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Mark Peterson 
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 Topic: ISO Laptop - Dell laptop being trashed
Posted: December 03 2016 at 10:29am |
It won't boot up and the screen is blank. The square chip near the center of the photo below makes a plink sound every 2 seconds or so. It's like Dell made it to do this as some kind of alert notification. 
BackgroundDell Inspiron 15 Laptop sat around unused for many months because it stopped working after a phone call was made to a web page popup tech service phone number and remote work was done by a microsoft repair scam. (yeah, she knows now that it wasn't Microsoft and it was a bad move  )
Repair attempts Battery removed - no change Power Button depressed for 15 seconds to discharge circuits - nothing changed RAM chip removed - no change, still plinking Hard Drive removed - still plinking, still won't boot up, screen still blank Ideas on how I could fix it? This is for my aunt Porcia. She thanks you in advance.
Aloha, Mark
Edited by Mark Peterson - December 06 2016 at 5:16pm
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christhjesus
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Posted: December 03 2016 at 10:17pm |
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Run the hardware diagnostics by holding down the "Fn" key and then pressing the Power button. This will start the diagnostics and will emit beep codes.
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christhjesus
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Posted: December 03 2016 at 10:26pm |
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Probably a bad Motherboard, might be cost effective to find one on eBay and swap it.
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sabeypets
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Posted: December 03 2016 at 10:59pm |
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I have a 5lb hammer I use to tune my computer up.... you can borrow it if you like.......
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Shaun American Fork  "Would you leave a dead cat in your kitchen till tommorow?" Builderofdreams
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phys
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Posted: December 05 2016 at 3:51am |
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Its a Dell eh? Probably would be best to introduce it to a Samsung galaxy note 7. Probably dead but can't really tell... Does the bios not show up at all? Could be a bad power circuit or the cpu is toast... Thats what that little square is attached to.
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Krazie4Acans
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Posted: December 05 2016 at 7:08am |
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That chip in the picture is the I/O control chip. It should not be making any noise. There is only one way to fix this issue (without some pretty high end equipment) and that is to replace the motherboard. Fairly easy to do but may not be cheap depending on where you can find a replacement one. Good news is that her data and files are probably intact so getting them off the hard drive should be pretty easy with the right equipment.
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: December 06 2016 at 5:12pm |
Thanks everyone for your input. Assuming the motherboard needs to be replaced, I called my aunt Porcia to give her the bad news. "It's about $120" I said. She replied, "Oh, the motherboard has gone out before and been replaced." "Well," said I, "if that is the case, then I'd recommend trashing this laptop and looking for another."
Assuming my advice was good, anyone have a laptop for sale? She liked this one with its touch screen function. 
Aloha, Mark  |
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phys
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Posted: December 06 2016 at 5:18pm |
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There are a number of laptops available for around 200$ if money is an issue. Newegg, bestbuy, etc.
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rfoote
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Posted: December 08 2016 at 6:14am |
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Hey Mark - let me check my office today. I probably have a couple of used laptops, I'd sale cheap.
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: December 08 2016 at 9:50am |
Thanks. Yes, my aunt can't work/is on a limited income so something less costly is definitely wanted. Aloha
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phys
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Posted: December 16 2016 at 12:55am |
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Still looking for one mark?
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: December 16 2016 at 8:44am |
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yes
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