Laptop turned off, now won't even power on

[Livin in a box]

The laptop I have (that my family use) is a Dell Studio 1664 that we've had for about 2-3 years now. The battery has been dead for quite a long time, but never has this happened before. My brother was on the laptop, when suddenly it just turned itself off, without warning, and without Windows actually saying that it was going to shut down. Now, it won't turn back on at all. The hard drive is working fine as I have it plugged into my PC as is the power supply. There is absolutely no response at all from the PC when pressing the power button, or when the power supply is plugged into it. I have another Dell laptop (which is also broken) that I have a power supply for and that too does not power it.

I've tried taking the battery out and just using a power supply, nothing. Tried holding down the power button for 30 seconds and only using the power supply, nothing. I really don't know what could have caused this - anyone any ideas at all?

Thanks in advance. :)

[techbeck]

The laptop I have (that my family use) is a Dell Studio 1664 that we've had for about 2-3 years now. The battery has been dead for quite a long time, but never has this happened before. My brother was on the laptop, when suddenly it just turned itself off, without warning, and without Windows actually saying that it was going to shut down. Now, it won't turn back on at all. The hard drive is working fine as I have it plugged into my PC as is the power supply. There is absolutely no response at all from the PC when pressing the power button, or when the power supply is plugged into it. I have another Dell laptop (which is also broken) that I have a power supply for and that too does not power it.

I've tried taking the battery out and just using a power supply, nothing. Tried holding down the power button for 30 seconds and only using the power supply, nothing. I really don't know what could have caused this - anyone any ideas at all?

Thanks in advance. :)

Motherboard could of gone bad. I have also seen bad memory cause this issue. Another possibility is the power connector on the motherboard came un soldered.

Try reseating the memory and see if that helps. Otherwise, a repair is going to be expensive.

[+Warwagon MVC]

Just make sure you unplug the power adapter with the battery out and then hit the power button a few times. Then reconnect the power adapter and try it.

[Aergan]

If your Dell power brick has an LED:

1. Unplug it from the mains and the laptop
   
2. Wait for the LED to go out
   
3. Plug the brick back into the mains
   
4. Keep an eye on the LED -> plug it into the laptop
   

If the LED goes out straight away, you have a short of some kind or a loose PSU connector and will need to get it repaired.

If the LED stays on, but refuses to power on when you press the power button, it might be in "fail safe" mode believing there to be a power issue and has switched itself off to protect itself. Leave it unplugged without the battery and press power to use up any residual charge. Give this a few mins then try with just the PSU plugged in.

Either way, either leave a faulty battery disconnected or replace it as it's dangerous and could cause some serious damage.

[Astra.Xtreme]

Another possibility is the power connector on the motherboard came un soldered.

This is what my initial thought was. Try jiggling or pushing down the power connector when connected to the laptop and see if it will power up.

I've seen it happen a couple times and was able to solder it back on, but it's not the easiest task in the world.

[techbeck]

This is what my initial thought was. Try jiggling or pushing down the power connector when connected to the laptop and see if it will power up.

I've seen it happen a couple times and was able to solder it back on, but it's not the easiest task in the world.

Not easy, or cheap...unless you know how to do it yourself.

I have a dell laptop at home...its about 3yrs old. It is dead 100 percent. No power, no lights...nothing. Memory was still good as well as the HD. So my problem may be mobo or processor related and sounds like what the user is experiencing as well.

And off topic, I see you live in Milwaukee. I am currently working in Beloit, tho I live in Northern IL.

[Astra.Xtreme]

Not easy, or cheap...unless you know how to do it yourself.

I have a dell laptop at home...its about 3yrs old. It is dead 100 percent. No power, no lights...nothing. Memory was still good as well as the HD. So my problem may be mobo or processor related and sounds like what the user is experiencing as well.

And off topic, I see you live in Milwaukee. I am currently working in Beloit, tho I live in Northern IL.

Yep. Between the time and aggravation that will be spent ripping the thing apart, it's a much better idea to just buy a new one.

Another good idea is to not buy a Dell. :p

[techbeck]

Yep. Between the time and aggravation that will be spent ripping the thing apart, it's a much better idea to just buy a new one.

Another good idea is to not buy a Dell. :p

Never really had a problem with Dell myself. Last job we ordered the Latitude lines for 10 years. Only had 2 that needed repair because of a faulty mobo.

I have a Samsung laptop now. Wanted an ASUS but Samsung had a good deal with similar specs and about a few hundred bucks cheaper. So far, works great and no issues. I believe ASUS and even Toshiba are rated the highest.

[Livin in a box]

Motherboard could of gone bad. I have also seen bad memory cause this issue. Another possibility is the power connector on the motherboard came un soldered.

Try reseating the memory and see if that helps. Otherwise, a repair is going to be expensive.

Tried reseating the memory, hasn't worked. Still dead. The power button I have replaced before which goes to connect to the mobo via a ribbon cable, but this time I know it isn't that. Not sure if the power connector is different from this, though.

Just make sure you unplug the power adapter with the battery out and then hit the power button a few times. Then reconnect the power adapter and try it.

Yup, that's the first thing I did but it wasn't having any of it.

If your Dell power brick has an LED:

1. Unplug it from the mains and the laptop
   
2. Wait for the LED to go out
   
3. Plug the brick back into the mains
   
4. Keep an eye on the LED -> plug it into the laptop
   

If the LED goes out straight away, you have a short of some kind or a loose PSU connector and will need to get it repaired.

If the LED stays on, but refuses to power on when you press the power button, it might be in "fail safe" mode believing there to be a power issue and has switched itself off to protect itself. Leave it unplugged without the battery and press power to use up any residual charge. Give this a few mins then try with just the PSU plugged in.

Either way, either leave a faulty battery disconnected or replace it as it's dangerous and could cause some serious damage.

The brick that came with the laptop didn't have a brick but I do have another one lying around from another laptop with an LED, but this stayed on when I plugged it in. I've done what you have suggested but still won't respond to anything :(

This is what my initial thought was. Try jiggling or pushing down the power connector when connected to the laptop and see if it will power up.

I've seen it happen a couple times and was able to solder it back on, but it's not the easiest task in the world.

Yeah, it doesn't want to turn on.

[techbeck]

time for a new laptop

[Detection]

I would open it up and make sure the power connector is still connected to the board, it could be that you have a small separate power board not part of the main motherboard you could replace from ebay or something

Otherwise, as above, build a coffin

[+BudMan MVC]

If its a 3 year hardware, is like 66 years for a notebook :) Not sure where I read that - but like dogs computers years are lots more then just human years..

Battery didn't work anyway - kind of useless as a laptop like that.

I would prob save your time and effort and just get something new. For what its prob used for something very cheap would prob do just fine.. My wife uses her laptop for email, doing jigsaw puzzles and other games while watching tv, email, light browsing, paying the bills, etc. Something in the $300 dollar range here in the US would be more than is needed for such use.

She doesn't need 16gig of ram, she doesn't need latest and greatest 6 core, she needs like no hdd space, etc. If this is what yours is used for - than I would just take any money and time that you would put into fixing this one even if you knew what it was and just put that towards something current.

If my wifes laptop died right now, I would think it could be replaced with a $200 chromebook to be honest. You might want to look into one of those.

[Livin in a box]

I just talked to my brother and he's just told me that the charging light on the laptop was flashing orange after the screen went off - which happens when the battery has run out and Windows puts itself in sleep mode. At the time, the power supply was plugged in and turned on. Because I've tried another PSU on this laptop which also hasn't worked, does that mean that there's something wrong with the power supply connector inside the laptop?

EDIT: Though my other Dell laptop isn't getting powered from my PSU lead...ugh.

[goretsky Supervisor]

Hello,

In addition to the primary battery, notebook computers also have an internal backup battery that provides a trickle of current to the CMOS RAM, which is where the settings for the computer's BIOS firmware are stored, as well as the powering the computer's real-time clock. Most computers these days use a +3.0 Volt DC CR-2032 type battery for this that goes into a slot right on the motherboard, although some laptops may have a tiny wiring harness on theirs in order to move the battery to a more easily accessible location. These batteries used to last for quite some time (five, six, even seven years) due to trace amounts of mercury being added to stabilize the voltage, however, with the introduction of mercury-free batteries several years ago, they are more susceptible to voltage drops earlier on in their life (three years or so), and I have seen systems that would not work with a battery showing +2.975 VDC on a voltmeter.

In any case, I would suggest checking the hardware manual for your Dell Studio 1664 notebook computer to locate where this battery is, check it to see how much voltage it is putting out, and replace it if below +3.0 VDC. They typically cost no more the $3-4 USD and can be purchased wherever batteries are sold (grocer, drugstore, camera store, electronics, big box retailer and so forth) and can be replaced in under ten minutes, with just a small (00 size) Phillips screw driver being used to open the notebook. If the hardware manual says a battery with a wiring harness is needed, go ahead and order that off the Internet.

One a new CMOS/RTC battery is installed, you can try powering up the system on AC power without the primary battery being attached, and see if you can then get into the system. If it boots up, the next step is to replace the primary battery with a genuine one from Dell.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky