Techie Help Wanted! Laptop stopped working.

[Tashalar]

Okay, so... Dell Inspiron 1500 (I think) Laptop shut down last night for some updates. As it started up again, it went to the Dell Inspiron logo screen, where the little blue bar loaded very slowly, then just to a flashing _ on a blank screen. Usually I'd press F8 to get it to go to repair after leaving it to cool a while, but tried this and no dice. It worries me because it doesn't sound like it continues to boot...

Any ideas?

So obviously I am offline until I get this fixed.
At least it means I can stop procrastinating on painting the Cordorian emblem...

[DM Hephaestus]

Have you removed and replaced the battery, or tried turning it on with the battery out and the charger plugged in?

Have you recently installed any Windows Updates or any other software of note?

Are you able to access your BIOS or a boot menu by pressing F2 or F12 (if I recall correctly on Dells)?

I want to say it's a hard drive/OS issue without knowing any details.

[Tashalar]

The issue's happened before, but been fixable with F8 Repair - and yes, it restarted last night with Windows Updates, but I couldn't see which ones they were. Pressed F2 & F12 and neither worked, just went through to the same black screen. No other software recently.
Just tried the battery suggestion and that didn't change anything.

[DM Hephaestus]

Have you been using any USB devices recently? Also, do you still have your original Windows disk (or whatever disks came with the computer)?

[Tashalar]

I don't have the disks (the laptop was supposed to be an interim lending from a friend) and no new USB devices other than my usual ones (ipod charger and wireless adapter).

[DM Hephaestus]

I want to pin this on a faulty hard drive if you've been having this issue before and the repair got around it in times past, unless someone else techie on the forums wants to chime in with other thoughts on what could be wrong. I'll shoot you a PM with more info.

[The Rambling Midget]

Remove all USB devices, memory cards, and CDs, and try booting again.

If that doesn't work, remove your expansion memory and try booting again.

It does sound like a hard drive issue, as Hephaestus said, but that may be due to boot order or a memory problem.

[Tashalar]

Ok! Going to give the laptop a bit of a rest, do some decorating and then try this! Thanks!

[Tashalar]

Seems that my iPod classic decided that it didn't want to play ball anymore, though I'm being helped through some repair-maintenance to keep the laptop plodding along until I can get something newer.
Thanks