So, I have a new problem with my laptop. It's actually rather odd because not only have I not seen this before, but my dad has not. If my dad has not seen a problem before, then it must be the slightest bit unusual because he has been working with computers for many years. (Before I continue, my laptop is a Dell Inspiron 1000 which I have had for a couple of years. It runs Windows XP Home Edition.) For the past 3 and a half weeks, I have been on vacation in Cyprus. I brought my laptop with me because I had work for school to do (Summer Reading Assignments are a pain ). Over the course of those 3 and a half weeks, my computer was working just fine. It didn't appear to have any problems that interfered with my work or anything else I did on the computer. It ran as I like it to run. When I arrived home last night, such was not so. I turned on the computer, and it made the usual noises it does when I turn it on. It starts with a somewhat loud whirring noise, the clicks of the disc drive, and usually, the whirring noise will calm down. But instead of calming down, it continued and up came a brief flash from what seemed like the bottom-ish part of the screen, and then a gray-ish screen (or at least, a black screen where you could tell the computer was on and the screen kind of lit) came up. The screen went away for a few seconds and then came back, and remained like that. I tried closing and turning on the computer, and that didn't work. So I tried a few things. At first, I thought that this was perhaps the battery. I knew that the battery had been kind of going bad and that this perhaps was a result of it being critically low or, perhaps, dead. So, I charged it (the computer display light was saying that it was charging) and tried to turn on the computer again. Same result. So I stayed with the idea of it being the battery. My dad has another laptop that is identical. We switched the batteries and turned it on again. Same result. We even put the original battery into the other computer and that computer opened up normally. So, we concluded that it wasn't the battery. We then thought that, perhaps, it had to do with the charger. I had my doubts because I've never had problems with the charger I use. We changed chargers and tried on both laptops. My laptop had the same result, even with changing the batteries again with a new charger, while the other laptop continued functioning properly. We resorted to what was our last option before we'd find ourselves without a clue: the hard drive. We switched the hard drives of the computers and worked with the different batteries and different chargers. My hard drive did not run on my computer, but it ran on the other laptop. The hard drive on the other laptop did not run on my computer. We concluded that the hard drive, battery, and charger has nothing to do with why my computer was doing this. My dad and I are guessing that it may have something to do with the power circuit. We are not sure. Unfortunately, it's to the point now where my computer doesn't even turn on. Even with each charger and battery, it simply won't turn on. I wish I knew why. Maybe the computer finally died (thankfully not the hard drive). I don't know. I'll have a new one tomorrow but I would most certainly like to know what happened to bring about this issue. Tomi pointed me to this site which he said may be it, but he's not sure. Take a look at it and tell me what you guys think: http://www.techspot.com/vb/showthread.php?p=456452#post456452 Any help is appreciated. Thank you.
The grey screen symptom sounded like it was the Grey Screen of Death (dun dun dun), hence the link I found from a quick Google search. Never heard of such a thing before. Perhaps it's Dell-related..?
something similar happened to my dads labtop, he found he had one card of RAM was bad, so he took it out and worked..but when he put it back in it would light up but the screen wouldnt do anything cept be ON , so..try Different RAM ? maybe something happened to it
Finally, a dell related question. First of all, that forum is offering boot discs that will remove your service tag from the bios. Don't do that. You only get one shot with the svc tag in the bios, then that's it, you'll never get it in again. Firstly, do you have an active warranty/service contract? If so, if there's any issue with any of the integrated components, they'll be replaced, and if you have a service contract, a tech in your area will have the part dispatched to him and set up a time to come over and replace part x. (Sorry, I explain that to like 10 people a day) There's a couple of things you can try now. First, we need to see if it's possibly your LCD, plug in an external monitor and switch the video output if you have to (not sure if your model will auto switch over - don't have all my online tools at home ). Still doesn't work? Take off the back plate and reseat the ram. Then, if you have one stick, try it in one slot, then the other. If you have 2, try the possible combinations. Still doesn't work? The next couple of things that come to mind involve cracking the case. Don't do this unless you have a tech walking you through it, or your warranty gets void. If you don't have an active warranty with Dell, then post back and let me know, and I can grab the appropriate guides and try to help you through it (I can't send you the guides, that's a breach of law and contract >.<)
Alright, well, I took Neil's suggestions and carried them out. My father and I discovered that it was indeed the monitor that was causing the problem. We hooked it up to an external monitor and it worked. Thank you, Neil. And thank you, Tomi, for your efforts as well.