What should I check?

Discussion in 'PC hardware help' started by msb1981, Sep 1, 2005.

  1. msb1981

    msb1981 Member

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    I have a Dell Latitude CPx and I can't seem to get it to turn on. When I press the power button it comes on for a minute then clicks off a second later. It does the same thing when I try to turn it on using the docking station.

    Any ideas where I should start to figure this problem out?
     
    msb1981, Sep 1, 2005
    #1
  2. pcrepair

    pcrepair Regular member

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    could be your cpu has no heatsink connected to it and is shtting down
    could be a flat battery
    phone a repairman who advertises no fix no fee and get him to take a look :) hmmmm could be he might fix it :( and charge
    try your local pc retailer for advise
     
    pcrepair, Sep 1, 2005
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  3. msb1981

    msb1981 Member

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    Well I tried re-seating the RAM and now it seems to work, but there is a problem. I can get windows to boot up and all, but sometimes when I move the computer it just restarts out of nowhere.
     
    msb1981, Sep 2, 2005
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  4. ddp

    ddp Moderator Staff Member

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    take a pencil eraser to the gold contacts of the ram & reseat the ram. is the external power hooked in when trying to move the laptop??
     
    ddp, Sep 3, 2005
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  5. msb1981

    msb1981 Member

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    no the external power was not connected
     
    msb1981, Sep 3, 2005
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  6. ddp

    ddp Moderator Staff Member

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    is the reset button on the top or the side, also is that button tiny or big??
     
    ddp, Sep 3, 2005
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  7. msb1981

    msb1981 Member

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    the power/reset button is at the top left corner of the keyboard. and it's about the size of a dime. why?
     
    msb1981, Sep 4, 2005
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  8. ddp

    ddp Moderator Staff Member

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    possible the reset button might be causing the problem. use a wide piece of tape over the button & onto the case to prevent the button from dropping & than resetting on it's own. once that is down than move the laptop screen while holding the rest of the laptop from moving to see if the screen movement is causing the problem.
     
    ddp, Sep 4, 2005
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  9. msb1981

    msb1981 Member

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    i tried the pencil eraser on the ram, I got halfway into a windows xp install and it locked up again, I tried to restart and the power button just flashes and it doesn't come on.
     
    msb1981, Sep 6, 2005
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  10. ddp

    ddp Moderator Staff Member

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    is the cpu heatsink fan assembly properly seated?? can you try another power supply??
     
    ddp, Sep 6, 2005
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  11. msb1981

    msb1981 Member

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    crap, it's the little fan next to the heatsink, it's not comming on anymore. When I used a hairdryer (on cool) and blew into the vents it worked just fine. I have no idea where I'm going to find another fan that small though.
     
    msb1981, Sep 7, 2005
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  12. ddp

    ddp Moderator Staff Member

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    on some laptops the fan comes on only when the temp gets to a set point.
     
    ddp, Sep 8, 2005
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  13. msb1981

    msb1981 Member

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    well it ran for a few hours when sitting right on front of the air conditioner. and I have never seen that fan work, so I'm pretty sure that's the problem. Now just how to fix it.
     
    msb1981, Sep 8, 2005
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  14. ddp

    ddp Moderator Staff Member

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    if air conditioner was on than it kept laptop cool & fan won't come on.
     
    ddp, Sep 8, 2005
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  15. msb1981

    msb1981 Member

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    well without being in front of the air conditioner the whole thing freezes after about 5-10 minutes, and the fan never comes on.
     
    msb1981, Sep 9, 2005
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  16. ddp

    ddp Moderator Staff Member

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    okay than, points to overheating. call dell to see what a new fan costs & see if they agree with diagnoises.
     
    ddp, Sep 9, 2005
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