Hi my dell laptop will not start at all-with or without the power lead. Laptop wont even charge when lead is connected. Is this a blown fuse in the laptop?? Im not really a pc tech so I kinda lost here. Any help would be appreciated.

Dani AI

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Quick follow-up that builds on the points from and with a focused, practical checklist and safety notes for diagnosing a laptop that shows no signs of life.

  1. Use a multimeter on the AC adapter output (DC volts). A healthy adapter reads close to the voltage printed on its label. If the adapter reads far from the label value, replace it — many “won’t power on” cases trace back to the adapter even when LEDs look okay.
  2. Inspect the DC-in jack and barrel plug visually and by gently wiggling the plug while it’s connected. Any looseness, burned plastic, or intermittent behavior strongly suggests a jack or power-stage issue on the board.
  3. If comfortable opening the case: look for obvious damage near the jack — scorch marks, bulging caps, or a small SMD fuse (not all boards have one). Do not attempt solder repairs without ESD protection and proper tools; SMD power parts are easy to damage.
  4. Perform a quick residual-power reset: disconnect all power sources, hold the power button 20–30 seconds to discharge caps, then try powering with just the adapter. This sometimes clears protection states on the power circuitry.

Safety/cost notes: internal power faults (SMD fuses, MOSFETs, voltage regulators) require board-level repair. If under warranty, contact the vendor. If out of warranty, get a written estimate from a local electronics repair shop — asking for inspection of the DC-in area and a quoted cost to replace the jack or power-stage components helps decide repair vs replacement.

These steps cover the common next diagnostics after the basic checks already suggested by and and avoid unnecessary parts swapping.

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start with your power adaptor..cross my fingers that it's just your power adaptor..try to plug in your power adaptor to any outlet check if the power led indicator will lit up, if it will lit up then try to plug-in to your laptop and check whether it will work or not.
if the adaptor is working and your laptop still doesn't power on then it could be a motherboard problem of your laptop..

okey is it an xps much better if you can tell me first what is the model
if it is a brand new xps 1645 you need a 130 watts ac adapter

however take the battery out and plug a adapter direct to the laptop
if the led of the ac adapter is blinking it is a motherboard problem
how ever it would be best if you reseat some parts first and check
i nee to know some more details regarding the symptoms
or might as well email me ima technical support from dell

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