Hi,

I have a Dell XPS M1710 laptop (specs at the bottom) which was running the Windows 7 RC. I had no issues with it at all until I was watching a DVD one day when the screen pixelated a little like the DVD was skipping and then went blank. The laptop was still powered on but I had no control except to turn it off. When I turned it back on all I got was a white/grey screen. It wont't start POST and I'm not sure if the HDD is spinning or not since it was always pretty quiet. I had Bluetooth, num lock, power and CHARGING lights. HDD access light comes on for a second initially but then it goes out and stays out so I'd guess that's just an LED test.

I've tried re-seating the power cord and battery with no change. The laptop will turn on with the cord connected and the battery removed and vice-versa. I tried connecting to an external screen to see if the screen was the problem but it appears that there is no output signal from the laptop.

Then I tried re-seating the RAM which changed things a little. I now have a blank black screen instead of white/grey. I have no bluetooth light and I have flashing CAPS lock and scroll lock lights. Also I can't turn it off with the power button once I turn it on now but it powers itself down about 30 secs after I turn it on. Everything else is the same.

Finally I tried re-seating the HDD which changed nothing.

I'm sans warranty obviously!

Any HELP you can give is much appreciated. Thank you.

Specs:
Processor:  Intel Core Duo T2600 (2.16 GHz)
Memory:  2GB 667MHz - 2 DIMM Slots (2 x 1GB)  (Max Ram 4GB)
Hard Drive:  100GB capacity at a speed of 7200 RPM
Graphics Card:  NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 GTX  with 512MB DDR memory
Screen:  WUXGA Truelife (1920 x 1200)
Optical Drive:  8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW/+R) with Dual-Layer
OS:  Microsoft MCE 2005
Wireless Card:  Intel 3945 (802.11b/g)
Battery:  9-cell lithium ion recharegable battery
Ports / Slots: 5-in-1 Memory Card Reader, DVI-D, VGA video output, S-Video, IEEE 1394 (Firewire), 6 USB 2.0, Express Card slot, Modem, Ethernet/LAN, Microphone in, Headphone outDo you have the DVD with the Win7 RC on it ? ?

Has the RC started timing out on you yet ? ?
I forget when it was scheduled to start doing this...but i thought it wasn't til February...

Win7 Startup Repair...Yeah I have the CD but I can't run it I'm afraid. Firstly I can't open the DVD drive unless I just force it open and even if I got it in the computer won't boot as far as the BIOS setup menu so I couldn't run it anyway. Quote from: Irisheyes on January 05, 2010, 01:59:30 PM

Yeah I have the CD but I can't run it I'm afraid. Firstly I can't open the DVD drive unless I just force it open and even if I got it in the computer won't boot as far as the BIOS setup menu so I couldn't run it anyway.