Electronics

[KitTkat]

I have a Dell laptop, inspiron 15, 5000, and when I went to turn it on, nothing happened. This has happened before, and always corrects itself after unplugging the cord for a few minutes. After the unplug, it turned on, but when my home screen comes up, it freezes solid. No mouse movement, no ctrl alt delete response. I turned it off, tried again, still frozen. Is there anyone with any thoughts what to do? Btw- I bought this computer from qvc about 4 years ago.

[glb613]

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@KitTkat wrote:

I have a Dell laptop, inspiron 15, 5000, and when I went to turn it on, nothing happened. This has happened before, and always corrects itself after unplugging the cord for a few minutes. After the unplug, it turned on, but when my home screen comes up, it freezes solid. No mouse movement, no ctrl alt delete response. I turned it off, tried again, still frozen. Is there anyone with any thoughts what to do? Btw- I bought this computer from qvc about 4 years ago.

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I hope you have a current backup because this isn't a good sign.  If you can, restart and try to get into the safe mode.  I found this online.  It's worth a try.  If you can get into the safe mode, do a system restore to a time prior to the problem.

safe mode

[gardenman]

What do you mean by your home screen? There are multiple screens that tend to appear on a computer. Some flash a maker's image, then the POST (power on self test) screen, then a loading Windows screen, then the typical Windows home screen with either your, or Windows wallpaper. If you're getting all the way to the Windows home screen with their or your wallpaper, it's typically a good sign. That would mean that most of your computer is alive and well. The motherboard is fine, the hard drive is fine, the memory is fine, basically all the hardware works. If you're not getting there, well then it's time for a shop visit on a laptop.

The first thing I would recommend is letting it completely power down. Unplug it, remove the battery if you can, and make sure there's nothing that's giving it a chance to hold onto any bad settings in the RAM. Leave it like that for however long it takes to be completely drained then power it back up and see what happens. If it works again, then great. You've fixed the computer. If not, but it still gets to the Windows home screen, then you know you'll be able to get into safe mode anyway. You'll want to look up the proper way to enter safe mode for your version of Windows and see if the computer is responsive in safe mode. If it is, then you can stay in safe mode to further troubleshoot. If the computer locks in safe mode, then it becomes more challenging. If it gets to the Windows home page then this sounds like a Windows problem  where a rollback, a repair or fresh installation should fix it. Good luck!

[apple1964]

Four years is a pretty good run for a computer these days. I did however have a older HP that would freeze I did a system restoration and now it works very well. Safe mode is your best bet.

[FranandZoe]

Try removing the battery and re-inserting it.

Mine's going on 10 years old - it's acts weird occasionally and this works.

[KitTkat]

Thank you for your replies. I will see what I can get done with your suggestions. @gardenman My home screen is the page with my wallpaper. It gets to that point, then freezes solid. The clock stops, nothing is clickable. I can remove the battery and unplug, but how do I know it's completely drained down? Thanks again.

[FranandZoe]

I take the battery out and immediately re-install.  

[Caffeina]

According to this You Tube video, the problem might be due to a bad charger or battery. The steps appear very easy to follow. I think it would be worth trying, since you don't have to do anything too techy.

Dell DIY Laptop Computer No Power, Freezing, Turning Off Fix / Repair www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7AekX...