Boots up but black screen
If your laptop screen is not working and is blank, you are out of luck as far as working on your computer. However, while there may be a major problem you need to troubleshoot, there are some easy solutions to keep in mind as well, such as brightness settings and your power source.
1.Check the power source. While you have presumably already attempted to turn your laptop on and off, the problem may lie with your AC power adapter. Is the power-indicator light on the adapter on? If not, your problem may lie here. However, whether or not you have a power indicator light on your adapter, consider unplugging it and plugging it into another outlet. This may turn on your laptop and take care of your blank-screen problem.
2.Check your brightness settings. While it seems like a simple oversight, the brightness on your laptop may sometimes be turned all the way down. Thus, the screen appears to be black, off or defective, when the problem is simply that the brightness is on its lowest setting. To fix the brightness, check your laptop keyboard. Most laptops have the brightness settings mapped to two keys at the top left of the keyboard, accompanied by a symbol (often a sun). Use these keys to fix your brightness, but keep in mind that some laptops require that you press the Function key at the same time as the Brightness key.
3.Check the status of your laptop battery itself. There should be a battery indicator on the laptop that is connected to the battery. This indicator is either on the bottom of the laptop or (likely) on the side. If there is no indicator, your battery itself may be the problem, and may require replacing. Keep in mind that older batteries of the nickel-cadmium variety are more likely to decharge over time and forget their initial maximum charge level; this may be a particular issue to users of older laptops.
4.Find a VGA connector and hook up your laptop to an external monitor if the above steps have not alleviated the blank-screen problem. Turn on the computer and the external monitor. Does the external monitor light up? If so, the blank screen is likely due to a video subset problem/LCD problem in your laptop.
5.Consider that a deeper problem may exist if the external monitor did not light up This problem may lie in the motherboard. In this case, taking the laptop to a professional repairman or sending it off to the manufacturer is recommended.
9/5/2011 6:23:54 PM •
Sony VAIO...
•
Answered
on Sep 05, 2011