Member Avatar for Bernard_5

Hey all, I have a problem with my Dell Latitude laptop. The laptop is 3 years old, and worked fine 2 days ago. Yesterday when I went to turn it on, the power, battery, and CPU light would all blink on, and the CD light would blink, along with a short whirring noise, and then do absolutely nothing. In about 5 seconds, this process would start again. It just keeps doing this. So I left it yesterday and drained the battery, tried this morning to the same result. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

  • 5 Contributors
  • 4 Replies
  • 411 Views
  • 2 Days Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by close2study
Member Avatar for rproffitt

No need to drain the battery. I start simple. Power off, remove the battery, press and hold the power button for 60 seconds, release and try again.

After that I'll measure the CMOS battery. If you don't have a Volt meter then you replace the small battery.

There are those that balk at this few dollar try because it's not a sure thing. Send those folk to the repair counter.

Next if it's not better, power off, remove battery and remove anything you can. The ODD (optical disc drive), all RAM but one, WiFi card, and even the HDD. Repeat the test above. At this point you are at the end of simple end user items and have to look at getting estimates.

Edited by rproffitt because: Spelling
Member Avatar for rubberman

After 3 years of use, the CMOS battery is probably failing. Not sure about this system, but they used to be those quarter-sized LiOn batteries that cost a buck or two. They are usually soldered into their carrier, so you may need to get out the soldering iron, or take it to a computer repair shop for replacement.

Member Avatar for Christopher_23

What OS? Try to boot via backup. Sounds like you may have a boot record issue. The whirring sound could also indicate a bad hard drive. Issue with reader arm.

Member Avatar for close2study

i think you should be format your cpu

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.