Hello,

I have a Dell Inspiron 4150 and tonight in the storm there was a lightning strike and even thought the computer was plugged into the surge protector, the computer spazzed out. Now when I press the power button, it lights up and thats it. The lights go back off and nothing else happens. I tried resetting it as the Dell website says so I assume that a new motherboard is needed. Is that so? Thank you so much for any answers you have. I just don't understand why it would happen to my laptop while plugged into the surge protector and everything else plugged in there was fine. Grrrr

Tim DeWitt

hello tim and wecome to the forum.


looks like you found out the hard way that no PC equipment should really be left on in the event of a thunder storm

it looks to me as if you will need a new motherboard for your PC and probably a lot of new components too as what seems to have happened is the lightening strike (which i take it as being very near to or having actually struck your home or a power line) has generated a surge so great that it has blown the Surge protection equipment of which you have installed and a charge has passed up the cabling into your PC and has in actual fact fried your motherboard.

lightening also creats frightening anmounts of static energy and if you imagine that the static energy created by a human is enough to damage chips in a PC imagine what static energy maybe millions of times more powerful can do

sometimes with PCs you might get a very small sign of life like as you've indicated the lights come on for a sec then nothing more. this is a sign of a major power/motherboard problem.

its strange how the other items plugged into the same thing were ok, however be sure to replace that surge protector and remember static energy and pcs dont mix very nicely

hI txmxdx,
Lightning strike ???...EWwwwwwwww !! Bad news.
I agree with most of what JANINE said above... but .. there's a slim chance you might get lucky & not need a whole new motherboard (depending on which parts were effected). Only way to find out is to have qualified tech check it our completely.
For future reference:
Surge protectors WILL NOT protect your PC from lightning strikes.. the voltage & amperage will routinely "jump" the protection circuits & "fry" something. The ONLY safe thing to do is TURN IT OFF !
Hope this helps
Good luck
RGPHNX

im thoroughly in agreement with you there mate. i always turn my machines off if theres even a slight chance of a storm. if i hear it predicted in a weather forecast and i have to go out then off go my machines. i dont wanna lose £4500 worth of pc equipment.

surge protectors only offer some degree of protection against household electrical surges. they arent 100% foolproof

I would suggest you see if your surge supressor manufacturer offers system damage protection. If so you should be able to file a claim for the repairs or replacement. If not, I would look at the power supply first and then at the motherboard. BTW, is your modem or broadband connection also run through a surge protection device? Your computer can also be damaged by surges on the telephone lines during a storm. If these connections were not protected, try removing any modem or network cards (if possible) and inspect them for damage. You amy want to strip your system down to the minimum configration (MB, CPU, RAM, and Video) and see if it will power on.

When you say resetting, what instructions did you follow?
I had the exact same problem as you (if i understand your description right.

I was doing nothing special at work... i powerd off my notebook into hibernate, and when i got home it would not power on at all... When I plug my dell 4150 inspiron notebook. I get solid power light. It appears all is well, but when i hit power, absolutly nothing happened

Here's how I fixed my problem:
BIOS RESET.

open up the notebook and pop off the keyboard, under that keyboard you will see a battery pack. Follow that battery pack's cord and unplug it. (make sure no other power sources are in use, power cord, batt etc...) wait about 5 sec, plug it back in...

now try booting up. In my case, thats all that was needed.

Good luck to you my friends!
~0okami
Carputer project:
http://65.189.185.5

Since the Inspiron 4150 first came out in 2002, I realize your warranty may be gone, but you do still have phone support. You can get help to determine what the problem is, but would need to buy any parts needed if you warranty has expired.

Tom