Dell sent me a refurbished XPS 1645 to replace my old laptop. Every thing was working well for the past two months but this week it stopped working. By stop working I mean it turns on, the keyboard seems to function (I can turn on and off the caps lock button) but I see nothing on the screen. Totally black. Anyone seen anything like this before, any ideas what I can do to fix this?
Shift f8 toggles between laptop display and crt monitor maybe it got switched off. You might plug in a monitor and use the computer, sometimes the display dies. Did the display get very dim but still works a little? I remember seeing used monitors at the Goodwill Store for about $ 10.
Already tried hooking up an external monitor, nothing doing. The screen doesn't turn on at all totally black.
hold the power button down until it is totally power off then turn it on if not seeing anything chance is your screen is dead.
Does it sound like its booting up? HD light on and flashing like normal? If not, it sounds more like a bad MB. Had that happen to me on a Dell 1720. Bought a MB on Ebay and replaced it myself.
If you don't even see the "DELL" logo as it boots, you probably need to have the BIOS re-flashed. Did you by chance mess around with CMOS?
It def. looks like normal when turning it on, all the lights flash etc. No I don't even see the Dell logo when starting it up, didn't mess with any settings.
Called them they said warranty had already expired and if I want them to fix its gonna cost me $400+. How do I go about rebooting the bios?
<s>If the warranty is still good, just send it back for a free repair.</s> It sounds like the problem is related to a defective BIOS (or MOBO, which is usually due to fried BIOS anyway). If your warranty ran out, you could try flashing the BIOS from a floppy or CD. BTW, as a former DELL user, let me suggest that you never buy DELL again. I've owned many computers and, by far, DELL is the worst. My preference is with either Toshiba or Gateway laptops. Good luck!