Getting an old computer to start

[christianpunk20]

I have a Dell Latitude CPx J series that I have been using until yesterday when it finally decided to give up.

Though I bought a new laptop today, I would like to get my Dell to run long enough to put my pictures onto my flash drive and transfer them over.

The problem is, I push the power button and it sometimes powers up properly but during one of the loading pages, it freezes up. Other times I just push the power button, it sounds like it is going to start but doesn't show anything on the screen... and might shut itself off. Yet other times, I push the power button and the light comes on to show it is starting... but there are no sounds to the motor running and nothing comes up. Soon after it shuts itself off.

I doubt that this is a virus, simply because I would often scan my computer and I have a realialbe Anit-virus program on it (McAfee).
I just think it has something to do with the thing that makes it start.

Help? Advise?

[Stylish]

1) Does it get past a BIOS POST or not? Could try replacing the battery on the motherboard (sometimes helps)
2) By "motor" you mean case fans? Harddrives? I had a drive that made a clicking noise for a few months. It then died (needle into platter, the whole bit) and was not recoverable

It sounds like BIOS issues or harddrive failure. The last and final option I can think of is a flakey power supply. With old systems, all 3 of these are viable problems.

[christianpunk20]

BIOS POST? I'm sorry, but I don't know what that is. But the battery works just fine.

Case fans.

Might be harddrive failure... I'm not exactly sure, but I know it's not the battery.

[thewizard397]

Get a docking station for your laptop. It keeps your computer on and it's cheap, get it at a local computer store and if that doesn't work computer stores usually allow you to transfer your files to a new computer.

[rwaforums]

BIOS POST? I'm sorry, but I don't know what that is. But the battery works just fine.

Case fans.

Might be harddrive failure... I'm not exactly sure, but I know it's not the battery.

He means does it get past the Power On Self Test, the writing on the screen that tells you what processor, how much memory you have etc..

[christianpunk20]

rwaforums,
No. I don't get that.

[christianpunk20]

Get a docking station for your laptop. It keeps your computer on and it's cheap, get it at a local computer store and if that doesn't work computer stores usually allow you to transfer your files to a new computer.

Alright. I'll check it out.

[rwaforums]

I doubt a docking station would help in this case.

[joshSCH]

I doubt that this is a virus, simply because I would often scan my computer and I have a realialbe Anit-virus program on it (McAfee).
I just think it has something to do with the thing that makes it start.

Help? Advise?

haha first of all, McAfee is garbage.

I doubt a docking station would help in this case.

.. and second of all, a docking station wont do jack except waste money. We need more information to better diagnose your problem. What were you doing prior to system instability? Have you recently installed any hardware/software? You may be able to save your data by using a start up disk (something like a linux live cd) to get your data quickly off the laptop. What OS are you running on the laptop?

[DellOutreach]

I have a Dell Latitude CPx J series that I have been using until yesterday when it finally decided to give up.

Though I bought a new laptop today, I would like to get my Dell to run long enough to put my pictures onto my flash drive and transfer them over.

The problem is, I push the power button and it sometimes powers up properly but during one of the loading pages, it freezes up. Other times I just push the power button, it sounds like it is going to start but doesn't show anything on the screen... and might shut itself off. Yet other times, I push the power button and the light comes on to show it is starting... but there are no sounds to the motor running and nothing comes up. Soon after it shuts itself off.

I doubt that this is a virus, simply because I would often scan my computer and I have a realialbe Anit-virus program on it (McAfee).
I just think it has something to do with the thing that makes it start.

Help? Advise?

Hello,
This is Richard from Dell's Online Community Outreach group. What we would want to do is first determine if the computer's issue is hardware or software. If has been advised to check the bios startup. This would tell us the status of the hardware. This is a great place to start.

First, make sure the system is completely off. Proceed to power up the computer; you will see the Dell logo appear on screen. At the moment you see the logo press the F2 key. The system will indicate that the system is preparing to enter setup (aka bios). Once in the setup, press ALT + F at the same time. This will reset the factory settings for the computer hardware bios settings. Then press the ESC key and acknowledge you want to safe and exit.

If you can enter the bios and make changes, then it’s a good indication the hardware can boot Windows off the hard drive. If you are still having issues getting into Windows, try safe mode. Remember where you had to press the F2 key to get into the bios? Well, to get into safe mode press F8. This will bring up a list of Windows startup options which you would use the up and down key to select the one you want. For our purposes you will want to select just “safe mode”.

It takes about 3 to 5 minutes for safe mode to load. Keep in mind there are no special drivers in safe mode, so just try to access your files. I hope this helps you.

Regards,
Richard B
Dell Online Community Outreach