Dead Laptop Screen

[mitzi]

Hi all,

I have a compaq laptop (a friend's) and the laptop screen has gone dead.

When I press the power button, it turns on, as in the power light comes on, it seems to be making all the right noises. The screen stays black though, and it doesn't make the windows start up sound.

I used to work on a helpdesk and one of the fixes for a dead laptop screen we used to use was: turn it off, take out the battery, turn it on using AC power, turn it off, put in the battery and this usually did the trick (maybe it was just their dodgey IBM thinkpads...)

I've tried that three times and it hasn't worked.

I've also tried plugging in an external monitor however there doesn't seem to be a signal going to that either as it remains on standby.

It is only a year old so I was just wondering has anyone had any problems similar to this before with compaq laptops?

I was also thinking maybe it could be a problem with the graphics card...but I'd be guessing...I'd be grateful to hear what other people thought so that I could bring it in to be repaired and be some bit informed (they tried to tell my friend that the screen wouldn't come on because it might not have enough memory...)

 

[MindoverMaster]

Is it still under warranty? If so, I'd send it to the manufacturers, there is little you can do to fix a laptop.

 

[Trotter]

Although this is a laptop, it sounds like an issue that does belong in this forum.

With nothing showing up on the screen at all (including the vendor splash screen) and the system not booting on up, it sounds like something rather serious. The graphics chip is probably not the problem, though, as that would not prevent the laptop from booting on up sans the display.

As long as it has some memory installed the laptop should boot. If there is no memory installed, or it is bad, the BIOS should beep at you.

My first guess, based on what you have said, is that the motherboard has died on you. If it is a year old it may still be under warranty. If your friend has anything on the hard drive that they don't want to lose you ought to pull it and use a dock to access it and backup whatever they need before you send it in for repair/replacement. A friend of mine works for one of the repair hubs and it is standard practice to format and reinstall any laptop that comes in for a repair, period.

 

[mitzi]

Although this is a laptop, it sounds like an issue that does belong in this forum.

With nothing showing up on the screen at all (including the vendor splash screen) and the system not booting on up, it sounds like something rather serious. The graphics chip is probably not the problem, though, as that would not prevent the laptop from booting on up sans the display.

As long as it has some memory installed the laptop should boot. If there is no memory installed, or it is bad, the BIOS should beep at you.

My first guess, based on what you have said, is that the motherboard has died on you. If it is a year old it may still be under warranty. If your friend has anything on the hard drive that they don't want to lose you ought to pull it and use a dock to access it and backup whatever they need before you send it in for repair/replacement. A friend of mine works for one of the repair hubs and it is standard practice to format and reinstall any laptop that comes in for a repair, period.

Thanks for the info! I really wouldn't think the memory is the problem, it has 2gb running vista home basic so I'd imagine that should be fine.

No warranty I'm afraid, it was purchased without one which is now quite unfortunate :-\

I'll back up the HD anyway and bring it in somewhere to be repaired.

Thanks again!

 

[Harper]

If the laptop has an external VGA or DVI or HDMI port, you might see about connecting it to an external monitor.