Unsolved
This post is more than 5 years old
6 Posts
0
2953
Laptop shut down during reboot
I have a Dell Inspiron 1545.
I wanted to install Bluetooth on it. Not knowing how to do so, I looked at online discussion and many had said that I'd probably have to install drivers. While I was doing that it said that a BIOS update was also recommended (And, again not knowing what it was, I installed it) While it was doing the update, at some point it said rebooting and the screen went blue. Now I was not sure whether my files would be deleted or not, I panicked and switched it off, because I have important University files on my laptop. This happened approximately a week ago and now when I turn on my laptop I can hear it's on, but the screen is completely black and the power icon is flashing red. Somebody please help me. I need my files :(
ejn63
1 Rookie
1 Rookie
•
87.5K Posts
0
December 24th, 2010 05:00
It sounds like the BIOS flash failed. If the system is in warranty, have Dell replace the mainboard.
Your data should be fine - remove the hard drive, mount it in a 2.5" external USB 2.0 case and recover it after attaching the drive to a working system.
sansub
6 Posts
0
December 24th, 2010 15:00
dear EJN63, thanks so much for replying, but as you might have figured I do not know much about IT. My laptop is no longer on a warranty I'm afraid :(
how do I remove the hard drive?
sansub
6 Posts
0
December 24th, 2010 15:00
thanks again! It sounds like a professional should be doing all that? Or is there some sort of advice you can give me? I am a novice and I don't want to make the situation worse than it is.
ejn63
1 Rookie
1 Rookie
•
87.5K Posts
0
December 24th, 2010 15:00
A less expensive option to replacing the system board is to have the BIOS chip unsoldered, flashed externally and resoldered - this should run about $100-150, less than 1/3-1/2 what a board replacement will cost. One reliable source of repair: www.aqstech.com.
To remove the hard drive, see
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins1545/en/SM/hdd.htm#wp1109848