Laptop has died

Willa · 17 Jul 2012

Hello all, help or advice please.
My daughter dropped her laptop down the stairs, although some of the plastic trim had cracked or fell off, it still worked apart from the DVD drive being stuck.
This was 3 months ago.
Last night it would not boot up, no screen or nothing. What did happen was it started beeping as if low on battery, and when you try to switch on it the whirring sound starts for a few seconds then nothing.
My initial thought as a non PC person is the power pack has failed or the screen does not work.
I know I will have to get expert help in to see if it is worth repairing, but I was hoping someone could have some idea as to what the problem is.
For reference it is a Dell Inspiron.

Stivino · 17 Jul 2012

I think the peeps that you're hearing are an indicator that something has failed. i.e. motherboard, memory or graphics.
If you have another PC, you can google "Dell BIOS peep codes" or something similar.

olly_k · 17 Jul 2012

Pull the memory, processor and all other ancillary bits out check connections and plug them back in, make sure you don't do it on nylon carpets and in shellsuit / trainers etc.. and do it near a radiator where you can earth yourself.

Willa · 17 Jul 2012

Hello again,
I am not confident pulling it apart, so may pay for expert help.
It is a Dell Inspiron 1545, less than 2 years old.
To re-cap, does not start up, no screen, after about two minutes of switching on, it emits the beeps, in groups of 4, ie 1 beep, 2 beep, 3beep, 4 beep, small gap then starts again.
Can the hard drive be transfered to another dell laptop? Reason I ask is that I am resigned to the fact it has gone and may need another, but I would like to save her itune library.

Thanks everyone for the replies.

EFCLee1 · 17 Jul 2012

Willa said:
Hello again,
I am not confident pulling it apart, so may pay for expert help.
It is a Dell Inspiron 1545, less than 2 years old.
To re-cap, does not start up, no screen, after about two minutes of switching on, it emits the beeps, in groups of 4, ie 1 beep, 2 beep, 3beep, 4 beep, small gap then starts again.
Can the hard drive be transfered to another dell laptop? Reason I ask is that I am resigned to the fact it has gone and may need another, but I would like to save her itune library.

Thanks everyone for the replies.

This link show 4 long beeps being the same as 2 long beeps, which if you read says memory

You will have access to either 1 bank under an access flap on the underside of laptop and 1 under keyboard (youtube video will step by step this its very easy) or both banks will be under the access flap on underside.

Good luck!!

http://www.pchell.com/hardware/beepcodes.shtml#phoenix

AlanE · 18 Jul 2012

My daughter dropped her laptop down the stairs

Check your house contents insurance policy to see if you are covered for accidental damage.

If you are then that is really the way to go - claim. But remember to tell them it has only just happened!

olly_k · 18 Jul 2012

Willa said:
Hello again,
I am not confident pulling it apart, so may pay for expert help.
It is a Dell Inspiron 1545, less than 2 years old.
To re-cap, does not start up, no screen, after about two minutes of switching on, it emits the beeps, in groups of 4, ie 1 beep, 2 beep, 3beep, 4 beep, small gap then starts again.
Can the hard drive be transfered to another dell laptop? Reason I ask is that I am resigned to the fact it has gone and may need another, but I would like to save her itune library.

Thanks everyone for the replies.

Seriously mate it could be as simple as poking the memory back in with your finger, do you really want to pay someone to do this and 'find' another fault?
Only thing that you have to watch is static this is underestimated by people who chuck memory sticks around which still seem to work afterward, they don't realise the damage is progressive, not necessarily totally destructive!

freddiemercurystwin · 18 Jul 2012

Surely you would do a backup the moment it first fired back into life after it was dropped?

olly_k · 18 Jul 2012

freddymercurystwin said:
Surely you would do a backup the moment it first fired back into life after it was dropped?

I thought people only attempted that when it was too late lol

Willa · 19 Jul 2012

Thanks for the replies, yes I do a back up every week. The reason I want to save the hard drive is that there are a couple of albums added since last back up. If it is more cost effective to just buy the new albums, then so be it.

olly_k · 19 Jul 2012

Get a usb - IDE / SATA hard drive lead off ebay you would remove drive from laptop, remove the actual drive from its caddy then plug in and go

Think they cost about £6 or similar

Willa · 23 Jul 2012

Many thanks for the constructive advice and replies.
Just to update, I had a local IT expert give it a diagnostic once over before I binned it, and indeed the motherboard and screen were finished. He also backed up the remaining files.
Now I go shopping to the PC store.

Thanks again

olly_k · 23 Jul 2012

I would love to know how both the screen & mobo were knackered! But heyho he an IT pro... Incidentally did you check if processor and memory were still installed when you got the thing back?

If you'd have told me before throwing I would have probably paid you postage to send it my way, don't like seeing stuff like this binned

Kris1985 · 24 Jul 2012

got 3/4 laptops here ready to bin unless you could use them olly_k

Laptop has died

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