Dell 1150 laptop power loss

Hi
Have 2003 model Dell 1150 laptop with Windows XP. Yesterday it suddenly dropped power without warning ,got it to start again after a while, but again shut down after 30 seconds. Checked all usual things,power is going to P.C. as lights for battery etc. at front are flashing.Tried pressing F8 etc.but didn't work. Need to salvage old docs and photos as a last resort. Any suggestions as I don't want to spend money on repair as it would be cheaper to buy a new machine. Battery is dead, but power is coming from mains supply.Any suggestions? Can I simply remove old hard drive to salvage old data?
Thanks
Kenbo

have the exact same prob with a dell inspiron 6000, recently bought a new battery for €150 so a bit peeved. Charging light is'nt lit even though the mains supply is on, any ideas

Why not forget about the charger and plug it into one of these docking stations . they are cheap enough on eBay .( this is the Dell PR01X)
It also needs a power adaptor - ( PA-10 )

[broken link removed]

I had the same problem with a 2004 inspiron 1150.
Initially the machine would sometimes shut down when I moved it. I thought the screen or some cable was lose. Overtime the problem gradually got worse and the machine would spontaneously shut down more & more frequently. I figured it might be an over heating problem so I tried cleaning the case with some canned air, and reattached the CPU fan with some new gel, but it made no difference.
In the end I had to bin it & I bought a new one.
You can salvage the data by removing the hard drive and getting a usb external hard drive enclosure.
You'll need one with an external power supply, as I think the drive needs more current than a USB cable can supply.

if the lights on front are flashing they could be indicating the nature of the failure. the caps, num and scroll lock LEDs on some models sometimes flash in sequence to indicate what the failure is. If there is a sequence post it here and maybe someone can tell you what the sequence means. Agreed with tiger on the method for retrieving data - that does seem to be the most cost effective method.

tiger said:

...You can salvage the data by removing the hard drive and getting a usb external hard drive enclosure.
You'll need one with an external power supply, as I think the drive needs more current than a USB cable can supply.

Click to expand...

3.5" externals need external power.
2.5" external only need USB cable.

allthedoyles said:

Why not forget about the charger and plug it into one of these docking stations . they are cheap enough on eBay .( this is the Dell PR01X)
It also needs a power adaptor - ( PA-10 )

[broken link removed]

Click to expand...

#
Does that fit these dells?


Sounds like failures of the AC connector on the motherboard which seems like a repair job or a new motherboard.

AlbacoreA said:

3.5" externals need external power.
2.5" external only need USB cable.

Click to expand...

I would double check this. It may be down to the enclosure I used, but the documentation said for current < X USB will work, for >X connect to a power supply. The current rating on the drive case was > X. As I had a power supply handy, I didn't try it with just the USB.
(I don't remember what X was).

Whats the make and model of the drive?

Usually its non powered USB ports (or low power) on the computer thats the problem.