Have dell inspirion1525. Screen is black. By holding down fn key and start key i get flashing lock with 9 and blue lock wih an A and blue lock with a down arrow. What do these mean?

Black screen - no flashing white cursor in the upper left corner - no picture at all, i.e. the initial Dell start-up screen doesn't show up either:
- LCD is dead or isn't getting a signal - not an easy fix; or
- the LCD isn't being sent a signal - holding down the function [Fn] key and press display Function key to toggle through its settings (LCD panel only, Rear VGA output only, both LCD and VGA output)

Black screen - flashing white cursor in the upper left corner - the screen goes black after the windows loading screens come up but before the windows login screen comes up - it is probably a windows video driver problem. Try starting in Windows Safe Mode with VGA. Press [F8] after the Dell startup screen disappears to access the windows startup menu

First, go to this link to find out if Your Battery Has Been RECALLED. http://support.dell.com/support/batteryrecall/index.aspx/en/main?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&~ck=anavml
Second, go to this link and Download/Install all the Current Updates for Your Model.
http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/driverslist.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&os=WW1&osl=en&SystemID=INS_PNT_6000&catid=-1&impid=-1

In the lower left hand corner of your Dell Keyboard -- you will see a Blue Key labeled -- "Fn". This key allows you the use of ALL of the other blue labeled keys on your keyboard. You must press the FN key and the other "blue" key at the same time for them to work.

The keys on the right side of the keyboard with the blue numbers on them are controlled by the Numlock key and Fn key. The light at the top of the keyboard near the power button, with the number "9" inside a picture of a lock, will be lit if the Numlock is enabled.
You may need to press the Fn key to type numbers even if the Numlock is turned on. There is a setting in the BIOS called Enable Keypad and if you set it to By Numlock you will not have to hold down this key to type a number.

If you are still having trouble with these keys, please see the general keyboard troubleshooting guide

http://ftp1.us.dell.com/diags/R65848.htm#Key not responding or typing wrong character

I had that happen to me with my Dell as well... If you're comfortable with taking a laptop apart.. you'll need to detach the screen ribbon, clean it with rubbing alcohol, and then reattach it. This should do the trick..

fn+f2 means your pressing two keys at once
the function key (fn - usually a different color - maybe blue - than the letter keys) and the f2 key

hold down the fn first then the f2 - look for the fn on the lower right or left next to Ctrl keys

Sounds like your number lock is on. Find the key with blue lettering that says 'Num Lk' (or something very similar). Press Fn and that key, and your number lock will be turned off and your keys will go back to normal.

Hope this helps.

Sounds like you've got the "Num Lock" turned on.

Check the keyboard for a key that has a LOCK icon.

It's usually on the Scroll key.

Let me know if that fixes the problem otherwise I'll suggest something else.

Best of luck!

It is better to run the dell diagnostics, when you see the dell logo keep on tapping f12, then choose utility partition and do an express on your system.

If you press the Fn and Num Lock at exactly the same time, it usually won't work. Hold down Fn key first, then press Num kock. See if that works.

I think it is not the Fn key but the NumLock that is activated. Look for the key labeled NumLk , this is the number lock. Also check if the light on the notbook with a number (usually number 1) is on. If it is on, yo must deactivate the numlock by pressing it again. It works in toggle mode. Sometimes the numlock is activated together with the shift key, sometimes with the function key.