Inspiron 5100 won't boot. Help!

Question

Hi,   My Inspiron 5100 won't boot up. When I press the power key, there's a whirring sound but a few seconds later, the sound goes away and nothing happens. All this time, the screen is blank. Sometimes, if I press either the FN key or the F2 key together with the power key, I get to the Dell logo before the laptop shuts off.   This is what I did to my laptop in the last 24 hours.   1. installed Trend Micro anti-virus software yesterday night. 2. installed the latest Microsoft updates yesterday night. 3. tonight, got a window prompting me to disable personal fire-wall. Did that. 4. tonight, got another window prompting me to restart the computer. Did that but before the laptop rebooted, there was a message saying: 'Don't turn off or unplug the computer', then another message saying 'updates are being installed (1 of 3)'. This whole thing went on for an hour that is the same 2 messages were displayed. I thought maybe it hung so I turned off the laptop. After that, I couldn't boot up the laptop.   What should I do? I hope it's the operating system and not the hard drive that's hosed.   Any advice is greatly appreciated.   Thanks in advance.   Louise

ejn63 · Answer

Can you boot the system from the diagnostics CD? If so, run a full system test. If not, reseat the RAM, hard and optical drive, and any mini PCI cards - if the system still won't boot, you've got a hardware problem - most probably with the system board. Call Dell and arrange a repair.

DELL-BobT · Answer

Louise,

Thank you for using the Dell Community Forum.

I agree with ejn63. Additionally, you can try the following:

If the system has video, but is locking up during the BIOS screens, there may be a Drive, Card, or Peripheral causing the problem.
Will the system POST out of the docking station?
Verify whether the system has power.
Make sure the system is not in suspend or CRT mode. Press Fn + F8 and Fn + Esc to exit. Hold the power button down for 8 to 10 seconds to force a shutdown. Or, use a paper clip or similar item to press the reset switch. Wait 10 to 15 seconds and restore power. Look for signs that the system is actually a no POST, or if you have a dead LCD. Look for the hard drive indicator light. Listen for the PCMCIA card recognition tones. Use an external monitor if available.
Remove the battery, hard drive, CD/floppy drive, and any PCMCIA card. Remove any external peripheral components such as printers, palmtop devices, or USB devices. Remove the RAM, this should cause the system to power on and off in a cycle. If not, reinsert the RAM and check the BIOS. Will the system POST?
Install one memory module, and attempt to boot. Install the second module if the system does boot. If the system does not POST, use the same module in the 2nd slot. If the system completes POST, replace the motherboard for a bad RAM slot. If the system does not POST, remove the memory module and place the other module in this slot. If the system completes POST, replace the memory for a bad DIMM. Otherwise, replace motherboard.
Reset the BIOS defaults. Press F2 to go into Setup, Press F9 or hold Alt and F simultaneously to reset Defaults, then F10 or Esc to save and exit.After the system has rebooted, install the hard drive.
Install all devices and peripherals one at a time. (hard drive, floppy drive, CD/DVD, etc)

mclouise · Answer

Hello,

First, thanks to all who responded to my earlier post.

My Inspiron 5100 (purchased June 2003) won't boot *again*.

I was surfing the web with just the battery connected (no AC adapter) and then it hibernated because the battery drained. Since then, it won't boot up either with an AC adapter connected or and with a full battery. By this I mean the display is blank, there's no whirring sound, nothing. The screen is just blank. The strange thing is when a battery or/and an AC adapter is connected, the LED for power is a solid green but the LED for the battery is solid orange. What's even weirder is if only the AC adapter is connected (no battery), the battery LED is still a solid orange. I checked that the AC adapter and battery work on another similar notebook. What does the solid orange light mean? Any help is appreciated. I called Dell and was told to ship to the depot. However, the notebook is no longer covered under warranty.

The last time my Dell didn't boot, at least it would start up long enough for me to boot from the diagnostic CD. I ran a check and everything passed. Since then, it has been working well until last night when the battery drained completely and the AC adapter wasn't connected.

Thanks.

mclouise

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Inspiron 5100 won't boot. Help!

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