Dell inspiron 1545 not starting up?

Question

I have a dell inspiron 1545 laptop and ive had it I think about 4 or 5 years and I was using it last night but for some reason today when I boot it up the screen stays black but lit up with an underscore blinking at the top left, I can hear the fans running inside but I have no idea how to make it work. it is plugged in and everything.

Answer 1

Most likely you probably have a bad hard drive. You should check and press F2 and see if the hard drive is being detected

Answer 2

Dell Inspiron 1545 Problems

Answer 3

Hi Chris,



I would recommend you to try the steps mentioned below to troubleshoot the issue:



1. Disconnect any external peripherals like printers, to check if any of the external devices are causing the issue.



2. Also, perform flea power on the laptop. Remove the AC adapter, battery and any external peripherals connected, now hold the power button down for 10 seconds to drain static power. Restart the system and check if issue is resolved.



3. Try to boot to Safe Mode. To boot the computer in Safe Mode, please switch on the computer and start tapping the F8 key which would take you to Advanced Boot Option screen. Using the up and down arrow key, select Safe Mode to boot the computer into Safe Mode.



If the system boots up in Safe Mode, you may perform System Restore to roll back the system to the time when it was working fine. Refer to the link: http://dell.to/1bN4CBi



4. If you are not able to boot the system to Safe Mode, boot to Windows Recovery & try system restore outside windows environment. Refer to the link: http://dell.to/1bN4CBi



5. Also scan the system with the antivirus you are using on the system.



6. .If the issue still persists, run hardware diagnostics. Refer to the link for instructions: http://dell.to/RO1v0p



7. If all tests pass, you may perform Operating System Reinstallation using the Windows CDs. Refer to the link: http://dell.to/182uwwT



Note: All data would be deleted while performing Operating System Reinstallation.



You may also watch an online video on Windows not booting up issue: http://dell.to/17OZeMq



Hope this helps.



Thanks and Regards

Priyanka S

Answer 4

Hardware failure. Take it in to have it looked at by a professional.