Finding the Problem

[shakes91]

laptop computer running windows vista 64 bit
It first started by saying "Tablet Driver is not running".
I would be able to just hit "ok" and continue working.
until recently when I tried opening a computer game the first crash happened.
the best way I can describe it is that there was a mesh of red squiggly lines that went across my whole screen.
then soon the screen would go black but the computer would still be running.
I reformatted/reinstalled all the software and drivers and it looked as if it would work.
until i was searching the internet and it randomly repeated the same type of crash.
currently my computer will start only with a black lit screen.
I can notice the brightness go up and down with the hotkeys.
because I wiped the computers memory clean and the problem persists I am leaning towards it being a hardware issue.
Any suggestions as to what might be the problem will be much appreciated and things to try to attempt to solve it.
Thank you in advance.
Shakes

 

[NesuD]

Sounds like a smoked video adapter. Squiggly lines then progressing to plain old black screen scream video fail to me. If it is under warranty have it repaired if not.... may be more cost effective to go new than to repair depending on what you are using it for and how old it is.

Just to make sure it isn't a bad LCD panel boot it and then shine a flashlight on it and see if you see anything. If the backlights went bad in the panel you should still be able to see windows when you shine a light on the screen.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

NesuD is on the right track, it does sound like a bad video adapter, or possibly bad lcd panel or simply a bad cable going from video adapter to display

 

[shakes91]

thank you for the responses