dell inspiron 1521 crashed

Hey, I have a Dell Inspiron 1521 its about a year old……anyway, was using it and it was working fine, closed it up to have lunch…opened it and was greeted by a blue screen w/a bunch of white writing advising me that if it was the first time I received this message to power down, I did this and tried to power back on and NOTHING…black screen my caps lock light blinks for about 30 sec and I can feel it trying to run but then it stops……

called dell, paid $50 for them to tell me to unplug it, remove battery and try to power on, then they wanted me to remove the memory card, couldnt find a small enough screwdriver, called them back when I got one but apparently my "help" had expired………???????

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Edit by John B. to add some information.

This topic was already discussed here:
http://forums.whatthetech.com/Dell_Inspiro…ed_t100397.html

As you can see the reason to start a new topic here is that "this sounds like a hardware problem and not a software problem".

Hi Resting. I've certainly seen your problem before.

I did some quick research for you to try and remember what the solution for this problem is.

It appears the the CAPS lock light flashing at power on is the laptop's way of reporting a memory error to you.

This would coincide with your BSoD and now a failure to POST.

My suggestion is this. Remove the memory module cover. If you have two sticks of RAM in there, remove them both. Plug only one back in. See if the laptop powers on properly. If it doesn't, unplug the memory module and try plugging the other memory module into the other slot. See if the laptop powers on. The idea is to eliminate if one memory module, or socket, is causing a problem.

Most likely it will not be this complicated at all! Most likely, all you will have to do is reseat both memory modules (remove them and plug them back in) and things will work fine.

However, to be sure that your problem is resolved you must run some diagnostic software and test to make sure you have a solid connection. You can use the Windows Memory Diagnostic to assist you. Please read the instructions at the link in order to download and create a bootable memory diagnostic CD. You will have to use a CD burning program to create a bootable CD-Rom from the .ISO file you will create. Once the disc is created you can put it in your laptop and make the laptop boot from the CD (Usually F12 on Dells will bring up a boot menu. Select the CD device). When the memory diagnostic is running, take the plastic handle of a screwdriver and gently tap on the memory modules. If the laptop freezes up, reboots, or gives memory errors you are still having problems with the memory modules. Reseat them, or plug them in one at a time or into different slots to try and eliminate where the problem lies. I have seen plenty of Dell laptops where the memory module socket actually goes bad and it has to be soldered on.

Good luck with your endeavor, and report back here with more information on your findings and let us know how you do.

P.S. The process DELL was going to have you follow can be found at this link:

Dell Script Kiddie Tech Support