The clicking sound makes me wonder if you have a hard drive failing or has failed. Try removing the hard drive and see if the system will POST. You should get a no bootable device found message. If everything else looks normal but of course it will not be able to boot into Windows, then a bad hard drive is even more probable. If you still cannot get the system to POST (the Dell splash logo on the screen) then the next step is to pull the RAM and try to boot. If you get beeps then the BIOS and motherboard detect no memory. Now, depending on how much RAM you have, remove all but one RAM module and try to boot. If still no luck then put the RAM module in the other SODIMM slot. If that does not work then try the same procedure with the other RAM module. You are trying to isolate the motherboard with no other components installed to determine if the motherboard or another piece of hardware is the culprit. At 5 years of age, it could be that it is getting close to replacing the system with a new laptop.
The indicator light stays on, but no other reaction--the computer remains shut down. I left the power adapter on for a full 4 hours, to keep the battery charged.
I'll check on the hard drive and memory cards in the morning, tomorrow, and will report back.
JOcean
9 Legend
•
12.6K Posts
1
January 11th, 2019 14:00
The clicking sound makes me wonder if you have a hard drive failing or has failed. Try removing the hard drive and see if the system will POST. You should get a no bootable device found message. If everything else looks normal but of course it will not be able to boot into Windows, then a bad hard drive is even more probable. If you still cannot get the system to POST (the Dell splash logo on the screen) then the next step is to pull the RAM and try to boot. If you get beeps then the BIOS and motherboard detect no memory. Now, depending on how much RAM you have, remove all but one RAM module and try to boot. If still no luck then put the RAM module in the other SODIMM slot. If that does not work then try the same procedure with the other RAM module. You are trying to isolate the motherboard with no other components installed to determine if the motherboard or another piece of hardware is the culprit. At 5 years of age, it could be that it is getting close to replacing the system with a new laptop.
Mohabee
2 Posts
0
January 11th, 2019 17:00
The indicator light stays on, but no other reaction--the computer remains shut down. I left the power adapter on for a full 4 hours, to keep the battery charged.
I'll check on the hard drive and memory cards in the morning, tomorrow, and will report back.