Girlfriends laptop

I was over at my girlfriends house, and she asked me to take a look at her laptop. So I started it up, and waited for windows to start. The laptop is running windows home xp. After it does the loading page for windows, and goes to switch to the log in page, the screen turns black, then the monitor turns off. The laptop is still on, and I can hear the harddrive spinning, and the fans turning, but the screen is blank. So I did a force shut down, and restarted the laptop. I hit F8 and went into the boot options, and first tried safemode. It did the loading page, and as it went to switch to login page, lo and behold blank screen. Restarted the laptop for a second time, and went into the boot options again. This time I chose last known good configuration. Yet again as it loaded windows and went to the login page, all I got was a blank screen. Final restart, I went into the bios to see if there was anything abnormal, and couldn't find anything out of place. So I tried to do a hdd test, and it came up clear. The only problem that I could think of was that their graphics card is dead, but that still doesn't explain why there is the load page, but nothing else. I think the specs on the laptop was: 1.8ghz p3 368mb of ram running windows xp home She doesn't know where she put her install disc, however I still have mine. But it is for pro, so I don't know if that will matter at all. Thanks in advance, Farfig

Hi, Sorry to hear of the problem with the laptop and the blank screen. We see quite a lot of folks with exactly the same problem and 99 times out of a 100 there is an easy fix. I just hope your girlfriend's laptop is not the 1 in a 100! It is quite easy on a laptop to hit the Function Key by mistake and as you know this is the key that is used to bring in the alternative set of keys. What usually happens is that you have hit a combination of keys that either blanks the screen or directs the output to a separate VDU (Monitor). The key combination differs according to the make of computer but is often found around F5 or F6 (sometimes it's necessary to hold shift as well for manufacturers who have a real sense of humour! On a working machine it's best to download a copy of the manual or service guide as this will spell out the exact key combination required. or: By that well worn process of trial and error you may be able fix it quite easily. If you are having serious trouble, despite trying every combination you can think of, then its time to find another screen , a desktop one will be fine, plug it in to your laptop and if you are lucky, you see the screen image appear, then its a question usually of going into Settings and altering the configuration. Right click a blank area of desktop,> Properties>Settings>Advanced is a good place to start. It's best to remember that although the screen is blank your computer is "running" so it's best (and a bit of a challange to shut it down properly (press windows key and then U and then U again often works well,. Regards paws

Thanks paws. I'll try that later tonight once I can get my hands on it, and I'll tell you how that goes

Hi Farfig, Yes let us know how you get on. Regards paws

Alright so I tried switching the monitor output with the function key, but nothing changed. So I then plugged it into her monitor, however, it still has the same affect. Also it has an s-video output on the plug, so I connected it to her tv, but still nothing would come out of it. Just a black screen. Thanks for your help so far paws. Farfig

Hi Farfig, Sorry to hear the fix did not work. It's strange because we had two machines come in last week both with exactly the same problem and they were so quick to fix that we didn't even make a charge! Perhaps your girlfriend's machine is the one in a hundred! if you are sure you have tried the key combinations specified in the manual or the "trial and error" approach with both the external monitor connected and disconnected. then it's time to move on. Crow who gives such good advice on this forum, gave me a great tip to help with this situation and I'll pass it on to you; that is to go into the Bios and find the setting that resets to "default" On Award Bios, for example it is often called "fail safe default" and can be accessed through the "Advanced" screen. Select this, save and reboot and see if this does the job. Crow also recommends that you check for dust build up inside your computer. After taking all the usual personal safety and anti static precautions use an "air duster" (dedicated computer cleaning cylinder of compressed air). On a laptop a part solution is to airdust from the outside not opening or dismantling the machine, especially if it is still under warranty. Taking apart a laptop for service is not as easy as on a desktop, you definitely need the service manual and its easy to break bits, so please be careful. if you are not absolutely certain of the correct procedures and or personal safety and anti static precautions needed and your warrant/guarantee conditions and terms, then please do not open your computer, it would be best to employ the services of a local competent technician. It's great to save money but not at the expense of personal safety, damaging your machine or invalidating the warranty/guarantee. Regards paws