I have a 2.5 year old Alienware Area51 laptop which as of late is not turning on. The blue light around the power button turns on and the harddrive light blinks approximately three times. With each blink, the CD Drive makes a noise. If I turn the computer on with the CD drive open, then it does not make a noise. This is all the computer does.

It did this to me last month and I called tech support and the man told me this problem is caused by static electricity storing up inside the computer and advised me to unplug it, take the battery out, hold the power button down for a minute, then turn it back on. I did, and this worked. Since then, this has happened three more times. Unfortunately, on this third time it has not turned back on despite my best efforts. Tech support will not help me as my warranty has expired.

Any thoughts as to what this problem is and how I could fix it would be greatly appreciated. My main concern is the harddrive since I recently purchased another laptop to replace my Alienware and I am looking to get files off of the Alienware harddrive. Easily the worst big purchase I've ever made, it's like the computer knew I was going to replace it so it decided to not turn on.

ESD. It is possible that this damage might not be noticeable immediately. Your components might just start a degradation process that slowly kills your computer parts. You may start getting intermittent breakdowns until your computer stops functioning properly.

Your computer components inside your case (especially your hard drive) are prone to being affected by ElectroStatic Discharge.

Since you care more about getting files off the dying laptop, why not just remove the hard drive, mount it in a 2.5-inch USB external HD and use your new laptop to access it?

..it's like the computer knew I was going to replace it so it decided to not turn on

Of course it's very upset if you actually believe that telepathy do exist between man and machine. The Meaning of Telepathy

i_Xp/VistaUser

XpUser - That is what I'll probably wind up doing. I'm hoping to get it working again though because I plan(ned) on reselling it to help defray the costs of the new laptop I'm purchasing.

As for ESD, is this something common or a result of the electric system I was plugging my computer into?

Also, are there any known ways to fix this aside from purchasing new components?

"Also, are there any known ways to fix this aside from purchasing new components?"

Find which component(s) and replace it will be the only way. For a laptop this is poor design.