Dell laptop has power but won't boot - please help

[JAFL]

I have a 2006 Dell E1505 laptop (with Windows XP Home Edition). The computer has been running fine lately (no viruses, no bsods, etc.). This morning, after leaving the computer in standby mode, I came back about an hour later to a computer that would not come back into operation. After turning it off and trying to restart it, it shows there is power to the system, but the hard drive doesn't work (the hard drive light flickers just once after I hit the power button, then goes dark). The power source is working fine.

I've tried rebooting and hitting F2 or F1 multiple times to try to get into BIOS and reset the boot order so I could use a recovery CD, but I can't even get into BIOS. Literally nothing ever comes up on the monitor.

If anyone can help I'd really appreciate it. I'm a novice with computer repair, so anything that involves physically taking the computer apart may be over my head, however I'm willing to give it a shot if it's not too complicated.

 

[SEGA 90]

Plug it into a external monitor and see if you can see your screen from your laptop there.

 

[JAFL]

Plug it into a external monitor and see if you can see your screen from your laptop there.

Ok, I just tried that, but still no video on the external monitor. I would think if it was just a monitor failure that I'd still see/hear signs of the hard drive working. I also tried reseating the hard drive and ram, but no luck.

 

[SEGA 90]

Perhaps your hard drive failed. Did your computer/laptop ever make any noises In the past? I suggest to borrow/buy a hard drive.

 

[preytogod]

I don't mean to butt in so feel free to correct me if I am wrong.
____________________

You should almost always be able to access the bios even if the hard drive is bad.

If you can't get into your bios then it is most likely the graphics card or the motherboard. And since most laptop graphics cards are integrated into the motherboard anymore, you won't be able to just replace the graphics card.
The only reason I am saying graphics card is because you said nothing shows up on either monitor, thus you could be in the bios but you can't see it.
If it is the graphics card then you might get lucky and find it not integrated. Otherwise you have to replace the entire motherboard. And if that is the case I would say just get a new laptop.

 

[setishock]

It's 6 years old. I'd venture you got your money's worth out of it. If it's the main board that's crashed a laptop that old is not worth trying to fix. You can remove the hard drive and put it in an external enclosure. If it's still kicking you'll be able to access it. You won't be able to boot from it but if there's anything of value on the drive you'll be able to get to it.

 

[Rackmountsales]

When your laptop gets a black screen only sometimes, it usually means your ram is on the way out. You can try taking the ram out, gently cleaning it with an antistatic cloth, and replacing it. This may solve your problem. If it does not, then you should try running your laptop with another compatible stick of ram installed.

 

[JAFL]

I reset the CMOS today, but still no luck. Is it worth a try to reseat the cpu as another board suggested? I'd rather not go to the trouble unless there's a good chance.

BTW, do you guys if most repair shops/techs charge to just diagnose a computer without actually repairing it? I'm assuming they do. And if so, what's a normal charge just to diagnose?