[SOLVED] Dropped Laptop Won't Turn On

[Appletax]

Solution: have client buy another computer.

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Dell Latitude 7480 laptop.

It wasn't doing anything. Completely dead. Been sitting a few days and the power button lit up once but turned off.

There's no visible damage. Think it may need a new motherboard.

Things I have tried:

• Reseated the RAM and battery.
• Tried without battery.
• Replaced the DC power jack as I have several of these 7480s here.

 

[NviGate Systems]

A quick Google search shows a rough price of $320 for this unit currently (unsure if used etc).

So repair wouldn't seem practical. Did client drop it? If so time for new unit. Most cheap consumer models are barely worth working on.

 

[britechguy]

When refurbed units can be had under $300, I question the value of repairing.

@NviGate Systems, your message arrived as I was about to post. I can't see any justification for repairing here, the cost of repair would exceed the cost of replacement and you could do a "heart transplant" with the system drive (and legitimately take Windows and all programs with it).

 

[Appletax]

A quick Google search shows a rough price of $320 for this unit currently (unsure if used etc).

So repair wouldn't seem practical. Did client drop it? If so time for new unit. Most cheap consumer models are barely worth working on.

I sold them the laptop for $190. Yes, they dropped it. Do you think it's the motherboard? Looks like I can get one for $60 on eBay. Or, I could sell them another one of these laptops as I have more of them. That would be cheaper than fixing the laptop. I can reuse the parts from their laptop. I think I could put its SSD into the replacement system and it should just work - not sure how Windows activation would handle this situation.

 

[britechguy]

If you are doing a "heart transplant" into another machine that's essentially a twin, and will be disposing of the original, that is, essentially, exactly the same thing as replacing the motherboard. You could, of course, cannibalize the "good machine" to take it's motherboard to the old, and it's the same end result, but what sense would that make?

I've had the following in one of my "quote it when you need it" files for years (as you can tell by the fact that Win10 1607 is one of the reference points, but the principles still apply). If you intend to change out the motherboard in your computer, follow the instructions here:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/20530/windows-10-reactivating-after-hardware-change
https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/windows-build-1607-and-activation.2786960/

 

[Markverhyden]

Is it a Dell version of the OS? If so, assuming the drive is still ok, you can just move the drive over. It should just reload drivers and they're off to the races. If it's refurb license then, technically, you can't move it without buying yet another one. But I'm sure you'll be able to figure something out.

 

[Appletax]

Is it a Dell version of the OS? If so, assuming the drive is still ok, you can just move the drive over. It should just reload drivers and they're off to the races. If it's refurb license then, technically, you can't move it without buying yet another one. But I'm sure you'll be able to figure something out.

I put the NVME SSD into another same exact system and it works fine. It's been on for about an hour and the activation says it's still activated with a digital license.

 

[Markverhyden]

I put the NVME SSD into another same exact system and it works fine. It's been on for about an hour and the activation says it's still activated with a digital license.

If it was the OEM version there won't be a problem moving the drive. In theory if it's any other version it's supposed to choke. In reality I've not seen that happen in my experience. Couple of years ago I took back a mess of HP Pavilion Slimline s5-1110 from a customer who upgraded their fleet. I did the upgrade to W10 Pro no problem. One of them croaked so I just pulled that drive and put it into another and all was good. Took maybe 10-15 minutes to finally show licensed.