Laptop diagnostic/ repair help

Hello! I'm going off to college soon, so when I saw a laptop in parts that someone was throwing away, I nabbed it.

I realize, of course, that if they were throwing it away there was probably something wrong with it in the first place, but I would rather take the chance and attempt to repair this one on the cheap before going out and having to spend hundreds on a new laptop.

I put the laptop back together, and this is what it looks like now.

The laptop is missing a USB chip, all RAM, and speakers. Here are the symptoms:

Keyboard lights do not turn on when plugged into charger

Fans do not turn on

Positives:

Battery gets warm when plugged up (yay power!)

Nothing seems obviously broken upon inspection

I have ordered a motherboard speaker that I will attempt to use when it comes in. I have done a little bit of research and found that the computer won't turn on unless RAM is inserted, so I will use the motherboard speaker to check if anything is working at all.

Some questions:

if I don't hear anything from the speaker, what are the next steps?

If I do hear noise from the speaker, is the next step to just plug some RAM in?

Are the fans/lights meant to turn on even if there is no RAM?

Could the missing screws cuase any of these issues (grounding problems?)

Thanks!

Hello! I'm going off to college soon, so when I saw a laptop in parts that someone was throwing away, I nabbed it.

I realize, of course, that if they were throwing it away there was probably something wrong with it in the first place, but I would rather take the chance and attempt to repair this one on the cheap before going out and having to spend hundreds on a new laptop.

I put the laptop back together, and this is what it looks like now.

The laptop is missing a USB chip, all RAM, and speakers. Here are the symptoms:

Keyboard lights do not turn on when plugged into charger

Fans do not turn on

Positives:

Battery gets warm when plugged up (yay power!)

Nothing seems obviously broken upon inspection

I have ordered a motherboard speaker that I will attempt to use when it comes in. I have done a little bit of research and found that the computer won't turn on unless RAM is inserted, so I will use the motherboard speaker to check if anything is working at all.

Some questions:

if I don't hear anything from the speaker, what are the next steps?

If I do hear noise from the speaker, is the next step to just plug some RAM in?

Are the fans/lights meant to turn on even if there is no RAM?

Could the missing screws cuase any of these issues (grounding problems?)

Thanks!