-   I had the same problem in my M2000 and found out that indeed the blacklight was not working. There are two common causes for the problem, and the cheapest/easiest and perhaps most common problem is the inverter. I found one on an online auction site, and it fixed my problem. The other problem could be a broken bulb. If your laptop was dropped, then this could be the case. If the bulb is broken, then you will be best off buying a new laptop or finding a used screen. With the age of the laptop, there is no sense throwing a bunch of money at the problem IMHO. My inverter cost about $60, while screens were running about $150 and up. If you find a replacement screen for cheap, it also includes the inverter so it would be a pretty sure fix.
If you decide to go the new laptop route, you can still use the broken laptop as a spare desktop by plugging it into a monitor, USB keyboard, and USB mouse. From the sound of your problem, the computer works fine but the screen does not.-   eneal1081
The backlight in your LCD most likely needs to be replaced.if you are not familiar with it's removal and installation I suggest you take it in to a repair shop.
Any device (card) that I try inserting into the pcmcia slot will freeze the Presario M2000 with XP....
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Any device (card) that I try inserting into the pcmcia slot will freeze the Presario M2000 with XP. It did work at one time. I do not know when or why it quit. 1. Inserting a card when the laptop is on will cause it to freeze. 2. Inserting the card before resarting the laptop will keep it from restarting. The fan comes on and the screen stays black. Remove the card in this state and it will the load. 3. If I disable the Generic CardBus controller for the pcmcia before inserting the card, insertng the card has no effect. If I then enable the Generic CardBus Controller, the laptop freezes. 4. I uninstalled the Generic CardBus Controller and let the laptop reinstall it automatically upon restart. The problem remains the same. I certainly appreciate any suggestions that you may have. Rick