Black screen at startup

[Guest]

I have a Dell Inspiron 2500 notebook with 384MB of memory running Windows XP
Home Edition SP2. Up until a few days ago it was functioning normally. Then
one morning I turned it on and, after displaying the Dell BIOS splash screen
and the initial Windows splash screen the screen went black and stayed that
way, although the computer continued to boot normally, playing the jingle etc.

There appears to be nothing wrong with the display, because the computer can
be started at low resolution in VGA mode. Once started, the the computer can
be restored to the normal 1024 x 768 resolution through the control panel.
That seems to agrue against a failure of the video controller. Yet when the
computer is restarted normally the video once more goes black. I tried
downloading and reinstalling the latest Intel video drivers, but that had no
effect.

I'll be grateful for any suggestions or solutions.

 

[Jay Law]

On most notebooks you have a key to switch from lcd screen to external
monitors, usually its something like function key + one of the F-keys, try
plugging an external monitor into the back of the notebook and see if you
get a display, if you do, consult your notebook manual on how to switch back
to lcd screen.

Also check the refresh rate, if its set too high you might have display
problems, (around 70hz is normal)

Jay L

 

[Guest]

I'll see if I can find an external monitor and try it. I doubt the problem is
due to the refresh rate. I checked it and it is set fairly low at 60 Hz..