No electricity getting to my laptop

judder · 15 Oct 2007 at 13:05

Hi. I really hope someone can help with a simple fix.

I have a 3 year old D*ll (don't know if I'm allowed to say the name) laptop which contains the last 3 years of my life, but which has a problem with the electrical connection at the back.

I thought it was the power pack (transformer) initially so bought a new one, but no. The cable plugs into the electricity port at the back, but is very loose, so I can only assume that it is not making contact with the relevant conducting parts.

Can anyone suggest a way of fixing this?

Thanks.

split · 15 Oct 2007 at 13:11

It's pretty easy to get all the data from your hard disc laptop, so you can at least get your life back.
You need a lead that fits a 44 pin laptop hard drive > to USB and a PC with a USB port. (£10.00 incl P&P for the full kit that does any hard disc from the auction site)

They do break at the back though....it's going to depend on model etc and availability of parts.
You can spend serious money (prolly as much as the laptops worth) to have it done at laptop repair places.

Stelly · 15 Oct 2007 at 13:32

where abouts do you live dude? I have a converter that you could use to get the data off the laptop

Stelly

judder · 15 Oct 2007 at 13:51

Thanks for the replies guys. The thought of a laptop repair place filled my bank account with trembling!

split: So the lead is just a standard thing? I would simply have to remove my HDD and 44pin-USB it to another computer e.g. my brother's and then transfer the stuff as you normally would from an external drive, yes?

Stelly: I live in York - thanks for the offer.

So with the last 3 years of life back in existence, is there a home-fix for the problem, or is it really a £££$$$ specialist thing?

Cheers.

Stelly · 15 Oct 2007 at 14:31

What you need is something like this...

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-012-BT&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=72

take your HDD out of the laptop... put it in the above product and then you should be able to get the data off on any computer

Stelly

split · 15 Oct 2007 at 15:07

judder said:
split: So the lead is just a standard thing? I would simply have to remove my HDD and 44pin-USB it to another computer e.g. my brother's and then transfer the stuff as you normally would from an external drive, yes?

Stelly: I live in York - thanks for the offer.

So with the last 3 years of life back in existence, is there a home-fix for the problem, or is it really a £££$$$ specialist thing?

Cheers.

See my post here.
The whole lot cost me £10.00 incl P&P.
Will make any hard drive an external device like a USB stick or memory card.

No self respecting PC person should be without one IMO.

O'h and just FYI, I have used above kit to reteivve data from 2 hard disc out of Dell laptops.
They use a standard 44 pin EDE but fit like a convertor on the back so its fits in the laptop.
You just pull it off, but be carefull to remove it square to avoid bending pins.

Corasik · 15 Oct 2007 at 15:52

BTW.. off topic, but you can say DELL here.. OcUK sell Dell laptops and Screens. Dell make some very nice laptops and LCD panels

.

austinpowers · 24 Oct 2007 at 09:21

This is over a week old, but what model/make of Dell do you have?

What's it doing when you press the power button?

beermonster · 24 Oct 2007 at 12:10

sounds like the DC socket has a dry joint, it will either need replacing or resoldering, this usually involves taking the mainboard out, if the dc socket is not on the mainboard ie its a seperate DC board or DC Cable they can be replaced or repaired but probably not the cable but cheap enough to replace

judder · 29 Oct 2007 at 06:09

Hi guys.

Thanks for all the replies; very helpful all. In summary, the laptop (a Dell Inspiron 1150) will not power up and the electricity point at the back is very loose when I plug it in. A suitable wiggle can get a couple of LEDs to flash, but that's about it. I think it is definitely something to do with a broken or loose connector (e.g. replace or resolder). I tried to open up the laptop the other day and after removing all the screws I could find, even the daft ones hiding under the hinge for the screen, but could not separate (and did not want to force the issue) anything from anything else to allow me access to the connector.