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I had a problem with the laptop lid so I am using it with an external monitor. I was wondering if there is any way to power on the laptop without opening the lid, that is through ports.

Laptop: Dell Inspiron 1525

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  • 7
    If you specified the laptop model, it would be easier to give a useful answer.
    – CarlF
    Dec 15, 2010 at 19:31
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    Could you not try sleep or hibernate instead of shutdown? this way you might be able to wake on usb keyboard or mouse.
    – user233076
    Jun 22, 2013 at 23:18
  • Hi and Welcome to Super User! Please read the How to Answer a Question Guide. This site is a Q&A site not a forum.
    – slm
    Jun 23, 2013 at 0:58

12 Answers 12

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Some laptops may support this through custom docks, but there is no general way to perform this.

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+150

From this thread :

Put it on suspend rather than off, then wake it up with a piece of semi-flexible "tonge" and insert it between the lids to press a key.

Not high tech, but effective and cheap.

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Some laptops I've used were such that they powered on automatically when put in the dock, but not all of them. Also, every dock I've ever used had it's own power button that could be used to power on and off. Another option, if it is being used on a LAN where you have another computer connected is to set up WAKE ON LAN in the bios if it supports it and send a ping from the other computer to the laptop. A bit of a long way around and probably not worth the effort, but it could be done.

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You might be able to connect it to your LAN and turn it on by sending a "Magic Packet" from another device on the network. (Make sure you have "Wake-on-lan" enabled in the BIOS, then download an application to send the magic packet.

Or, you could remove the screen entirely.

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Did you go into your BIOS to enable Wake-Up on USB option? Your laptop model has that feature. You can then turn on your laptop by a keystroke through a USB keyboard.

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This might not be what you're looking for, but the Dell BIOSes have an option to boot your machine at a specific time every day.

Maybe that's a feasible workaround.

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There is clearly a way to do this for at least business laptops, because they can be powered on in the dock. You might have to put a meter across pins on a dock while pressing the power button (on the dock) to find out what voltage applied to which pins on the docking port powers-on the laptop.

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  • It's a good idea, but it won't work if the dock doesn't output the command unless it detects the laptop in the dock. Then you'd have to figure out how to spoof that first, which might require getting the laptop to first think its in the dock.
    – EL_DON
    May 11, 2020 at 17:47
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Check the bios on the laptop. You may be able to trigger it to power on from a keystroke, or via wake-on-lan. Or, you can take some office materials and make a basic lever so that you can bump the power switch with the lid closed.

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Why not set the powersettings to do nothing when the lid is closed, and wakeup on mouse movement. It is not on off, but it works. I have a laptop like this hooked up to a tv for a media device.

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The Dell Inspiron is a consumer laptop so there are no docking solutions for this system. The only ways to wake the system is either to configure your BIOS to use wake-on-lan and send a magic packet through the ethernet port (wired) or you can set wake from sleep using USB devices but this won't turn it on from power off condition.

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Your particular model, Dell Inspiron 1525, has no Dell-manufactured docking station. But hey, you are lucky! Targus has one docking station especially for this model, right here.

Pros:

  • Cheap!

Cons:

  • No power button!

So the answer is - NO!

Few options:

  • deassembly and solder some wires, make external button
  • switch to another laptop
  • just live with that

And few more:

  • some BIOS'es support turning on by keyboard key/combination/whatever.. It's very unlikely that laptop BIOS will have this, but worth checking
  • keep your laptop in standby, wake up by keyboard/mouse
  • this laptop is cheap, same as the parts. Just fix it.
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  • Never leave just a link... with link there has to be some additional info about what the user will find on that link. In this case the full model name of that dock for example.
    – lewis4u
    Jun 28, 2022 at 8:29
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Why not open your laptop's case and take out the part that tells it whether it's open or close so that it thinks it's open even when it isn't?

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    It's not about the lid sensor, it's about starting the machine without opening it.
    – Daniel Beck ♦
    Dec 28, 2010 at 1:25
  • Some Dell laptops (like mine) specifically have the power button on the side. This is a good idea in the absence of other solutions.
    – Coxy
    Jul 28, 2012 at 12:31

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