Black screen--nothing works

My laptop had been quite slow for some time. This morning, I pushed the power button to On, and the blue screen of death appeared. After some moments, I turned off the power, waited a while, then turned it on and got a black screen. Absolutely nothing else shows. Nothing works. Can't get into Safe Mode because nothing works. Two recovery disks came with the laptop; neither one works. The power light is on--that's all. What should I do? Thanks.

 

Restart the computer and start tapping F8 key. See if you can get to safe mode from there.

A little more info, OK? Win 7? XP? If you see that Blue Screen again, write the Stop Code as well...

 

No luck, Cipher, but thanks. There's one thing I forgot to mention: the laptop is running very hot.

 

OK, and sorry didn't see your specs in your sig before.

You need to get some air under this guy. You can buy a fan pad, but for now, try elevating it off the table with a couple of books.

Do you have an install CD? Can you try to boot from that?

 

Good idea about elevating the laptop. I didn't get an installation CD. Thanks for your help.

 

Follow-up on plodr's post; if you can see anything beside/before the black screen, try running the Dell BIST diagnostics - see http://support.dell.com/support/top...3FE44D4AAF58D13E0301E0A5517246B&isLegacy=true

 

Something new today. I turned on the laptop to see if there was anything different, and there was. A blue screen showed up with the following message in a box: "LogonULexe-Application Error. The application was unable to start correctly (oxc0000142). Click OK to close the application." I clicked OK, but nothing happened. Below the boxed message was the word "Locked." I don't know if that pertained to the message or if it is something that the message box is hiding. Thanks for the recent replies.

 

Now there is at least some response at startup try Safe Mode again, and if it boots to the desktop try running System Restore. It's possible your user profile may be corrupt.

 

Do you have an install CD? Boot to it and When Press Any Key to Boot from Cd or DVD comes do so.
Wait for Windows is Loading Files to finish.
At the Configure language and location options in Windows 7 Setup click next.
Click on the Repair your computer option.
When asked if you wish to Restore Your Computer Using System Restore, click Cancel
You'll see a message that Windows Cannot Repair the Problems Automatically. At this point click View advanced options for system recovery and support.
Click the option to give you a Command Prompt.
Typesfc /scannow and press Enter.

When this is finished, eject the install CD/DVD and reboot normally and see what you get.

 

I wrote the above in one of my messages. This afternoon, I clicked on that word, "Locked," and all of a sudden, my Desktop came back! It's kinda scrwed up, but I'm getting it fixed up. Thanks to all who responded to my plea for help. Major Geeks Rules!

 

Good news!

Since you have a licensed copy, your key should be on the sticker on the computer somewhere, check this out to get an .iso to make a disk with:

http://www.mydigitallife.info/official-windows-7-sp1-iso-from-digital-river/

"Digital River is Microsoft’s partner for fulfillment on online distribution for downloadable Microsoft products.

The Windows 7 ISO images hosted on Digital River is genuine and official version, and the downloads from the server is legal. "

 

When you get your PC functioning again, I suggest also monitoring the temperature of your PC both by feel and by installiing a temperature monitoring program. I don't know which to recommend.

Dumb_Question
5.August.2012
Compaq Presario S5160UK DT261A under XP/SP3
Processor - Celeron 2.7 GHz
Motherboard - MSI MS-6577 v2.1
RAM - 1GB + 512MB (1GB +1GB max) DDR PC2700
PSU - Octigen 300W model 10270PSOTG ('upgraded' from original Bestec 250W PSU [in 2011?])
Nvidia GeForce 6200 graphics card in AGP slot.

 

Feel is a fairly good rough indicator. Those laptop fans that go under the laptop do a good job IMO. I have also used two 1/2" square pastic rods about 12" long under a laptop to increase airflow underneath it.

http://i.imgur.com/LXgSd.jpg



Anything to get air under it so the fan has something to draw thru the unit...