Screen problems with old Compaq Presario

gilmoregirlz · 03-16-2009, 03:14 PM

I'm trying to fix an old Compaq Presario 1240 laptop for my aunt. (I realize this is a really old laptop, but she only wants it for word processing and maybe email, and doesn't have $300 or $400 for a new basic laptop.) Long story short, the laptop was given to her, but a while later the screen died, and everyone told her it wouldn't be worth fixing. But I've now decided to tackle it and see how cheaply it could possibly be fixed for, if I do all the work myself.

The screen on the laptop is blank except for two white vertical lines towards the right. I plugged in an external monitor, and the image comes up fine on that. So I'm assuming this is just some sort of problem with the screen. I'm hoping to be able to pick one up on ebay cheap, but I want to be sure of the exact problem first.

Here's a picture of the laptop connected to the external monitor:
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i171/gilmoregirlz/lappy.jpg

So does anyone have any ideas or things I should do or try? Is this most likely needing a complete screen replacement, or maybe just a certain part? Any suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much!

**TriggerFinger** · 03-16-2009, 03:25 PM

Does it look the same in Safe Mode or in BIOS settings menu? If yes, then it could be the LCD. If it behaves like that ONLY in Normal mode then it could be something else but I doubt because you used an external monitor and laptop worked well there.

gilmoregirlz · 03-16-2009, 04:12 PM

It does look the same in BIOS and safe mode.... I just tested it to make sure. However, in testing those things, the laptop screen did some different things, I don't know if it matters or not....At one point the screen was white with those same two bars being black (instead of the other way around), and then another time or two the screen was white and filled with lots of brightly colored vertical lines. But at no point did it show any normal images. (The external monitor showed fine during all this.)

I've noticed when I turn it on most of the time it comes up with a white screen, then fades to a dark purple tint and then to black, radiating from the right side of the screen to the left. Sometimes it will do a white/teal tint and then fade to black also.

Do you know if this is likely to need a full lcd replacement, or just one part? (I'm assuming it's not the backlight, since the screen goes white with those colored lines sometimes.)

**TriggerFinger** · 03-16-2009, 04:21 PM

Based on what you have tested so far it sure looks to me like an LCD replacement would solve it. But then again, I could be wrong. If only you can get hold of an LCD to test with. A more in depth analysis by a repair shop could help.

gilmoregirlz · 03-16-2009, 05:08 PM

So just the LCD alone is a good bet? It probably doesn't need a backlight or inverter, right? (From what I've read, I'm guessing that's the case...)

Thanks so much for the info. I'll tell my aunt and see what she wants to do.

**TriggerFinger** · 03-16-2009, 05:58 PM

The backlight is part of the LCD assembly. The inverter is a separate part but it would have a different symptom.

03-16-2009, 03:14 PM	#1 (permalink)
gilmoregirlz Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 8 OS: XP	Screen problems with old Compaq Presario I'm trying to fix an old Compaq Presario 1240 laptop for my aunt. (I realize this is a really old laptop, but she only wants it for word processing and maybe email, and doesn't have $300 or $400 for a new basic laptop.) Long story short, the laptop was given to her, but a while later the screen died, and everyone told her it wouldn't be worth fixing. But I've now decided to tackle it and see how cheaply it could possibly be fixed for, if I do all the work myself. The screen on the laptop is blank except for two white vertical lines towards the right. I plugged in an external monitor, and the image comes up fine on that. So I'm assuming this is just some sort of problem with the screen. I'm hoping to be able to pick one up on ebay cheap, but I want to be sure of the exact problem first. Here's a picture of the laptop connected to the external monitor: http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i171/gilmoregirlz/lappy.jpg So does anyone have any ideas or things I should do or try? Is this most likely needing a complete screen replacement, or maybe just a certain part? Any suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!

03-16-2009, 03:25 PM	#2 (permalink)
TriggerFinger Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: USA Posts: 11,846 OS: Vista SP1, XP SP3, PCLinuxOS2007	Re: Screen problems with old Compaq Presario Does it look the same in Safe Mode or in BIOS settings menu? If yes, then it could be the LCD. If it behaves like that ONLY in Normal mode then it could be something else but I doubt because you used an external monitor and laptop worked well there. __________________ DBAN - Memtest86+ - BartPE - Linux LiveCD - ImgBurn - HDD Diags - Disk Copy HOW TO BURN AN ISO FILE

03-16-2009, 04:12 PM	#3 (permalink)
gilmoregirlz Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 8 OS: XP	Re: Screen problems with old Compaq Presario It does look the same in BIOS and safe mode.... I just tested it to make sure. However, in testing those things, the laptop screen did some different things, I don't know if it matters or not....At one point the screen was white with those same two bars being black (instead of the other way around), and then another time or two the screen was white and filled with lots of brightly colored vertical lines. But at no point did it show any normal images. (The external monitor showed fine during all this.) I've noticed when I turn it on most of the time it comes up with a white screen, then fades to a dark purple tint and then to black, radiating from the right side of the screen to the left. Sometimes it will do a white/teal tint and then fade to black also. Do you know if this is likely to need a full lcd replacement, or just one part? (I'm assuming it's not the backlight, since the screen goes white with those colored lines sometimes.)

03-16-2009, 04:21 PM	#4 (permalink)
TriggerFinger Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: USA Posts: 11,846 OS: Vista SP1, XP SP3, PCLinuxOS2007	Re: Screen problems with old Compaq Presario Based on what you have tested so far it sure looks to me like an LCD replacement would solve it. But then again, I could be wrong. If only you can get hold of an LCD to test with. A more in depth analysis by a repair shop could help. __________________ DBAN - Memtest86+ - BartPE - Linux LiveCD - ImgBurn - HDD Diags - Disk Copy HOW TO BURN AN ISO FILE

03-16-2009, 05:08 PM	#5 (permalink)
gilmoregirlz Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 8 OS: XP	Re: Screen problems with old Compaq Presario So just the LCD alone is a good bet? It probably doesn't need a backlight or inverter, right? (From what I've read, I'm guessing that's the case...) Thanks so much for the info. I'll tell my aunt and see what she wants to do.

03-16-2009, 05:58 PM	#6 (permalink)
TriggerFinger Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: USA Posts: 11,846 OS: Vista SP1, XP SP3, PCLinuxOS2007	Re: Screen problems with old Compaq Presario The backlight is part of the LCD assembly. The inverter is a separate part but it would have a different symptom. __________________ DBAN - Memtest86+ - BartPE - Linux LiveCD - ImgBurn - HDD Diags - Disk Copy HOW TO BURN AN ISO FILE