@Bobthecat​ Yup, this is the only solution that has worked in my case. Still using this ancient device though! 

Welcome to the Dell Community @potopoc 

Disconnect the AC adapter and the “Main” battery.

Disconnect the “Coin-Cell” battery.

Connect the AC adapter for 5-10 seconds.

Then disconnect the AC adapter.

Connect the “Coin-Cell and Main” batteries.

Turn the laptop over and open the lid.

Now connect the AC adapter.

It should try to automatically boot 3 times.

Post your results.

Best regards,

U2

i got a black and white screen with

Time of day not set - Please run SETUP program.

Invalid configuration information - Please run SETUP program.

Press...F1 to retry boot

F2 for setup utility

F5 to run onboard diagnostics.

I have not done anything after getting that screen.

Thank you!

@potopoc 

You may need to go into your BIOS and set the SATA Operation to AHCI ???

If it was set to AHCI before then disconnecting the BIOS battery set it to RAID."Defualt"

Regards,

U2

thanks - i did that and also did the CMOS battery replacement.   After, it booted to windows, but still - shut downs after the login screen.  I reinstalled windows and once you get past the login, it shutsdown.  The laptop will run all day at the login screen

What is it about running in windows which is causing instant shutdowns?

I havent tried a linux distro yet but may try that later.

Also, ran full hw diangostics (long version) again with no issues.

I have the same issue with mine, started end of 2020 sometime, it has to do with some update but can't figure it out. I have a E7470 too

Hello, Ihave the same issue with mine E7470, any updates? Thank you

I solved it with mine. I booted in safe mode and installed all (or most) drivers manually. Then the system worked fine.

I just bought a used E7470 (Windows 10 pro), which did the shut-down thing after anywhere between 30 minutes and an hour and a half.  Now I see why such a nice computer was donated to Goodwill.  I may have stumbled on an easy solution (it seems to work, at least for now): 

1)  F2 to enter BIOS (my BIOS version is 1.35.3)

2)  Power Management Screen Options

3)  Block sleep - the default is "disabled"

    Enable this to prevent the OS (Win 10) from putting the E7470 to sleep (and, I think, from shutting 

    down).  After making this change, I rebooted and let the computer run for 16 hours.  It did not shut

   down.   The downside is that it disables ALL sleep options, if you use them.  I don't use

   sleep options, so if this continues to work I will be happy.

4)  This seems to indicate that the issue is in Windows.  I am continuing to check that this works. 

     If it does not I will post my results.

More........

Using the procedure I outlined worked, and it no longer shut down by itself. 

But, there had to be a reason for the E7470 to want to shut down, which I believe I have found.  In some post I saw on this topic was a suggestion to check the battery.    I knew the battery was weak, and even though it would charge to 100%  on battery power it would quickly (just a few minutes) almost fully discharge - not holding a charge.

I replaced the battery with a "new", not "refurb"  (parts-people.com  -  not cheap, but reputable and stand behind their products).  I bought the 4-cell version (the OEM is 3-cell).  The 4-cell is wider, but if you don't have a second SSD installed, it will fit.  Charged and checked battery:  F12 - Diagnostice.  Battery checked good, and I later ran the computer for several hours on battery power and i abot only discharged to about 65% - good!

I then reversed the BIOS procedure I described earlier:  Power Management, disable Block Sleep.

The computer ran overnight without shutting down.

So, my conclusion is that a terminally-weak batter can cause the computer to shut down randomly.

But, enabling the Block Sleep as I first suggested did not seem to make the computer run hot (I checked), but the OS must detect a fault of some kind in the battery and shut down the comuter.

So, for random E7470 shut down, first use F12 Diagnostics to check the battery.

I hope this helps.   Meow, Bobthecat