Can we talk about the weird fix for a laptop that wouldn't turn on?

Had a client bring in a Dell Inspiron last week that was completely dead, no lights or anything. I checked the usual stuff, power adapter, battery, even swapped the RAM. Out of frustration, I pulled the CMOS battery for a full 30 seconds and popped it back in. The thing booted right up like nothing was wrong. Has anyone else had a simple CMOS reset fix a total no-power situation like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

wendyg434d ago

Yeah, my buddy had a similar thing happen with his old gaming PC. It was just a dark brick on his desk, no signs of life at all. He was ready to trash the motherboard. On a whim, he yanked that little watch battery off the board while he was ordering a new one online. Put it back in an hour later just to clear the workbench, and the whole system lit up and posted. He still has no idea what got stuck.

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the_tessa4d ago

Ever wonder how many boards get tossed for no reason? @wendyg43's story shows a simple reset can fix a dead system. It's crazy how often that little battery is the real problem.

blair_martin4d ago

Honestly makes you wonder if some of those "planned obsolescence" theories are just bad capacitors or a loose bios chip. So much e-waste from simple fixes.