20 Most Recent Dell Latitude C640 Notebook - Page 6 Questions & Answers

Try it with all devices disconnected from the laptop. Sometimes defective USB devices will cause this. Then try it with no battery. This will isolate the problem for you. If it still happens with no battery or other devices, then the problem is either in the adapter or the laptop. If you bought the laptop new, then contact Dell tech support for help. If not, try a local shop. They should be able to connect another adapter to check the problem.

go to the dell support web-site and you can download the audio driver

i dont think the c640 usually comes with wireless so i dont think the antenna will be in there so you might have to get them. but you can take off the ram cover on the bottom and see if the wires are there. this shows the wireless card in there
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/latc640/sm_en/upgrades.htm#999869

Sounds like a failure of the LCD backlight. This will require replacement of the inverter or the LCD itself:
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/Latc640/sm_en/display.htm#1001077
You can buy parts here:
http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=p3907.m38.l1313&_nkw=C640+LCD&_sacat=See-All-Categories

It could be that your charger is no longer good or you need to download a BIOS file. Go to dell.com - Support and type in your computer model and do Troubleshooting.

several reasons why this will occur:

1) battery is not fully charged - you might try rebooting with the computer plugged into a wall socket.

2) computer's main power supply has been damaged and needs to be replaced.

3) virus - though with most standard virus' , you can still boot up, there are a nasty few that will wipe your entire computer including the operating system.

My first thought is that someone else used this laptop and set this without you knowing, accidentally (like a child) or on purpose as a joke.
My second thought is you are the victim of a trojan.
To my knowledge, the only way to get to the hard drive is by knowing the password.

Goto the System BIOS and skip to Page 4 of 7 (Press Alt+P three times to do this). Set the field "Primary Video" to System and "Video Expansion" to Enabled. Save settings and exit. System would reboot with normal graphics now. If the Screen is still squeezed in Windows, reinstall your video drivers from support.dell.com
Good Luck! -Abhishek

Perform all the regular computer maintenance on this laptop.
To run the Disk Cleanup tool
a) Click Start, and then click My Computer.
b) Right-click Local Disk and then click Properties.
c) On the General tab, click the Disk Cleanup button. Disk Cleanup will spend a few minutes examining your disk.
d) The Disk Cleanup dialog box will appear. Select each of the check boxes; Offline Web Pages, recycle Bin, Temporary Files, but, do not select Compress old Files in the Files to delete list, and then click OK.
e) When prompted, click yes. Disk Cleanup will spend several minutes removing these files, which will provide you with more space.

run Defrag on the drive

Clear all of the Internet cache

Check your free disk space. It needs to be larger than 15% of your hard drive.

Try this. Please make sure that when you installed your CMOS battery, that you did it correctly.

Here are instructions: http://www.smartcomputing.com/Editorial/article.asp?article=articles/2004/w1510/32w10/32w10.asp

Now, if all was correct then go into the BIOS and configure your hard drive because it sounds like your hard disk isn't configured.

Most BIOS's will auto recognize the hard drive but you have to go into the BIOS and tell it to search for it and then save it by pressing F10 and save before you exit out of your BIOS.

If all else fails, replace your hard disk.

Don't forget to rate me and vote for me, thanks. Also let me know how it goes.

1) Try turning the computer off for a few hours, while keeping it still plugged into the charger
2) Check your BIOS to see if it has something like a "battery test" and run it.
3) If your battery is more than 3 years old, it may need to be replaced. They are not too expensive ($20-$60 in the US, check ebay.com).

Please, let me know how it goes.

Alex

www.dell.com

the phone line should be connected to the dsl modem, and from the dsl modem there should be the ethernet cable connected and at the other end of the ethernet cable is the computer.

hi, try pressing the function (Fn) key followed by F11 to turn on/off wireless

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/latc640/sm_en/upgrades.htm#999869

this link would be helpful

Palmrest failure, you will need to replace it.
http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=p3907.m38.l1313&_nkw=C640+palmrest&_sacat=See-All-Categories

all drivers for this unit can be foudn on Dell's website at

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/driverslist.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&ServiceTag=&SystemID=LAT_PNT_P4N_C640&os=WW1&osl=en&catid=&impid=

you will need to get them from another computer then transfer to the unit that you want them for.

Is the battery charging when you plug the power supply? If not, while the battery and the power supply is plugged in go to BIOS, that will be F2 when your computer boots up, from there check on battery health or battery info you will also see the ac adapter if it's detected if it says unknown try to use another ac adapter if it is detected still try to use another adapter. If you still have the same problem after trying a new one. You'll need to replace the motherboard

If it will not power on from battery or AC adapter, Either the power switch is bad - OR the motherboard is shot - OR the LCD is not working. I would suggest taking it to a local PC shop and having it diagnosed, usually this costs about $30 I work for TechSupportPros of Spokane, WA and charge $30 to diagnose computers.

That laptop uses an IDE drive.

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Thanks and Good Luck!