If the BIOS flash was interrupted, then it's very likely that the BIOS is now corrupt, and that's something that can't be fixed. If you have the BIOS flash on a floppy disk, then you could try it again, but I doubt very much if even that would work. Looks like you will require a new motherboard. Sorry - I know that's NOT what you want to hear.

Thanks for answering. I'm considering replacing the BIOS chip but I'm not sure how to open a laptop up to access that.

You said about booting from a floppy disk? How's this possible when there's no BIOS?

Some have been successful by removing the main and CMOS batteries, holding down the power button for 15 seconds, and reinstalling the batteries. Teh NVRAM powered by the small battery can get confused. Upon restart, the BIOS will refresh the NVRAM, and you may be in business.  If this doesn't work, the system board will need to be changed. I don't know why they do not socket the NVRAN instead of soldering it to the system board.

Check the on-line service manual. The battery is buried, but it's not real hard to disassemble or re-assemble the laptops.

I might as well try this before I do anything drastic. Where are the CMOS batteries (I know what they are) I'm not used to opening up laptops. Is there any way I can get to it without taking it all apart?

Thanks, I found loads of cmos related techniques to reset bios on the internet. I'll try them all out tomorrow and post back once I have it working. I just hope the battery's not soldered to the system board too...

First you need your bios update to be able to be placed on a floppy which your is not as it is written to run under windows. If it was able to be put on a floppy then with a disk in a floppy drive(as long as the floppy is in the boot sequence then it might find it depending on how bad the bios is messed up.

I believe your bios chip is hard soldered on the motherboard as most are

If you mean a diagram of the system board forget it It is a Dell propritary item. And unless you have special soldering and desoldering tools you will destroy your motherboard.

Hey, I took the CMOS battery out for an hour and put it back in, didn't do anything. (I'm gonna try for longer)

I read that all this does is reset the BIOS values, not the actual version.

I'm considering desoldering the BIOS chip, sending it off for a repair and then soldering it back in, is it worth it?

Also, where can I find a diagram of the Dell Inspiron 1501?

Thanks for the help so far :)

It's strange how I've seen success stories of those who've taken out the CMOS on a dell laptop and their BIOS went back to normal. I won't risk the soldering, thanks for the advice. The only thing I can do is send my motherboard off to a service which will rebuild the BIOS or just buy a new motherboard :(

I've seen diagrams of system boards for dell desktops, why are laptops so different?