Laptop powers on for a few seconds, caps lock light blinks, then system shuts off

I own a Inspiron 600m. And I have the same problem. I reinsert the memory card, both of them, and it starts fine. But I don't think this is the right solution.

My laptop is only 4 years old. I was very happy with Dell but this is my second problem and I don't think my next laptop is going to be a Dell.

I600m

Windows XP, SP2

Any advice is more than welcome.

Cheers.

I have the same problem with my XPS M140, did you ever fiqure out what was wrong with yours? THANKS ahead of time.

I wish I had read this forum before dropping my Inspiron E1705 off at the local computer shop.  I'm having the same problem as everyone else.  I'll post whatever information I find out from them.

Balaji was right for my Inspiron 600m.  I upgraded my memory to 2GB, and encountered the same problem, after reading the posting, I reseated the 2 memory modules.  It worked as you said.  Thank you !!

Hey guys by reseating the memory in my D510 helped me out a great deal.  I then downloaded an ISO disc from dell to run diagnostics and it runs great.

Hello there,

I have the same start-up problem with an Inspiron E1705 with 2 Gig of memory. I have tried all of the recommendations mentioned before but none has worked for me. Has anyone else that had this same problem found a new solution???   Re-sitting the memory, removing and re-installing the HDD did nothing for me either. 

Any advice?  

Model: Inspiron 5100 Issue: Upon powering on, laptop appears to start up (fan/CD-drive start working, etc...) Display never turns on. Caps lock light blinks for a few seconds, then the system shuts off. This issue started 2 days ago. I had left my PC on and plugged in, and when I came back to it, the display would not turn on. I manually rebooted, and now everytime I try to power the system on, the above issue occurs. The laptop is old, but I take good care of it, and the system hyad been running fine previous to this issue. I can't even run diagnostics or get into a BIOS screen, as 1) the system only stays on for a few seconds, and 2) the display never turns on. I have attempted to turn it on with and without the battery in place, and well as with and without the power supply connected. I have also removed and re-seated the RAM. I will try attaching an external monitor, but like I said, the system only powers on for about 5 seconds. Sounds like a motherboard issue: I hope not though. Any ideas?

Try the memory modules one at a time in each socket -- to rule out a  bad module or memory socket.  If neither module works in either socket it most likely is the system board.