@outflanker could be an issue with the hard drive and your computer not finding it. Try to go into your BIOS on startup. See if that shows your HDD. To get into your BIOS try pressing the "F2" key on the laptop keyboard as soon as the laptop starts up.
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If you cannot do anything I would suggest you remove the HDD the battery the memory and the AC adapter. Then hold down the power button for about 30 sec. AFter that plug the AC adapter in and try to start your computer listen for any POST beeps. If it does turn it off and replace the RAM module one stuck at the time. Try to start it again. Let us know what you find. Oh, you also want to give us the exact model number There are a lot of Inspiron models...
@outflanker could be an issue with the hard drive and your computer not finding it. Try to go into your BIOS on startup. See if that shows your HDD. To get into your BIOS try pressing the "F2" key on the laptop keyboard as soon as the laptop starts up.