My Laptop hard drive light not coming on

Hi guys, I have Dell Inspiron 630m and when I turn it on I do not get any lights to the Hard drive. The fans are working so is the optical drive. Battery is charged. I have a new drive here in case the old drive is trashed. Any clues please.

 

My Laptop hard drive light coming on

No does not boot, screen stays blank.

 

Hi Evan tried that still nothing. There is not even a beep so I cant find any errors.

 

Will it turn on with just the power adapter and no battery?

Will it turn on with just the battery and no power adapter?

Will it turn on with both the power adapter and battery?

If the answer to all three questions is "No ", then it could be a dead motherboard.

 

It turns on with power adapter and no battery
It turns on with just the battery and no power adapter
and it turns on with both the power adapter and battery.

 

Did it beep? Do you see anything on the monitor? If "No" to both, then it doesn't sound like it's really "On ". If was On, the BIOS would go through its POST (power on self test) and then beep once if all of the basic hardware is OK. Next you usually see something on the screen, and sometimes it will be letting you know which key to press to get into the CMOS/BIOS Setup.

If it doesn't tell you which key to press, then right after you turn it on, start rapidly tapping, (one key at a time), [F1] then [F2] then [F10] then [Delete], and keep repeating. With any luck you should land in the CMOS/BIOS Setup.

If not, turn it off, back on, and continue holding down any key. With any luck you'll hear some beeps, a message will appear fussing about a stuck key -- aliong with which key you need to press to get into the CMOS/BIOS Setup.

If you hear one or more beeps but don't see anything on the screen, something may be wrong with the screen (or the connection(s) to the screen).

If you don't hear any beeps and don't see anything on the screen, something is probably wrong with the motherboard.

 

Hi SpywareDr, tried all that and still nothing. How can I check if the motherboard is getting power? Could there be an issue with were the power comes in from the battery or the adapter. Clutching at straws here, alternative is to dispose of it and I am loath to do that if it easily fixable.

 

With a multimeter.

 

Thanks guys for your help. I think it is time for a new laptop.

 

Used Dell Inspiron 630m motherboards start at ~$59 (USD).

Just saying ...

 

Ok thanks for that, sounds like the right option and it does not look to difficult to put together. Let you know how I go.