Has my laptop died?

oliver2008

Tried to switch on my laptop last night but there appears to be no screen. It starts up ok, and I get the windows page but once it has logged on there is like a shadow over the page so I cant see anything, has it died or is there anything I can do?

Thanks
Sarah

KingL

try boooting it in safe mode as a first step. Here's how
http://www.computerhope.com/issues/chsafe.htm

totalsolutions

Try another monitor, connect to the video out socket on the laptop side and then press FN+F4 (in my case) can you see an image on the external screen?

>Appears to be no screen

???

What do you mean by shadow?? Not very clear .. Is the Brightness turned down low? Again Fn key + up/down or function key.

Is the normal windows page and log on page normal--ok?

oliver2008

totalsolutions wrote: »

Try another monitor, connect to the video out socket on the laptop side and then press FN+F4 (in my case) can you see an image on the external screen?

>Appears to be no screen

???

What do you mean by shadow?? Not very clear .. Is the Brightness turned down low? Again Fn key + up/down or function key.

Is the normal windows page and log on page normal--ok?

The windows page and log on page are both normal, Im saying no screen but you can see the screen vaguely as if looking through a dark shadow?

KingL

I used to have one that did that. Switching it off and removing all power sources (mains lead and battery) for half an hour used to clear it. No idea why, but worth a try !

Esqui

Is it a Dell? I ask this because last weekend I saw one with a faulty power cable...the battery was low so the laptop automatically turned the backlight off.

If not, it looks like something in Windows is trying to save power by turning the backlight off (hence it looks fine up until logging in).

TonyMMM

...follow the instructions from post#3 and connect it to an external monitor ...if that works OK you know it is a screen problem...It could be that the backlight/inverter has died which is a common fault on laptops

GunJack

if poss, check your power settings, see what it's set for. If it's not already, set for Balanced power profile...

oliver2008

Esqui wrote: »

Is it a Dell? I ask this because last weekend I saw one with a faulty power cable...the battery was low so the laptop automatically turned the backlight off.

If not, it looks like something in Windows is trying to save power by turning the backlight off (hence it looks fine up until logging in).

I am now pretty certain it is the power cable (it is a Dell), now anybody know where the cheapest place to buy a new charger is

Esqui

If it's still under warranty and you're a masochist, you can try calling Dell. They should send a new one out.

(If it's out of warranty and you are an extreme masochist, try that too)

KingL

Cheap isn't necessarily good when it comes to power supplies. I had a cheap one blow up a £250 motherboard (fortunately the computer was still under warranty!)