Got an interesting issue. I've got a dell inspiron 531 with a dell ry206 motherboard. Bad news is, when I boot up the pc, the power turns on, the fans turn on, but that's it!, only CD ROM and cpu fans work. The bios doesn't even show up. Usually, the pc will boot up, fan will start rapidly then slow, beep once, followed by the monitor flickering with the DELL Bios screen

cpu maybe overheating, check all fans are working, maybe a fault in motherboard. There should also before an error report log on your operating system which might give you a clue. try putting your hard drive into another pc (as a slave drive) and scan it for viruses before putting it back into your pc as the master again.

There are several possible causes for this. Laptops are notorious for dust buildup and overheat issues. Take compressed air and blast out the vent areas. If you can push enough air through the vent leading to the CPU cooling fan, that may clear out dust clogging the fan, preventing proper CPU cooling.

The next possible issue is a threat.

Boot into safe mode - keep repeatidly pressing F8 key as soon as you power on - until a menu comes up. Using keyboard up/down arrow, select "Safe Mode" (with networking if available).

Next, install Malwarebytes (free version) and perform a full scan. Also scan using your current antivirus.

hope this helps,

Danny

I really hate to be the bearer of bad news, but your motherboard may have been fried. The power surge was probably too much for it to handle, especially considering this isn't a custom build, so the parts inside of it are cheaper. Contact Dell Support and see if there is anything that they can do for you.

3 beeps signal a problem with the memory. take out the memory sticks, put another one in and try to start it - if the pc boots then your sticks are defective, if it doesn't then the motherboard is defective. Replace the failed part.

start your computer in safemode and then turn off all power saving features

With the Power Off, and Plug Removed, try removing your memory modules, and then plug in and power up. If you here a series of beeps, it means your motherboard could be working fine. If you do not hear any beeps, but the Power Supply and CPU Fans spin, then it could indicate that your Integrated Video Card has been damaged. Usually happens due to excessive heat if system is left on for days, and Games are played using High Graphic Resources. Prior to this happening, did your system shut down on its own, reboot without warning, or show any weird colours or characters on the screen? Try adding an external Video Card in one of the available slots and see if you can boot the system.

hello, sounds like memory issue, I would say if you have more than one stick of memory in it remove one at a time and try it again.
also while you are at it reset BIOS by remove battery from motherboard and/or switching jumper setting.

hope it helps.

regards
Amar Sondhi

You've either got a bad motherboard or a bad processor (I'd lean to the motherboard being bad). I would honestly take this into a computer repair shop and have them check both.

actually it is a common problem with dells... pull off the side panel, and disconnect the fan, power it up and let it register that the fan isnt working, turn off the computer, plug the fan back in and boot it up again, if it doesnt work this time, it suggests a larger issue... such as motherboard failure... which is also quite common in dells...

Ok with that issue your hard drive is either not connected correctly or your hard drive has gone bad.