debby-nj

I am not very technical and now I desperately need help.

So today my laptop screen just started going blank.

The PC boots after a minute or 2 the screen seems to go dark. If I close the laptop and re-open the screen comes back. After a minute or 2 it goes blank again.

I could not figure out what was going on. After hours of frustration I decided to restore from Norton Ghost. I went back to a recovery point that was 6 weeks old.

That did not fix the problem.

Also when I booted from the Norton CD ... the screen still went blank. I needed to keep opening and closing the PC.

Before the problem occurred my kids were fooling with the function buttons.

I do not believe it is SW ... did NOrton Ghost eliminate that option?
Not a screen problem ... cause it comes back fine?

What is going on?

TriggerFinger

Hi,

Can you boot into BIOS settings without the screen going blacking out? Try using a linux live CD (i.e. Knoppix or Ubuntu) and see if you still get a blank screen.

When you boot into Windows and screen goes blank, can you still see your desktop beyond the dark surroundings?

debby-nj

So I ran some diagnostics ... using directions from the dell support site ... these run before boot up and the screen goes blank.

I believe that I found my problem when searching another forum:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=26647

Now I need to figure out how to fix this. Especially not being technical.

TriggerFinger

So you mean even in BIOS settings or in diagnostics screens, the LCD goes blank? Can you atleast see anything beyond the dark/dim screen (viewed at an angle or using a flashlight)?

If the LCD is totally dark/black and you cannot see anything beyond the dark/dim screen when viewed at an angle or by using a flashlight then it could be your LCD. Test with an external monitor and see if it works fine there.

debby-nj

So ...

today we took apart the laptop. Reseeded the cables.

On battery the laptop works perfect.

On power cord or in the docking station the screen keeps turning itself off.

I can't seem to find any sort of a power configuration problem.

TriggerFinger

debby-nj

So I have 2 power adapters and a docking station. No matter the A/C source screen dies.

Works fine on battery.

I tried the battery with the power cord in and/or out ... battery works.

I tried A/C power with battery in and/or out ... screen goes dark.

TriggerFinger

Just some clarification... does this happen in Windows alone? I mean, does the screen black out when you are in BIOS settings?

debby-nj

Yes it happens when I hit the F2 key and go into the Bios settings.
It also happens when I boot the PC from the Norton Ghost disk.

debby-nj

So here is something else ...

I plugged in the laptop and lowered the screen brightness. I hit Fn Down arrow and the screen stays on.

Is something broken.

TriggerFinger

When you say the screen goes dark, do you mean it dims but you can still see beyond the darkness or is it totally black? You can view it at an angle or use a flashlight. If it is totally dark in any of the scenarios (i.e. BIOS settings, Norton Ghost or Windows) then it could be your LCD or video card. If however you can still the icons or the BIOS settings window beyond the dark/dim screen then it could be your backlight (part of the LCD) or the inverter.

Have you tested with an external monitor? If not, hook up an external monitor via the vga port. Power ON the monitor then power ON the laptop. Post back what happens.