The hard drive being fried wouldn't stop the system from powering up as the system can run without a hard drive; it could be motherboard failure however or the battery/charger failing to work. First remove the AC cord, then remove the battery. Then hold down the power button down for 10 seconds. Then reseat the battery and reseat the charger and leave it for a couple of hours and then try powering it back up.  
My Inspiron e1705 had been running slowly and I kept getting error messages on start-up, so I decided to use the re-installation disk to re-set the OS (Win XP Media Edition).  As the installation proceeded I got several error messages: s24trans.sys file needed on Intel Pro/Wireless Transport Driver Install Disk The procedure entry point GetRequestedRunTimeVersion could not be located in the dynamic link library mscoree.dll C:\Windows|Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\mscorwks.dll could not be found I cancelled out of each message since I didn't see any alternatives.  The process completed and I was back in XP with everything looking normal.  I closed down my computer. As it was closing an Avast pop-up said that a threat was found.  Though I have had Avast on the computer for a while, I don't think I have seen one of those pop-ups before.  The computer closed before I could read it. I then tried to restart the computer.  When I pressed the button, the little yellow power light lit while my finger was on the button, but nothing else happened.  The computer didn't even start to turn on.  I have tried the button multiple times, of course.  I am wondering if the hard drive somehow got fried.  Any thoughts, suggestions?
After running Dell OS re-install DVD, my e1705 will not turn on