# Dell Inspiron won't boot



## ped222 (Apr 21, 2008)

My brother asked me to look at his lap top (Dell Inspiron 1200) he said it was locked up. I turned it on on the Dell logo would come up and it would just sit and do nothing else. The first thing I thought was since it was not posting there was a ram problem. I opened it up and the ram slot was empty. I went to Dell's site and viewed the service manual and it said there was only one ram slot, so I called him and said somebody took the ram out of your computer. He could'nt figure that out but said that his grandson has friends over and maybe they needed it more than he did! Anyway I ordered a ram stick (512). I put it in and still no post. The fan was not coming on so I thought the CPU may be fried. I completely took the laptop apart checking connections and such and put it back together. Now the fan runs but still no post. It will sit at the Dell Logo screen for abot 5 seconds or so and then just shuts off. I can't get into the bios, and I can't get into the service mode by hitting the Fn key at start up. It makes no difference whether the power pack is plugged in or not. So I don't think it's a power issue. It won't boot from the CD either. Do you think it may be the motherboard? I've been 4 days reading forums and playing with it to no avail. Any help would be appreciated. Sorry for the long post.
ped222


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## TriggerFinger (Jan 30, 2008)

hi ped222,

welcome to TSF! :wave:

usually when i encounter this 'immediate shutoff' thing, i strip down my laptop to only the RAM attached. that means i remove the CD drive, the hard drive and the WiFi card if there is one. then if i get a good power ON, i install them back one by one.

i hope that helps for now.

EDIT:
btw, if still shuts down with only the RAM attached, it may also mean the RAM is not compatible with the laptop or you may have a bad RAM. so make sure it is compatible and it is known to work (or new).


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## ped222 (Apr 21, 2008)

Thanks Triggerfinger,
I've tried removing all the components. Still no post. I guess there is a possibillity that the ram is bad, even though it's new. But I don't have any way of checking it. It's not the same ram as my laptop or I could switch them.


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## TriggerFinger (Jan 30, 2008)

ped222 said:


> Thanks Triggerfinger,
> I've tried removing all the components. Still no post. I guess there is a possibillity that the ram is bad, even though it's new. But I don't have any way of checking it. It's not the same ram as my laptop or I could switch them.


yup that is the best way to know if it is bad - switch them with yours if they are similar/compatible. 

by the way, i am assuming that RAM is compatible with laptop in question here, right?


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## ped222 (Apr 21, 2008)

Yes, It's exactly what the manual calls for. Would it do any good to reset the cmos? And how is that done on a laptop, pull the battery?
Thanks


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## TriggerFinger (Jan 30, 2008)

to clear the CMOS, yes you need to remove the battery. 

i mean unplug from the wall outlet and remove battery. i am not exactly sure where the CMOS batter for that model is located and i am assuming it could be under the keyboard or near the RAM (refer to manual to be sure).


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