Question : Problem: laptop shuts off before post

I have a Dell Latitude CPt. When I try to boot it up, power, hard drive and battery lights come on for approx 8 sec
and then it shuts itself down. There is no POST, no POST error beeps. I removed battery, optical drive, hard drive and memory to try to get diagnostic beeps. It turns on and shuts down same after 8 sec. The power light goes off after 1 sec and the hdd and battery lights stay on for an additional 7 sec before shut down. I tried a different power supply; same results. How can I test to see if Processor or motherboard is bad? How can I get disassembly instructions for the Dell laptop?

Answer : Problem: laptop shuts off before post

A teardown guide can be found here:
http://support.dell.com/support/systemsinfo/documentation.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&~cat=12&~subcat=87

As you can see, there are various different latitude cpt models (CPTa CPTR, CPTC, etc).

The only way to know what part is causing the problem is to swap with a known good part or put the part in a known good laptop =)

Crack her open and make sure the fans are spinning, make sure the heatsink is firmly attached.

jeff