Last week, a buddy of mine calls me and reports that an older laptop he was using boots up with all the normal whirring noises and activity LEDs, but the screen is blank. It was working several hours prior and was not moved. I guess LCDs could just burn out without any prior indication of failure, but I thought it unlikely.
I walk him through the usual drill and nothing worked. I asked him to remove the battery but he wouldn't as the laptop wasn't his and he wasn't 100% sure where the release latch was. When the owner came back, they pulled the battery and the laptop booted just fine, display and all. Why?
Fast forward to today. I am upgrading a Dell Inspiron 2500, adding RAM and installing XP. The first boot works fine. After a restarrt, the screen is blank, but it's clear Windows has loaded. I figured maybe the isntallation was bad so rather than troubleshoot, I reformatted and reinstalled. Same thing happens.
So I pull the battery and the screen is back. WTF is going on here? I haven't the faintest idea what is going on.
I walk him through the usual drill and nothing worked. I asked him to remove the battery but he wouldn't as the laptop wasn't his and he wasn't 100% sure where the release latch was. When the owner came back, they pulled the battery and the laptop booted just fine, display and all. Why?
Fast forward to today. I am upgrading a Dell Inspiron 2500, adding RAM and installing XP. The first boot works fine. After a restarrt, the screen is blank, but it's clear Windows has loaded. I figured maybe the isntallation was bad so rather than troubleshoot, I reformatted and reinstalled. Same thing happens.
So I pull the battery and the screen is back. WTF is going on here? I haven't the faintest idea what is going on.
