Member Avatar for poppers1957

Hi all,
I have (actually my wifes has) a Dell Inspiron 2500 laptop. 800mhz proc., 512 mem, 20 gig HD. About 2 months ago, it kinda just stopped working. All 3 lights would come on HD, power, and battery, but it would not go past this. I went on the net, and one forum suggested re-seating the memory sticks. I did that, ad viola, it started working again. Then again in about 3 days it stopped working again. This time re-seating memory did not do the trick. On occasion it would go to a point of a very garbled screen, and I could tell it was booting. So I plugged a monitor into the back, and could see Windows XP was up and running. Hmm, so I let it run for my wife like this, but after 2 or 3 days it stopped working again. Now here is the strange part, I had been pretty busy, but today I was down in my workshop, and decided to plug it back in and see what would happen. OMG it booted up normally. I took it upstairs to show my wife, and rebooted it, and again nothing but the 3 lights, no booting. I don't get a beep code with the memory out, I will try to find out what that means, but does anyone have an idea of what this could be, and why it came on normally after sitting 2 months?

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A few focused checks will usually find the culprit for this kind of intermittent boot. ’s notes that the machine sometimes boots fully (Windows visible on an external monitor) but other times just shows the three power lights are important diagnostic clues. That pattern points to an intermittent hardware problem — most commonly memory/slot issues, display-cable/inverter or other motherboard faults — and supports ’s observation about contact/corrosion as one plausible cause.

Try this ordered troubleshooting checklist:

  • Isolate memory: test each DIMM individually and in each slot (one stick at a time). If one stick fails or a slot only works with one stick, note which.
  • Run a memory stress test (MemTest or similar) from removable media when you can boot — several passes catch flaky RAM.
  • Differentiate POST vs. display failure: if the system boots (external monitor shows Windows) but the internal screen is garbled, inspect the LCD cable, inverter (if present) and the display panel. If the system never POSTs, focus on RAM/slot, power rails and motherboard.
  • Power-cycle and reset: with battery removed and AC unplugged, hold power button 15–30 seconds, then reseat the CMOS coin cell for a minute and retry.
  • Visual inspection: look for bulging or leaking capacitors, burn marks, or loose connectors around the power jack and memory slots.
  • Safe cleaning: with power removed and grounded, blow dust from slots, then clean gold contacts with 90%+ isopropyl on a swab or use a purpose-made electronic contact cleaner (follow product directions). Allow full drying before power-up.
  • If intermittent faults continue, try low-cost replacements (a known-good RAM stick) before expensive board repair.

Why it sometimes worked after sitting? Intermittent contacts can make or break connections as temperatures/humidity change. Electrolytic capacitors and other components can also behave intermittently after thermal cycling. When the laptop does boot, image the drive immediately to preserve data. If diagnostics point to the motherboard or display cable, consider professional repair or replacing the affected module.

Member Avatar for mechbas

Most likely you're being affected by a common prob. to all metal parts, oxidation, commonly called rust. Contacts on the ram slots probably need cleaning.
Moisture is always in the air to varying degrees and if it isn't being caused to evaporate frequently (due to being allowed to simply sit and do nothing for long periods) oxidation sets in.

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