Blown Out Display

I went to Australia a few months ago with my toshiba laptop. After about three weeks of using their power outlets, the screen's display was unviewable, showing all sorts of colors and distorted images. The display doesn't start acting up until I get to the login screen of windows.

When I got home I hooked it up to a monitor, and it's worked fine that way for about 4 or 5 months. Yesterday, I came home to find that the monitor no longer picks up the display. I've tried a few other monitors, and none of them will pick up the display. But the display works perfectly fine in safe mode. Any ideas?

 

Hi

Have you tried updating and/or uninstalling/reinstalling your GPU (graphics) drivers? What is the specific model of laptop?

 

I haven't tried that. It's a Toshiba Satellite A-135-S4477

 

Alright. What version of Windows are you using, and is it 32 or 64 bit? You can find this information by going to the Start Menu, right clicking Computer, and selecting Properties.

 

I'm running vista, and it's 32-bit. I've also got the backup disc for apps and drivers if that helps.

 

Ok, the graphics driver is below. Please download and install it in Safe Mode and see if that helps any.

http://cdgenp01.csd.toshiba.com/content/support/downloads/driver_display_intel_25442B.exe

 

Hey thanks a million. The laptop screen still won't display correctly, but the monitor picks up the display again fine. I can live with that.

 

I'm glad you got a "liveable" condition! Does the laptop screen work in Safe Mode?

 

No it's a black screen in safe mode.

 

Does ANYTHING appear on the laptop screen at all, ever? Even the BIOS text or display when you first power the machine on?

 

From the start the display is corrupted. It's green and flashes constantly. When I try safe mode, the screen goes from corrupted when I power it on to completely black when windows starts.

 

That could be the screen cable, which could be improperly seated or faulty. It could also be the graphics chip. I doubt it's the actual screen, though it can't be ruled out. Either way, it would likely take almost complete disassembly to work on correcting the problem. If you're happy with it using an external display, then good. If you want to try and correct the screen issue, it could prove difficult, especially if you're inexperienced.