Laptop Screen Periodically Stops Working!

Dell Latitude D810
Windows XP Pro SP3
*ATI Mobility Radeon X300*

So randomly one night (after having used my laptop with everything working fine about three hours prior) my screen wouldn't work/turn on. I tired turning the laptop off and then on again...nothing. The hard drive seemed to be running and windows was loading because my wifi light turned on and yet no picture, not even a flicker. I went about sort of dissecting my monitor and found nothing sand out bad though I don't know what I'd be looking for anyway. So after reconnecting everything and trying it again it worked. So I thought problem solved. While I was using the computer nothing happened out of the ordinary.

But later when I tried turning on my laptop the next morning the same thing happened. This time all I did was remove the plastic panel containing the power button under the screen and disconnected then reconnected this piece. It sort of snaps together (2 sides...1 black and 1 white wiring going to each). I don't know what this is but fiddling with it made the screen work again. So now I still really don't know what the problem is. Moniter itself? Video Card? What? Anyway now you know as much as whats happened as I do. Can anyone help?

 

First, check to be sure the internal cooling fan(s) are working properly. After turning the PC on, hold the PC up to your ear and listen for the fan noise and/or shine a flashlight into the cooling slats to verify the fan is spinning. If the fan is not working, STOP USING THE PC UNTIL IT IS FIXED. Running without proper cooling can result in a fried motherboard (I've had two such PCs brought into my shop during the past week).

If the fan works but looks dusty, spray both the inflow and outflow slots with a can of compressed air.

If this isn't the issue, hook the PC up to an external monitor and wait for the notebook screen to "fail" again. If the external monitor loses its picture at the same time, it is likely an issue with your video card or on-board video. If the external display still shows an image, it could be a bad video internal video cable and/or inverter.

Hope these tips help.

 

How would I go about fixing this...the switch isn't visable when you open the lid like on some laptops?

 

Okay...so the fans appear to work, but i am beggining to wonder if this isn't related to this whining sound I hear when I move my laptop while its on. The sound has been happening for awhile and the screen issue is recent.

1. The screen never goes out during use, it only wont turn on after the computer has been off for a while. And I tried hooking up the laptop to an external monitor while the screen was down and it didn't work like it normally does (nothing happened).

2. If it is the video car how can I go about replacing it... and if it is the video card why does the screen sometimes work (usually after taking it apart).

3. Could any physical damage to the hard drive cause this either? One of my parent's friends is an electrical engineer and he told me that the silver circle in the center of my hard drive was so crucial/delicate that I shouldn't even touch it...upon inspection yesterday though I discovered a couple of gouges/deep scratches in it. Could this cause any funkiness with the screen?

 

Really though I still need help with this. It continues to happen. How do I fix it and why hasn't anyone responded?

 

Go into CONTROL PANEL>POWER OPTIONS and (in the list of options on the left) change the setting for what happens when you close the lid to "do nothing" when plugged in. This will essentially disable the toggle switch when the unit is plugged in.

 

If you have tried the Power Options tip (above) and you still end up with no video display when connected to an external monitor, the issue is likely a bad on-board video chip. The fix unfortunately involves either replacing the motherboard or finding a tech who is experienced in fixing (tracing the issue and replacing the on-board chip). A repair such as this will cost at least $150 (possibly more). If you end up having this done, be sure the work comes with a written warranty (at least 30, preferably 90 days).

I doubt this is a hard drive problem. Hard drives usually exhibit signs of impending death through boot failures, BSODs or system freeze-ups.