Dell Vostro 1700 Troubleshooting

The laptop screen flickers or does not display properly.

If the hinge connecting the screen to the body of the laptop is damaged, the screen my flicker or show an intermittent signal. Asses if the hinge is cracked or abnormally difficult to open and close. The broken hinge may crimp and damage important video signal wires that route to the screen.

If the hinge does not appear to be damaged, the LCD might be faulty. Replace the LCD with a new one to restore functionality.

The battery will not take or hold a charge.

Make sure the power adapter is connected properly to the charging port. If the charging light does not illuminate, the charger is faulty. Try another charger of the same type, or purchase a replacement.

If the charger light does illuminate and the laptop still will not take a charge, the battery might be faulty. Charge the battery overnight, if the laptop still does not turn on, the battery will need to be replaced.

The CD Drive will not read or recognize a disk.

If the CD Drive spins but will not read your CD, the disk may be scratched or unreadable. Check and ensure that the CD you are trying to read or write to is not damaged. A small scratch can prevent the CD from being read.

For the CD Drive to read a disk properly, the disk must spin at a high speed. If the CD Drive does not spin when a disk is inserted, the CD Drive may be faulty. Use this guide to remove and replace the CD Drive.

The speakers produce no sound or a distorted sound.

Check the volume levels at the bottom right corner of your screen. If the volume is too low, you might not be able to hear your speakers. Turn up the volume and see if the problem persists.

The laptop will not produce any sound if the proper drivers are not installed. If your computer came with a Driver Disk, use that to install the recommended speaker drivers for your laptop. To check the status of your drivers, open the "Device Manager" application. Locate the speakers in the application, right click the device and click update driver.

If the speaker has all of the proper drivers, but still does not produce any sound, the speakers might have to be replaced with a new pair.

The computer may be slow to start or files are slow to open.

If the amount of ram in the laptop is insufficient for your workload, multitasking may become slow. A larger amount of ram will increase the speed and responsiveness of your laptop. Follow this guide to upgrade or replace the ram.

If the Hard Drive is making abnormal sounds or the laptop is slow to load, the Hard Drive may be failing. You can use a Hard Drive health check software to check the status of your Drive. If the device is failing, follow this guide to replace it.