Member Avatar for pkr

After many days of trying to get rid of a Virus' and Malware I tried to do an XP recover and then cancelled it because my CD was SP1 and the system was on SP3. Now the machine won't even start. Plug it in and nothing, no lights, no noise, no screen nothing. Any ideas?

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Cancelling a Windows recovery will not normally cause a laptop to become completely unresponsive, so treat this as a hardware failure rather than an OS issue. reports no LEDs or noise, and was right to focus on power basics — the next steps should move beyond "try another brick" to simple board-level checks that commonly fail on older Inspiron models.

  • Verify the adapter electrically: read the adapter label, then measure the barrel voltage with a digital multimeter while plugged in. A brick that shows the correct idle voltage but drops to 0V when connected usually has an internal protection fault.
  • Check the DC jack and cable for intermittent contact: probe the barrel while gently flexing the plug to see if voltage disappears. A loose/broken jack is a common silent failure.
  • Do a power-reset: remove battery and AC, hold the power button 30 seconds, then plug AC back in (battery out) and try to power on.
  • Visually inspect the board near the DC input for burnt marks, bulging capacitors, or an SMD input fuse. Test that fuse for continuity before assuming the motherboard is dead.
  • If comfortable with diagnostics, identify the power-on/header pins (service photos/manual) and briefly short them to rule out a failed front-power switch. Measure primary rails only if you know what the test points are.

If none of the above shows life, board-level components (MOSFETs, controllers) are likely failed. At that point, a local board repair shop or a matched replacement motherboard / salvage of HDD/RAM/screen is the most practical route. Take ESD and mains-safety precautions; stop and seek professional help if unsure.

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Member Avatar for caperjack

never seen that before ,why did you cancel it ,leaving the recovery go would have install winxp with sp1 ,then you would have just did windows updates to get back to sp3.unless you were trying a reinstall over to of !and not a laptop recovery

also what you did should not have cause it to stop turning on ,so something else is wrong ,check power cord ,check wall socket ,remove battery and try with just the power cord plugged in to laptop

Member Avatar for pkr

I cancelled it because I wanted the repair rather than use the recovery mode. However, I think the motherboard has burnt out in some way. I've tried different power packs, with/out battery, taken all modules out. All without a glimmer of a light anyway. So I've now got a quite good shell...shame.

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