My laptop display stopped working this morning. I had loaded up a new game (Rift Beta) and alt-tabbed out to browse around the internet for a bit. When I clicked back into the game, it loaded up the main menu screen then went to a BSOD. I shut it off for a few minutes, and when I booted it back up I can see the power coming on, but the screen stays completely dark as if the power is off.
I was able to plug in an external monitor with a VGA cable and get a picture on that, but there are all sorts of dots and lines all over the screen even during the boot up process. First boot up went through the process normally, then after the Windows loading screen it went to a BSOD as well. I had to go in and tell it to load up in VGA mode (haven't tried safe mode yet, not sure if it will be of any use) to get to the actual desktop. I then tried to set it to the monitor's native resolution, which caused a BSOD as well.
I booted it back into VGA mode (which loads up at lowest possible resolution), managed to go download the latest drivers and installed them, but to no avail. Display still stays dark when just booting up the laptop, and when using the monitor there are still the same lines/dots, and changing the resolution when using the monitor still causes a BSOD.
I finally went into the BIOS and disabled the discrete graphics, and it booted up fine using the integrated graphics. I'm typing this on the laptop without the monitor plugged in, display is working fine. I'm no expert with computers, but I fear this means my graphics card is fried. The support website for the laptop is of no help at all, and with nowhere else to turn I come here to ask if anyone has any other ideas, since I'd prefer not to have to send this thing in for several weeks for repairs. At the very least it would be nice if there was a sure fire way to know the graphics card is the problem.
System Specs:
Windows XP Pro 32 Bit
Intel Core 2 Duo T9600 2.8GHz
4GB RAM (yes, I know its not being fully utilized on 32 bit XP)
ATI Mobility Radeon FireGL V5700
Nothing is overclocked, laptop is kept in an open area with plenty of breathing room. Felt no heat from any part of the laptop at the time the initial BSOD happened.
I was able to plug in an external monitor with a VGA cable and get a picture on that, but there are all sorts of dots and lines all over the screen even during the boot up process. First boot up went through the process normally, then after the Windows loading screen it went to a BSOD as well. I had to go in and tell it to load up in VGA mode (haven't tried safe mode yet, not sure if it will be of any use) to get to the actual desktop. I then tried to set it to the monitor's native resolution, which caused a BSOD as well.
I booted it back into VGA mode (which loads up at lowest possible resolution), managed to go download the latest drivers and installed them, but to no avail. Display still stays dark when just booting up the laptop, and when using the monitor there are still the same lines/dots, and changing the resolution when using the monitor still causes a BSOD.
I finally went into the BIOS and disabled the discrete graphics, and it booted up fine using the integrated graphics. I'm typing this on the laptop without the monitor plugged in, display is working fine. I'm no expert with computers, but I fear this means my graphics card is fried. The support website for the laptop is of no help at all, and with nowhere else to turn I come here to ask if anyone has any other ideas, since I'd prefer not to have to send this thing in for several weeks for repairs. At the very least it would be nice if there was a sure fire way to know the graphics card is the problem.
System Specs:
Windows XP Pro 32 Bit
Intel Core 2 Duo T9600 2.8GHz
4GB RAM (yes, I know its not being fully utilized on 32 bit XP)
ATI Mobility Radeon FireGL V5700
Nothing is overclocked, laptop is kept in an open area with plenty of breathing room. Felt no heat from any part of the laptop at the time the initial BSOD happened.
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