Problem starting Dell N4010

[bdebnath]

My 4-year old Dell Inspiron N4010 (with Windows 7 Pro), for the past one year, has been starting very late, taking more than 30 minutes if I do not use it for 3-4 days. This time, two days ago I returned home after 16 days and turned on my machine, but Windows did not start at all. As advised by many, I took out the battery and did all those usual things, but nothing worked. The battery is fully charged and the AC adapter is working fine. When the machine is turned on, I see a blue or black screen and nothing beyond this. I have been trying for the past two days to revive the machine. Would appreciate if a suggestion is forwarded for getting the machine to life again. Thank you.

 

[hang-the-9]

Is it a solid blue or black screen with nothing on it? Boot up taking 30 minutes is a very long time, maybe a failed hard drive. Go into the BIOS and see if there is an option there to do a hardware check on the hard drive. You can remove the hard drive and see if it's seen in another system as a secondary drive, either using a USB enclosure or as a second drive in a desktop. If it reads fine, you may want to get a replacement hard-drive, install Windows on that and copy your files from the original.

 

[bdebnath]

Is it a solid blue or black screen with nothing on it? Boot up taking 30 minutes is a very long time, maybe a failed hard drive. Go into the BIOS and see if there is an option there to do a hardware check on the hard drive. You can remove the hard drive and see if it's seen in another system as a secondary drive, either using a USB enclosure or as a second drive in a desktop. If it reads fine, you may want to get a replacement hard-drive, install Windows on that and copy your files from the original.

 

[bdebnath]

Thank you for the guidance, which I will try to follow. I see solid blue, black, or red screen now when the machine has completely stopped working or is dead. I last worked with this machine on 22 Dec 2015 after which I went on vacation. Upon return this past weekend, the machine never started. On earlier occasions, if not used for 3-4 days, it used to take up to 30 minutes to start and the screen used to be solid black. Any further guidance would be appreciated.