Compaq 1090ES laptop died

[BonedAgain]

I initially posted this to the systems group, then noticed there was a notebook forum (I guess at first I was looking for the word "laptop"). Sorry for the inappropriate posting

A friend has a Campaq 1090ES laptop which has died. When it is turned on,the hard drive spins constantly (but no accessing sounds), but the CPU fan is still and the screen is black. I'm wondering in there is a fuse
somewhere (or some other component) which might be responsible for a lack
of cpu fan, screen and other functions, except those noted. I have a good
electronics background & some pc repair experience but this is the 1st
laptop I have worked on. Suggestions? Also, how does one access the main
board on this laptop? I have the lower panel which exposes the HDD removed,
the keyboard free, and the upper half of the case free up to about 1" from
the screen. How can I separate the case entirely to get a clear view of the
motherboard? I know the most likely scenario here is probably fan failure followed by CPU BBQ. If this is the case, is the CPU likely to be the only bad component (other than the fan)? Is it cost effective to replace the cpu & fan on a pc this age (not really too old, made in 1997). Don't know for sure what speed the think is, it's win 95, 1.44G hdd, 16M ram.

Thanks,

BA

[kenja]

"(not really too old, made in 1997)" It isn't too old if we're talking about cars, but as for PC computers... just about end of the line. (Paleo Pete may vehemently (for him ) disagree.)

[kenja]

[With a nod to Linux enthusiasts:] Make that "...for Windows PC computers..."