Dell XPS M140 Troubleshooting

The laptop shows no sign of power. Ie, no lights are on.

Make sure the light on your power adapter will turn on, additionally check if the cord attached seem to be in good condition. If either of these scenarios are not true, your power adapter is most likely the problem. The best option is to purchase a new adapter.

Plug in the Power adapter and make sure the light is on. If the computer will only turn on when the adapter is plugged in, you have a faulty battery. You can replace it using this guide.

The laptop cannot start-up due to having no operating system. The system could also crash while reading/ writing memory.

Problems with the random access memory can result in different ways. Blue screens, random reboots, very slow performance or even corrupted data. Removing and reinstalling the memory in a more secure way may help, if it does not consider replacing the RAM completely. Use this guide to replace the RAM

The hard drive may be old. Old hard drives have issues reading a writing memory. Usually, the operating system is stored on the single HDD within a laptop; a broken HDD will cause startup trouble. Use a boot drive to see if the computer can have an operating system installed onto the HDD. If this fails, the HDD may have to be replaced. Use this guide to replace the HDD

Sometimes the SATA cable connecting the HDD to the computer can get knocked loose. Follow the guide on how to get to the HDD and reseat the cable.

A computer that doesn’t have the proper airflow will end up overheating. You wouls hear a loud noise associated with the fan trying to keep up. Having the laptop on a surface where the fans could be covered could cause this to happen.

The most common problem with the CPU is the heat. Overheating could impact performance or even destroy the CPU. Using an external fan or letting the CPU cool down would be ideal. Other problems could also occur if the piece is loose and can be an easy fix.

The issue could arise from a single fan being out of order. Without the proper airflow, the computer will overheat in time. Following the guide will explain how to reach the fan.

A faulty cooling module would cause your laptop to overheat because it is not correctly sensing the temperature of your laptop. Replace it here using this guide

The laptop screen does not turn on, blank or frayed screen, erratic screen shut-off, or vertical lines.

If screen is entirely unresponsive, however, laptop turns on and runs using another monitor; the laptop screen may need to be replaced. Use this guide to replace the LCD

If screen is too dim or flickering, there is a chance that the laptop’s backlight needs to be replaced.

If screen is unresponsive, the inverter may be the issue. As a small piece of the screen, it is an easy fix.