Laptop Won't Function

ImLost said:

now.....making lots of odd noises when I turn on to keep trying things

What sort of noises? System beeps? Mechanical noises?

If they are system beeps, then count them and refer to this help page to understand what they mean. It doesn't sound like good news, I'm afraid...

https://www.dell.com/support/article...?lang=en#Intro

Bree said:

I've found the manuals including a comprehensive Service Manual here...
https://www.dell.com/support/home/uk...laptop/manuals



Yes, F12 generates a 'one-time boot menu', it's main purpose being to choose the device to boot from, but 'BIOS SETUP' is another of its options.

https://www.dell.com/support/home/us...laptop/manuals

ImLost said:

Not beeps, signals, etc.....mechanical sounding stuff. Clicks, snaps, bangs......never heard it before, dont look good. Now once in a while, pressing the power-on button......and it wont come on.

Hard-drive failure!!!!!

ImLost said:

Not beeps, signals, etc.....mechanical sounding stuff. Clicks, snaps, bangs......never heard it before, dont look good. Now once in a while, pressing the power-on button......and it wont come on.

vgkfan83 said:

Hard-drive failure!!!!!

And more, by the sounds of it. A dead HDD wouldn't explain not being able to navigate the BIOS screen.

If it's just the HDD, and ImLost feels up to the task, then removing the HDD would allow testing if the BIOS setup screen works normally without there being an HDD. If so, a replacement HDD could fix things. Detailed instructions are in the Service Manual.
https://www.dell.com/support/home/us...laptop/manuals

TBH, I wouldn't blame ImLost if they said 'enough is enough' and gave up on this PC at this point...