[mcbee]

A friend has just phoned to say that as he was wiping dust of his laptop screen it went blank. He can see his desktop background very faintly and the cursor but nothing else. Rebooting didn't help. I think it is a" monitor" problem. He does not have a desktop monitor to try.Any ideas?

[alex]

Originally Posted by mcbee

A friend has just phoned to say that as he was wiping dust of his laptop screen it went blank. He can see his desktop background very faintly and the cursor but nothing else. Rebooting didn't help. I think it is a" monitor" problem. He does not have a desktop monitor to try.Any ideas?

Time for your pal to troubleshoot Mcbee.

It could be the switch that powers down the screen when the lid is closed (check its settings in the bios and check the hibernation settings).

It could be the earthing wire to the fan (if there is a fan)

It could be a loose cpu.

It could be that the backlight is on its way out.

Before doing any of the above (except the bios and hibernation suggestions) I'd strongly recommend your friend contact the company he purchased from if the laptop is still under warranty.

[mcbee]

Thanks Alex. I won't get a chance to look at it until next Monday then I'm away for a week. The laptop is 4 years old so replacement may be the answer if it is serious.