Dell laptop won't turn on

MKDSK wrote:

Stefonius wrote:
Which power light comes on? The one on the laptop, the one on the "brick" in the cord, or the one on the end of the power plug where it goes into the laptop?

It is a dell Studio 1558. The light on the laptop comes on when I plug in the power cord, stays on, but sometimes goes right back off. The power cord is working I know because the light on the power cord brick is on.

I have a Studio 1754. I had to replace the DC Power Jack on the motherboard after a couple years because the strain from the long plug end eventually wore out the contacts on the inside. To stop that from happening again, I purchased a 90 degree angle adapter for the end of my power cord.

You can find a replacement DC power jack Here or Here. Not too hard to replace, but there are an awful lot of small screws to contend with. There are some pretty good online tutorials that show you how to take your laptop apart and put it back together correctly.

Also, there is a thin center pin inside of the power plug that goes into the laptop. That pin is designed to send a signal to the laptop that you're using a "genuine Dell" power adapter. The cable feeding that pin is very thin, and often breaks internally. Then the laptop will flatly refuse to charge your battery when plugged in. You could have both problems (bad DC power jack and broken center pin on adapter). If it were me, I'd try the DC power jack first, especially if the power light on the laptop comes on and goes off when the power button is pressed.

Happy to help if I can.