laptop boot problem

[csamuels]

i have a dell inspirion 3800 that i need to fix. The major problem with it is that when i hit the power button, most of the time, it will display a black screen, all three keyboard leds will light up, and approx 1-2 minutes later it will turn itself off.

A rough estimate is 1 out of 10 tries will produce a successful boot.

About 1 month ago, I formatted the laptop and rebuild it with the same os. Updated everything, getting drivers directly from www.dell.com. It was running smoothly when i gave it back to the user. She calls me back stating the problem above. I make a house call and decide to try to update the bios. The problem still remained. I thought maybe it was a power problem so i tried plugging it directly into the wall socket, other wall sockets in a different room, and took it home to my house to plug it in, but the problem still remains.

The only thing i haven't tried yet is reseating the memory, replacing the power cord, or checking the internal hardware.

[Billforce]

From the characteristics you describe, I would be willing to bet it's the O/S. What O/S are you using....if it's XP I would do a restore install. If it was hardware, I don't think you would ever get it to boot. Delay, sounds like software problems.

[csamuels]

im using 98. The laptop only has 64mb of ram in it. All she needs this for is aol (web/email), word processing, image viewing/printing.

I want to say it a hardware problem because i don't get a post screen. Also, why would it boot sometimes and not fail all the time (shouldn't be software config, rather a loose connection)?

My plan of attack looks like this: reseat internal componets, reinstall os, upgrade to 2k.

[Midknyte]

it sounds old if it only has 64mb ram. try another dimm. I've had a similar problem on a toshiba before. other than that, it might be the main board. probably not worth fixing at that point.

[Billforce]

Did I understand correctly, you updated the bios. Then it must have booted to the floppy, right?

If you try to install W2K, make sure beforehand that W2K drivers are available for it. I tried that with my Compaq and no W2K drivers for the modem.

[csamuels]

i just called dell. They had me take out the memory and try to boot the laptop. The same problem occured. The tech told me that its prolly not the memory, instead its prolly the mobo and would cost approx 500 buck to replace. I know the owner isn't going to enjoy the bad news.

I can get the laptop to boot, but only after power cycle'ing it many many times.

[Midknyte]

Originally posted by Midknyte
other than that, it might be the main board. probably not worth fixing at that point.

I hate being right sometimes.