My laptop for sme reason won’t start. When I press the button it lights up temporarily and it just flashes on for a second and then dies. I tried checking to see the if the fan was clogged with dust because I read on tech sites that some models (I have an HP) won’t start as a fail-safe if the fan won’t spin, but it’s clean. This is pissing me off as this laptop is only 3 months old.
So I’m assuming it’s not under warranty? 
it might be clean but make sure its spinning, is it the battery, try plugging it in.
Have you tried looking into the BIOS setting and make sure that it can recognize your hard drive? And before it shuts down, does it make some sort of beeping sound?
Luckily it is.
It does make a sound but the sound isseems to be the fan or mechanisms shutting down rather than a beep.
To me it sounds like the power supply, I have seen it many times over the years. Was there recently a big storm where you live that could have caused a power surge? Get it repaired under warranty because trying to fix a laptop power supply requires a lot of work that I would not want someone to do unless they are very technically skilled.
I’m going to feel for the owner of this laptop when he realizes that 1)manufacturer will wipe his drive to oem specs, not being considerate of his shit 2)having to wait for a month or two to have his equip returned 3) replace the power adapter only or inverter board 4)continuous issues in future only to be doomed in buying a new one since he has a lemon. That’s about it
Good luck. ah, the joys of being a tech and seeing things go to shit. btw, this is Not uncommon. & make sure to back up your crap and create system recovery disks next time
I’m having a problem with my Dell laptop lately too, only about 5 months old, when i turn it off it does not always go back on again. As in power will go to the system, LEDs will be lit, but nothing boots up. Usually after the 2nd-3rd try everything goes on properly.
I suspect its a Hard drive issue, since it seems like everything else switches on but the HDD, thus no boot-up.
Kinda worry i might turn it off one day and it’ll never go back on again. Its still under Dell warrenty though but i’m on my college break right now and don’t feel like bothering with it now, so i just leave it on all the time(disabled auto-standby & hibernation).
During the semester maybe i’ll contact dell and get something going. Other than this issue, my comp performs like a champ. I don’t regret going Laptop-only as my primary Pc solution(since 2006).
Try this disc to boot your laptop from, http://reatogo.de/REATOGO.htm, it will let you know if it is the hard drive or not. If you can boot just fine from the disc then it’s most likely the hard drive, if you can’t boot then it is something else.
Wait What!!!
Wait a sec… are you fucking kidding me?!:annoy:
Two of my Dell work laptops have died in the same manner.
IBM/Lenovo didn’t wipe mine when the fan broke. Still, you could remove the drive before you send it in.
Can you hear the fan spinning up or feel air coming out when you turn it on? Sounds like a broken fan to me.
It would still boot if it was the hard drive.
What Dell model computer and OS you have?
…how? The O.S & all data is stored on the HDD. Without the hard drive the system cannot load up.
Think it could be a bios/firmware issue??
My comp is a Dell Vostro 1000 laptop, 2007, with WinXP home.
Oops, I meant POST, not boot.
How far does it get? If it was the hard drive you would get an error message after POST.
Well i just updated to the latest bios(released 12/23/2007). I didn’t plan on it this soon, i was just going to download the file and wait till later, guess i clicked something and afterwards there was no stopping it. I guess it couldn’t hurt.
Everything looks to be working the same.
Like i said earlier, the comp does not always boot up. Power will be going to the system with LEDs and all, but the O.S does not load. I have to turn it off and then on again a few times, till it starts up.
Well great news, I got my laptop back with my HD intact. Apparently it was an electronic malfunction in my motherboard and they replaced the entire board.
It’s a shame that they weren’t careful enough to clean not get a whole bunch of scratches all over the backscreen but I’m just glad my HD is still there to care.:woot::bgrin: