hp dv4-1145go

hi my neices computer screen is not showing anything its a light blueish gray color, i hooked it up to a external lcd screen and it works, computer runs perfect. any help on what to do, thanks

Hi, sorry to hear of the problem with the screen display on your neices computer. The fact that the external VDU operates Ok indicates that the problem is either: 1 a failed backlight or invertor or 2 bad connecting wire from computer to VDU Here's a couple of things to try: 1 Try to manually operate the "lid close microswitch" jiggle it about……any change in the screens appearance? 2 shine a good flashlight directly into the screen from a distance of less than 1 inch…….can you see the feint impression of your normal Windows screen items if you look carefully? 3 open and close the laptop's lid a few times, twist it very very gently…be careful you don't break anything! press your fingers and thumbs into the surfaces of the screen surround towards the bottom and around the top of the plastic parts above the keyboard…(you are trying here to move slightly, a badly connecting cable by applying the external pressure to the cable that lies inside. 4 check the keyboard key combination to toggle on the laptops keyboard (see the user manual for the exact key combination..but its often something similar to Fn+F5 5 If its the invertor then these are relatively cheap to buy but can be a bit of a fiddle to fit…..even in a well equipped workshop with a service manual to hand its fairly easy to break a plastic part when disassembling the laptop and that's why labour charges for work on laptops can be higher than expected. 6 The backlights are next higher in price and the same sort of labour charge would be involved (In the UK expect to pay around £100 to £175 for a combined invertor and backlight replacement…..sometimes its easier and considerably cheaper just to replace the complete screen unit (they can sometimes be found on ebay…..etc but the usual cautious approach should be used) 7 Hopefully it will be either a loose connecting wire or damage video cable and this can be fixed by the careful home user, otherwise its about 3 hours or so of fairly detailed work Repair instructions can easily be downloaded from the net if necessary…. or take it into your local repair facility ( but do get a fixed price estimate first…) 8 the alternative is of course to keep using it with the external screen….. a very inexpensive "solution" if its not intended to use the machine too much away from home! Regards paws