Flashing at Bottom of Screen

Hi there,

My name is Sal, and I am new to the site, so apologies in advance if I have posted my issue in the wrong place, my issue is as follows:

Up until yesterday afternoon, my laptop has been working perfectly well, however, I was busily working away on a document in Word, and out of nowhere, the screen at the bottom of the page, close to the taskbar began to flash every few seconds, displaying  a reflection of the upper part of the screen. I had not downloaded any apps or anything, and so I carried out a System Restore, which sadly did not resolve the problem, and the screen continues to flicker, (which is giving me quite a headache).

I am using Windows Vista Business, and have been using the Avast free antivirus, which is due to run out in 9 days (I'm not sure if this relevant to my problem, I'm just trying to give you all as much details as possible).

Thanks in advance for any advice, and apologies once again if I have not supplied enough information, as I'm a little bit of technophobe when it comes to computers.

Best wishes

Sal

Sounds like a display problem.

Do you see this if you boot to Safe Mode?

Do you see it if you boot to BIOS Setup?

Sounds like a display problem.

 

Do you see this if you boot to Safe Mode?

Do you see it if you boot to BIOS Setup?

Hi there, thanks for replying to message.

I will try Safe Mode and see what happens, but I'm not sure what BIOS mode is.

Sounds like a display problem.

 

Do you see this if you boot to Safe Mode?

Do you see it if you boot to BIOS Setup?

Hi again,

I have booted in Safe Mode, and the screen is still flashing, any ideas on what I should try next?

Many thanks.

Try entering BIOS Setup. If still flashing then your display has gone bad and you need to replace it (or the motherboard) or get a new Laptop.

For the time being you could hook up an external monitor. Your laptop should have a VBG connector on one  side that you can connect a external monitor to. Use it that way until you can affor to get your laptop repaird or replaced.

I strongly urge you to backup your hard drive  now or as soon as possible to an external USB hard drive, and keep it current.  The best way to do this is to use Macrium Reflect Free to make an image backup to an external hard drive. If you don't have an external hard drive now is a good time to get one as regular backup should be a part of your normal process. You can get a 1TB external hard drive for $60 (less if on sale).

Try entering BIOS Setup. If still flashing then your display has gone bad and you need to replace it (or the motherboard) or get a new Laptop.

 

For the time being you could hook up an external monitor. Your laptop should have a VBG connector on one  side that you can connect a external monitor to. Use it that way until you can affor to get your laptop repaird or replaced.

 

I strongly urge you to backup your hard drive  now or as soon as possible to an external USB hard drive, and keep it current.  The best way to do this is to use Macrium Reflect Free to make an image backup to an external hard drive. If you don't have an external hard drive now is a good time to get one as regular backup should be a part of your normal process. You can get a 1TB external hard drive for $60 (less if on sale).

Hi there,

Many apologies for my delay in replying to your message, it’s been a horrendous week! And huge thanks for taking the time in assisting me, it is greatly appreciated.

I will follow your instructions, as suggested, so firstly, apologies for what might seem like a stupid question, but where do I enter BIOS Setup?

Thanks again for your assistance and patience.

Best wishes

Sal

Hello Sal,

If I may chime in while Ztruker is offline.

If you post the brand and model name or number for us we should be able to tell you the steps for accessing the BIOS.

For the time being you could hook up an external monitor. Your laptop should have a VBG connector on one  side that you can connect a external monitor to. Use it that way until you can affor to get your laptop repaird or replaced.

 

Have you tried the above, if yes, what happened, if no, can you try it and let us know what happens, this information will help determine if the issue is software related (drivers) or hardware (bad motherboard/graphics solution, bad screen or video cable etc).

Hello Sal,

 

If I may chime in while Ztruker is offline.

 

If you post the brand and model name or number for us we should be able to tell you the steps for accessing the BIOS.

 

For the time being you could hook up an external monitor. Your laptop should have a VBG connector on one  side that you can connect a external monitor to. Use it that way until you can affor to get your laptop repaird or replaced.

 

 

Have you tried the above, if yes, what happened, if no, can you try it and let us know what happens, this information will help determine if the issue is software related (drivers) or hardware (bad motherboard/graphics solution, bad screen or video cable etc).

Hi there Phill,

Thank you so much, please do 'chime in' as you will no doubt have observed, I'm not the brightest spark in the box when it comes to computers, and so any advice is greatly appreciated.

I have a Dell E6400, which I use extensively in my work as a research and legal transcriber, typing lengthy documents of upto 200 page interviews, so I mainly use Microsoft word, and so I am desperately trying to get it sorted, as the flashing is giving me a headache, and unfortunately, I don't have a budget for a new laptop at this stage, and so I suppose that my next step would be to follow Ztruckers's advice about an external monitor, I am just searching for a cable.

Please do let me know if you need any further details about my laptop.

Thanks once again for your kind help.

Hello Sal,

Thanks for the additional info 

To access the BIOS, restart the notebook while continually tapping the F2 key, if the screen flickers in the BIOS there is a hardware issue.

In addition to the above, see the Dell diagnostic tests info here please note that unless you have backed up your HDD as was suggested above, you should not run the Full Test as it will test the hard drive and if it is flaky it could fail, use the Custom option as you select the devices that you want to test.

You are welcome btw 

Hello Sal,

 

Thanks for the additional info 

 

To access the BIOS, restart the notebook while continually tapping the F2 key, if the screen flickers in the BIOS there is a hardware issue.

 

In addition to the above, see the Dell diagnostic tests info here please note that unless you have backed up your HDD as was suggested above, you should not run the Full Test as it will test the hard drive and if it is flaky it could fail, use the Custom option as you select the devices that you want to test.

 

You are welcome btw 

Hi Phill,

I have followed your instructions and restarted my laptop by continually tapping the F2 key, however, I cannot see a BIOS option, I have taken note of all of the options, which are as follows:-

SETTINGS

- System Information

- Battery Information

- Boot

- Date / Time

System Configuration

Viedeo

Security

Performance

Power Management

POST Behaviour

Virtualization Support

Wireless

Maintainance

System Logs

Sorry for the long post, I just thought I would give you the full and precise listings of all the options.

Hi Sal,

The above info is from the Dell BIOS 

How was the screen behaving, any flashing at all.

Hi Sal,

 

The above info is from the Dell BIOS 

 

How was the screen behaving, any flashing at all.

Hi Phill,

Sadly, the screen is still flashing.  I will now try your second suggestion of running a customized Dell Diagnostic test. 

UPDATE:

I have clicked on your link for the diagnostic test, and although there are further links to a quick test and full test, there does not seem to be a direct link to a custom checl, furthermore, once I actually find the link, which features should I specifically check for? I'm assuming Display feature, but should I also check for any other features?

Sal

Hi Sal,

The flashing being present in the BIOS is not a good sign I`m afraid 

The Dell tests pretty much run themselves but tbh the next logical step is to try the external display test, reason being is that should the flashing be present on an external display it would point towards an internal hardware fault with the MB whereas if the flashing is not present on the external display the two main culprits would be the video cable (less likely with flashing) and the screen or one of its associated components, such parts may include a backlight and an inverter depending on any specific computer.

Hi Sal,

 

The flashing being present in the BIOS is not a good sign I`m afraid 

 

The Dell tests pretty much run themselves but tbh the next logical step is to try the external display test, reason being is that should the flashing be present on an external display it would point towards an internal hardware fault with the MB whereas if the flashing is not present on the external display the two main culprits would be the video cable (less likely with flashing) and the screen or one of its associated components, such parts may include a backlight and an inverter depending on any specific computer.

Hi Phill,

Sounds bleak.  I'll start off with the Dell custom check, but still can't find a direct link to running it, do you have any suggestions?

Sal

If it is a defective screen, you can get a new replacement for under $30US.

New Dell OEM Latitude E6400 14.1" WXGA+ LED LCD Screen Display - GX968
Dell Latitude E6400 | LCD Screen Replacement | How-To-Tutorial

If it's not the screen then it would be the motherboard. A refurbished replacement is available anywhere from $15US to $25US

Dell E6400 motherboard replacement
Dell Latitude E6400 | Motherboard Replacement | How-To-Tutorial

Laptops are a tad difficult to work on, you have to be patient and meticulous and keep good track of what goes where when disassembling so you can put it back together again. Taking pictures can help a lot.

Vista is OLD OLD OLD so you should seriously think about or start saving for a replacement, which will be Windows 10.