stories and Pics)

Social: Facebook \ YouTube \ Twitter \ Tumblr \ Pintrest \ RSS Feeds