Need Help from computer-knowledgable people

[windandwater]

I tried to turn on Solo this morning to check e-mail and stuff before school. And nothing happened. Actually, I think it's some sort of display problem, because when you hit the power button, the little Microsoft logo pops up, it looks like everything is fine, but nothing shows up on the screen. It stays that strange lit up black color. No blue screen of death. Nothing.

The damndest thing is that my computer is loading normally except for nothing showing up on the laptop screen. My start up sound plays. I even fiddled around blindly and I could bring up a fucking Microsoft Word document. I know this because the little dog helper thing barked at me (I detest Clippy).

I can even hit the Windows button on the keyboard, bring up the task menu, and restart the laptop. Yes, I know how to do all this from memorization of keystrokes.

I tried restarting. I tried hitting the power button again to force the lapotop to hibernate. I even *cringe* unplugged and pulled out the battery to force the laptop to stop working. Nothing works and nothing pops up on the screen.

And yes, I hit F9 during start up to try to fix it, but while THAT screen pops up, my desktop won't.

Please help me?

Oh... I'm running Windows XP. I also have AOL 9.0 installed. And Solo is a Sony Viao laptop.

I can't live without Solo! All my work is on him! And no internet!

Comments

[sunhawk16.livejournal.com]

Do you have access to an external monitor? You can plug that up to the laptop and if you get something displayed, that will tell you if your screen has just gone out. *crosses fingers for you*

[kodalai.livejournal.com]

Oh no! Poor Sera. ;_; I wish could help, but I know nothing about PCs. All I can think is that you might try to hook it up to a seperate monitor. I've never heard of LCD screens pooping out like that.

[windandwater.livejournal.com]

I don't have an external monitor, but I'll buy one if I have to. I've got a major paper to write this weekend.

>_<;;


But what bugs me is that the Windows start up screen shows up just fine, it's just the desktop or anything else that doesn't show.

*beats Microsoft*

[windandwater.livejournal.com]

*nods* This is so weird. I mean, if there was the blue screen of death, I could cope. But this is just... nothing.

[sunhawk16.livejournal.com]

That is weird that you see the start up first. Usually when those screens go, it's all or nothing. The connection between the screen and the laptop is usually through the hinges and I've had some luck getting the connection to come back by slowly tilting the screen to and fro. *shrug* I know it sounds odd, but if it's a loose connection, sometimes you can find the 'sweet-spot' and get something. Is there someplace you can go where you could plug up to a monitor just to test? It doesn't take a minute and I'd hate to see you buy a monitor until you're sure that's the problem.

[skyblueandblack.livejournal.com]

I know it's a different machine, but technology is all one to me, so my anecdote is that a friend of mine's cell phone was doing something similar. She'd turn it on, the welcome screen came up, and then nothing else. It still worked, technically, but dialing and answering incoming calls was all she could do. No texting, no phone book, nada.

Hi-chan, I suggest plugging it in, too, if only so that you can get your information out of it that you need. *huggles* Isn't Solo still under warranty, though? He should be fixable.

[windandwater.livejournal.com]

Through the hinges?

*makes sure to remember this*

I'm going to see if I can't fix it tonight. If it's still acting screwy, I'm taking Solo with me to school tomorrow, and see if the Technology Department can help me out, or if they have a screen I can use.

And barring that, I'll have to go to Comp USA or something over the weekend.

*wince*

[windandwater.livejournal.com]

He should still be under warranty, yes. But what I'm pissed over is that I had no warning that this would happen. I mean, I had shut him down properly last night, and I didn't drop him or anything.

*grumps*

[sunhawk16.livejournal.com]

Well, do your best to test it before breaking down and buying a monitor, because it's highly unusual for the screen to work through part of the boot-up process and then quit, if that's what the problem is. You didn't by any chance mess with the screen resolution, did you? I remember an incident once where the screen resolution had been changed to something the screen couldn't actually handle and the video disappeared something like you're talking about. *gnaws lip* It was a desktop though, and I don't know if a laptop would do that.
If it's still under warranty, you should be able to call the Sony tech support and they can walk you through some stuff on the phone.
And at least if it's booting up, you know your data is ok! That's the important part! *grin*

[windandwater.livejournal.com]

I know. I'm going to try everything I can think of doing before I buy a monitor. I don't exactly have the cash to throw around for that. >_<;

And I didn't do anything to the resolution. I had been using the laptop regularly and shut it down right. I just tried to turn it on and... nothing.

And yes, I'm SO glad that I know my data is okay. I have WAY too many important things on Solo to lose everything.

*hugs* Thanks so much!

[skyblueandblack.livejournal.com]

*nods* I guess that's something that would just happen... *huggles* I'm so sorry.

[samikitty.livejournal.com]

*wavies* look! i found your lj! ^_^
anyways, i had the same problem with my desktop monitor and the problem was something went screwy with one of the drivers. no warning. just woke up one morning and it wouldn't work. so... just to let you know. ^_^
oh, and as to the external mon trick... i too have a vaio and... it doesn't have the correct driver installed for an external mon either, so it does the same thing - show the windows logo, and then BLACK SCREEN!
anyways, it's not a terribly difficult thing, you won't lose any data~ but if you're like me, it's something you need to "take it in" for. ^^;;
hope this helps!

[windandwater.livejournal.com]

*GLOMPS*

A driver problem? I have the driver recovery disks, but I can't see the screen to install them. Thank you somuch! Now I need to hunt down a computer place and see if they can fix my laptop.

Hopefully it's not expensive.

>_<;