Inspiron 1545 Doesn't Boot

Hi,
I am working on an Inspiron 1545 that won't boot. The report I have is that
it was working okay when a window appeared from the FBI demanding a payment
of $300. I know. It was the FBI Moneypak virus. That scarred my
granddaughter into shutting the notebook down. When she tried to start it
again, it didn't boot. It has an Intel T4400 2.2 GHz processor, 4 (2X2) GB
RAM, 15.6HDF LED LCD, Windows 7HP.

The symptoms are...
The fan spins briefly then is quiet.
The DVD+/-RW drive light blinks. The drive door will open and spin when a
Hiren's Boot Disk is inserted.
A bootable USB light blinks once at startup.
There is not anything visible on the display.
Same when an external monitor is hooked up.
There are no beep sounds.
The same symptoms weather the battery is mounted or removed. The battery is
recently replaced.
There are no hot spots on the case when in "run" mode.
The HDD and memory modules have been reseated.
When the power button is pressed a second time, nothing happens and the
machine appears to be in "off" mode.

I am the go-to guy for computer repair and am knowledgeable to a point but
am stumped with a machine that refuses to start. I could use suggestions on
where to start. Could these symptoms be caused by a bad HDD or is a dead
motherboard more likely?

Dean...

On Saturday, January 4, 2014 1:10:53 PM UTC-6, Dean-MN wrote:
Hi,

I am working on an Inspiron 1545 that won't boot. The report I have is that

it was working okay when a window appeared from the FBI demanding a payment

of $300. I know. It was the FBI Moneypak virus. That scarred my

granddaughter into shutting the notebook down. When she tried to start it

again, it didn't boot. It has an Intel T4400 2.2 GHz processor, 4 (2X2) GB

RAM, 15.6HDF LED LCD, Windows 7HP.



The symptoms are...

The fan spins briefly then is quiet.

The DVD+/-RW drive light blinks. The drive door will open and spin when a

Hiren's Boot Disk is inserted.

A bootable USB light blinks once at startup.

There is not anything visible on the display.

Same when an external monitor is hooked up.

There are no beep sounds.

The same symptoms weather the battery is mounted or removed. The battery is

recently replaced.

There are no hot spots on the case when in "run" mode.

The HDD and memory modules have been reseated.

When the power button is pressed a second time, nothing happens and the

machine appears to be in "off" mode.



I am the go-to guy for computer repair and am knowledgeable to a point but

am stumped with a machine that refuses to start. I could use suggestions on

where to start. Could these symptoms be caused by a bad HDD or is a dead

motherboard more likely?



Dean...

If it was mine I would remove the HDD, hook it as a USB drive ($15 adapter) and check it with MalwareBytes or Super Anti-Spyware on another LT or DT PC.

On Saturday, January 4, 2014 2:10:53 PM UTC-5, Dean-MN wrote:
Hi,

I am working on an Inspiron 1545 that won't boot. The report I have is that

it was working okay when a window appeared from the FBI demanding a payment

of $300. I know. It was the FBI Moneypak virus. That scarred my

granddaughter into shutting the notebook down. When she tried to start it

again, it didn't boot. It has an Intel T4400 2.2 GHz processor, 4 (2X2) GB

RAM, 15.6HDF LED LCD, Windows 7HP.



The symptoms are...

The fan spins briefly then is quiet.

The DVD+/-RW drive light blinks. The drive door will open and spin when a

Hiren's Boot Disk is inserted.

A bootable USB light blinks once at startup.

There is not anything visible on the display.

Same when an external monitor is hooked up.

There are no beep sounds.

The same symptoms weather the battery is mounted or removed. The battery is

recently replaced.

There are no hot spots on the case when in "run" mode.

The HDD and memory modules have been reseated.

When the power button is pressed a second time, nothing happens and the

machine appears to be in "off" mode.



I am the go-to guy for computer repair and am knowledgeable to a point but

am stumped with a machine that refuses to start. I could use suggestions on

where to start. Could these symptoms be caused by a bad HDD or is a dead

motherboard more likely?



Dean...

Not sure why it will no longer power on cleanly. Here is possibly one last thing to try. Remove the battery and disconnect power supply. Now hold down the on-off button for about 10 seconds to discharge the CMOS. Now try again.

If that does not work, open up the chassis (remove keyboard?) and disconnect the wire leads for the yellow or blue CMOS battery from the motherboard. Wait 30 sec. Try again. If successful, the system will boot up to a message that says the CMOS battery is low or missing.

Sometimes the CMOS memory gets corrupted, making a clean boot-up impossible.. These FBI Moneypak scumbags may have messed up the CMOS settings as one final touch to their damage... Ben Myers

"Ben Myers" wrote in message
...
On Saturday, January 4, 2014 2:10:53 PM UTC-5, Dean-MN wrote:
Hi,

I am working on an Inspiron 1545 that won't boot. The report I have is
that

it was working okay when a window appeared from the FBI demanding a
payment

of $300. I know. It was the FBI Moneypak virus. That scarred my

granddaughter into shutting the notebook down. When she tried to start it

again, it didn't boot. It has an Intel T4400 2.2 GHz processor, 4 (2X2)
GB

RAM, 15.6HDF LED LCD, Windows 7HP.



The symptoms are...

The fan spins briefly then is quiet.

The DVD+/-RW drive light blinks. The drive door will open and spin when a

Hiren's Boot Disk is inserted.

A bootable USB light blinks once at startup.

There is not anything visible on the display.

Same when an external monitor is hooked up.

There are no beep sounds.

The same symptoms weather the battery is mounted or removed. The battery
is

recently replaced.

There are no hot spots on the case when in "run" mode.

The HDD and memory modules have been reseated.

When the power button is pressed a second time, nothing happens and the

machine appears to be in "off" mode.



I am the go-to guy for computer repair and am knowledgeable to a point
but

am stumped with a machine that refuses to start. I could use suggestions
on

where to start. Could these symptoms be caused by a bad HDD or is a dead

motherboard more likely?



Dean...

Not sure why it will no longer power on cleanly. Here is possibly one
last thing to try. Remove the battery and disconnect power supply. Now
hold down the on-off button for about 10 seconds to discharge the CMOS.
Now try again.

If that does not work, open up the chassis (remove keyboard?) and
disconnect the wire leads for the yellow or blue CMOS battery from the
motherboard. Wait 30 sec. Try again. If successful, the system will
boot up to a message that says the CMOS battery is low or missing.

Sometimes the CMOS memory gets corrupted, making a clean boot-up
impossible. These FBI Moneypak scumbags may have messed up the CMOS
settings as one final touch to their damage... Ben Myers

Thanks Bob. I have a Vantec CB-ISATAU2 ordered from Newegg.
Thanks Ben. I had forgotten about the CMOS discharge trick.
Removing the battery, unplugging the power supply, holding down the power
button down for 20 minutes had no effect. The CMOS battery holder is
soldered to the underside of the motherboard and is not accessible without a
major teardown. I'm thinking that as long as it appears the motherboard is
going to be removed, a replacement might as well be installed at that time.
Motherboards for the 1545 are all over the Internet for as little as $45 and
I have the knowledge, instructions, time and no fear so might just as well
do it. Dean...

On Monday, January 6, 2014 10:20:53 AM UTC-6, Dean-MN wrote:
"Ben Myers" wrote in message

...

On Saturday, January 4, 2014 2:10:53 PM UTC-5, Dean-MN wrote:

Hi,



I am working on an Inspiron 1545 that won't boot. The report I have is

that



it was working okay when a window appeared from the FBI demanding a

payment



of $300. I know. It was the FBI Moneypak virus. That scarred my



granddaughter into shutting the notebook down. When she tried to start it



again, it didn't boot. It has an Intel T4400 2.2 GHz processor, 4 (2X2)

GB



RAM, 15.6HDF LED LCD, Windows 7HP.







The symptoms are...



The fan spins briefly then is quiet.



The DVD+/-RW drive light blinks. The drive door will open and spin when a



Hiren's Boot Disk is inserted.



A bootable USB light blinks once at startup.



There is not anything visible on the display.



Same when an external monitor is hooked up.



There are no beep sounds.



The same symptoms weather the battery is mounted or removed. The battery

is



recently replaced.



There are no hot spots on the case when in "run" mode.



The HDD and memory modules have been reseated.



When the power button is pressed a second time, nothing happens and the



machine appears to be in "off" mode.







I am the go-to guy for computer repair and am knowledgeable to a point

but



am stumped with a machine that refuses to start. I could use suggestions

on



where to start. Could these symptoms be caused by a bad HDD or is a dead



motherboard more likely?







Dean...



Not sure why it will no longer power on cleanly. Here is possibly one

last thing to try. Remove the battery and disconnect power supply. Now

hold down the on-off button for about 10 seconds to discharge the CMOS.

Now try again.



If that does not work, open up the chassis (remove keyboard?) and

disconnect the wire leads for the yellow or blue CMOS battery from the

motherboard. Wait 30 sec. Try again. If successful, the system will

boot up to a message that says the CMOS battery is low or missing.



Sometimes the CMOS memory gets corrupted, making a clean boot-up

impossible. These FBI Moneypak scumbags may have messed up the CMOS

settings as one final touch to their damage... Ben Myers



Thanks Bob. I have a Vantec CB-ISATAU2 ordered from Newegg.

Thanks Ben. I had forgotten about the CMOS discharge trick.

Removing the battery, unplugging the power supply, holding down the power

button down for 20 minutes had no effect. The CMOS battery holder is

soldered to the underside of the motherboard and is not accessible without a

major teardown. I'm thinking that as long as it appears the motherboard is

going to be removed, a replacement might as well be installed at that time.

Motherboards for the 1545 are all over the Internet for as little as $45 and

I have the knowledge, instructions, time and no fear so might just as well

do it. Dean...

I just put an SSD in my old 1545 (for speed and battery use). It didn't see it in the BIOS even after formatting in a desktop. After searching forums turns-out it is just different enough to not plug into the M/B! Turn the LT right-side up and it plugged-in correctly...go figure!

On Monday, January 6, 2014 11:20:53 AM UTC-5, Dean-MN wrote:
"Ben Myers" wrote in message

...

On Saturday, January 4, 2014 2:10:53 PM UTC-5, Dean-MN wrote:

Hi,



I am working on an Inspiron 1545 that won't boot. The report I have is

that



it was working okay when a window appeared from the FBI demanding a

payment



of $300. I know. It was the FBI Moneypak virus. That scarred my



granddaughter into shutting the notebook down. When she tried to start it



again, it didn't boot. It has an Intel T4400 2.2 GHz processor, 4 (2X2)

GB



RAM, 15.6HDF LED LCD, Windows 7HP.







The symptoms are...



The fan spins briefly then is quiet.



The DVD+/-RW drive light blinks. The drive door will open and spin when a



Hiren's Boot Disk is inserted.



A bootable USB light blinks once at startup.



There is not anything visible on the display.



Same when an external monitor is hooked up.



There are no beep sounds.



The same symptoms weather the battery is mounted or removed. The battery

is



recently replaced.



There are no hot spots on the case when in "run" mode.



The HDD and memory modules have been reseated.



When the power button is pressed a second time, nothing happens and the



machine appears to be in "off" mode.







I am the go-to guy for computer repair and am knowledgeable to a point

but



am stumped with a machine that refuses to start. I could use suggestions

on



where to start. Could these symptoms be caused by a bad HDD or is a dead



motherboard more likely?







Dean...



Not sure why it will no longer power on cleanly. Here is possibly one

last thing to try. Remove the battery and disconnect power supply. Now

hold down the on-off button for about 10 seconds to discharge the CMOS.

Now try again.



If that does not work, open up the chassis (remove keyboard?) and

disconnect the wire leads for the yellow or blue CMOS battery from the

motherboard. Wait 30 sec. Try again. If successful, the system will

boot up to a message that says the CMOS battery is low or missing.



Sometimes the CMOS memory gets corrupted, making a clean boot-up

impossible. These FBI Moneypak scumbags may have messed up the CMOS

settings as one final touch to their damage... Ben Myers



Thanks Bob. I have a Vantec CB-ISATAU2 ordered from Newegg.

Thanks Ben. I had forgotten about the CMOS discharge trick.

Removing the battery, unplugging the power supply, holding down the power

button down for 20 minutes had no effect. The CMOS battery holder is

soldered to the underside of the motherboard and is not accessible without a

major teardown. I'm thinking that as long as it appears the motherboard is

going to be removed, a replacement might as well be installed at that time.

Motherboards for the 1545 are all over the Internet for as little as $45 and

I have the knowledge, instructions, time and no fear so might just as well

do it. Dean...

FWIW, save yourself a lot of time and buy a 1545 motherboard already in the system chassis. I have sold numerous Dell laptop boards this way to make for a much easier repair than removing the motherboard from the chassis, replacing it with a naked motherboard. Right now, I do not have any 1545 boards available, just Inspiron 1525, 1440 and 1501 boards, all on eBay. Removing a motherboard from a laptop bottom chassis is pretty low on my list of favorite tasks, even if the laptop bottom is badly damaged and I have the same chassis, empty and in good condition... Ben Myers

On Monday, January 6, 2014 1:10:22 PM UTC-6, Bob_Villa wrote:
On Monday, January 6, 2014 10:20:53 AM UTC-6, Dean-MN wrote:

"Ben Myers" wrote in message



...



On Saturday, January 4, 2014 2:10:53 PM UTC-5, Dean-MN wrote:



Hi,







I am working on an Inspiron 1545 that won't boot. The report I have is



that







it was working okay when a window appeared from the FBI demanding a



payment







of $300. I know. It was the FBI Moneypak virus. That scarred my







granddaughter into shutting the notebook down. When she tried to start it







again, it didn't boot. It has an Intel T4400 2.2 GHz processor, 4 (2X2)



GB







RAM, 15.6HDF LED LCD, Windows 7HP.















The symptoms are...







The fan spins briefly then is quiet.







The DVD+/-RW drive light blinks. The drive door will open and spin when a







Hiren's Boot Disk is inserted.







A bootable USB light blinks once at startup.







There is not anything visible on the display.







Same when an external monitor is hooked up.







There are no beep sounds.







The same symptoms weather the battery is mounted or removed. The battery



is







recently replaced.







There are no hot spots on the case when in "run" mode.







The HDD and memory modules have been reseated.







When the power button is pressed a second time, nothing happens and the







machine appears to be in "off" mode.















I am the go-to guy for computer repair and am knowledgeable to a point



but







am stumped with a machine that refuses to start. I could use suggestions



on







where to start. Could these symptoms be caused by a bad HDD or is a dead







motherboard more likely?















Dean...







Not sure why it will no longer power on cleanly. Here is possibly one



last thing to try. Remove the battery and disconnect power supply. Now



hold down the on-off button for about 10 seconds to discharge the CMOS.



Now try again.







If that does not work, open up the chassis (remove keyboard?) and



disconnect the wire leads for the yellow or blue CMOS battery from the



motherboard. Wait 30 sec. Try again. If successful, the system will



boot up to a message that says the CMOS battery is low or missing.







Sometimes the CMOS memory gets corrupted, making a clean boot-up



impossible. These FBI Moneypak scumbags may have messed up the CMOS



settings as one final touch to their damage... Ben Myers







Thanks Bob. I have a Vantec CB-ISATAU2 ordered from Newegg.



Thanks Ben. I had forgotten about the CMOS discharge trick.



Removing the battery, unplugging the power supply, holding down the power



button down for 20 minutes had no effect. The CMOS battery holder is



soldered to the underside of the motherboard and is not accessible without a



major teardown. I'm thinking that as long as it appears the motherboard is



going to be removed, a replacement might as well be installed at that time.



Motherboards for the 1545 are all over the Internet for as little as $45 and



I have the knowledge, instructions, time and no fear so might just as well



do it. Dean...



I just put an SSD in my old 1545 (for speed and battery use). It didn't see it in the BIOS even after formatting in a desktop. After searching forums turns-out it is just different enough to not plug into the M/B! Turn the LT right-side up and it plugged-in correctly...go figure!

Ben, did you ever run into this (with an SSD)? There are forums that say Dells are finicky about these drives but ppl may just be having problems with them seating properly. $.02

On Sunday, January 12, 2014 11:15:01 AM UTC-5, Bob_Villa wrote:
On Monday, January 6, 2014 1:10:22 PM UTC-6, Bob_Villa wrote:

On Monday, January 6, 2014 10:20:53 AM UTC-6, Dean-MN wrote:



"Ben Myers" wrote in message







...







On Saturday, January 4, 2014 2:10:53 PM UTC-5, Dean-MN wrote:







Hi,















I am working on an Inspiron 1545 that won't boot. The report I have is







that















it was working okay when a window appeared from the FBI demanding a







payment















of $300. I know. It was the FBI Moneypak virus. That scarred my















granddaughter into shutting the notebook down. When she tried to start it















again, it didn't boot. It has an Intel T4400 2.2 GHz processor, 4 (2X2)







GB















RAM, 15.6HDF LED LCD, Windows 7HP.































The symptoms are...















The fan spins briefly then is quiet.















The DVD+/-RW drive light blinks. The drive door will open and spin when a















Hiren's Boot Disk is inserted.















A bootable USB light blinks once at startup.















There is not anything visible on the display.















Same when an external monitor is hooked up.















There are no beep sounds.















The same symptoms weather the battery is mounted or removed. The battery







is















recently replaced.















There are no hot spots on the case when in "run" mode.















The HDD and memory modules have been reseated.















When the power button is pressed a second time, nothing happens and the















machine appears to be in "off" mode.































I am the go-to guy for computer repair and am knowledgeable to a point







but















am stumped with a machine that refuses to start. I could use suggestions







on















where to start. Could these symptoms be caused by a bad HDD or is a dead















motherboard more likely?































Dean...















Not sure why it will no longer power on cleanly. Here is possibly one







last thing to try. Remove the battery and disconnect power supply. Now







hold down the on-off button for about 10 seconds to discharge the CMOS.







Now try again.















If that does not work, open up the chassis (remove keyboard?) and







disconnect the wire leads for the yellow or blue CMOS battery from the







motherboard. Wait 30 sec. Try again. If successful, the system will







boot up to a message that says the CMOS battery is low or missing.















Sometimes the CMOS memory gets corrupted, making a clean boot-up







impossible. These FBI Moneypak scumbags may have messed up the CMOS







settings as one final touch to their damage... Ben Myers















Thanks Bob. I have a Vantec CB-ISATAU2 ordered from Newegg.







Thanks Ben. I had forgotten about the CMOS discharge trick.







Removing the battery, unplugging the power supply, holding down the power







button down for 20 minutes had no effect. The CMOS battery holder is







soldered to the underside of the motherboard and is not accessible without a







major teardown. I'm thinking that as long as it appears the motherboard is







going to be removed, a replacement might as well be installed at that time.







Motherboards for the 1545 are all over the Internet for as little as $45 and







I have the knowledge, instructions, time and no fear so might just as well







do it. Dean...







I just put an SSD in my old 1545 (for speed and battery use). It didn't see it in the BIOS even after formatting in a desktop. After searching forums turns-out it is just different enough to not plug into the M/B! Turn the LT right-side up and it plugged-in correctly...go figure!



Ben, did you ever run into this (with an SSD)? There are forums that say Dells are finicky about these drives but ppl may just be having problems with them seating properly. $.02

Haven't seen it first hand, but in a moment of calm here (if ever there is one), I can plug an SSD into a Dell 1545 and see what happens. The only positive evidence I have is that someone at one of my clients succeeded when he installed an IDE SSD to pep up an older Dell laptop... Ben

Guys, a lot of us follow these threads to pick up info and tips.

But, in the nicest possible way, can you consider trimming responses
rather than just adding to a long post (which already is largely full
of white space), requiring readers to scroll all the way to the bottom
to see a shortish response, often a one-liner?

For example:

On Mon, 6 Jan 2014 11:10:22 -0800 (PST), Bob_Villa
wrote:

I just put an SSD in my old 1545 (for speed and battery use). It didn't see it in the BIOS even after formatting in a desktop. After searching forums turns-out it is just different enough to not plug into the M/B! Turn the LT right-side up and it plugged-in correctly...go figure!

which took 207 lines, while the followup

On Sun, 12 Jan 2014 08:15:01 -0800 (PST), Bob_Villa
wrote:

Ben, did you ever run into this (with an SSD)? There are forums that say Dells are finicky about these drives but ppl may just be having problems with them seating properly. $.02

occupied 397 lines and the response:

On Mon, 13 Jan 2014 21:08:20 -0800 (PST), Ben Myers
wrote:

Haven't seen it first hand, but in a moment of calm here (if ever there is one), I can plug an SSD into a Dell 1545 and see what happens. The only positive evidence I have is that someone at one of my clients succeeded when he installed an IDE SSD to pep up an older Dell laptop... Ben

resulted in a post of 774 lines.

On Tuesday, January 14, 2014 6:20:25 AM UTC-6, pedro wrote:
Guys, a lot of us follow these threads to pick up info and tips.~
We'll try! 8^P