Dell Precision M70 screen has gone black

D

drape

Geek Trainee
Hello, first post. This forum looks great. But I wish I didn't have to come here! My laptop's display has just gone bad.

I have an old laptop: A Dell Precision M70 with Windows XP purchased in Dec. 2005

I'd like to keep using it. It's a decent, old horse.

Today I was working and everything was fine when the screen suddenly decided to go black. When I restart there are strange, speckled vertical lines on the Windows XP start up screen. Then the screen goes black. In about 30 seconds a screen of pixel garbage comes on for a bit then it goes black again and stays black.

I can start in Safe Mode and the screen has no trouble. This leads me to believe that the video card has gotten fried because I think (could be wrong) that Safe Mode doesn't use the video card. One of the hinges on the laptop is also kind of broken. I thought that something might have happened to the wire connecting the screen to the computer but since it works in Safe Mode that doesn't appear to be a problem.

What can I do to fix this problem? What kind of diagnostics can I perform?

Thanks for any help!
 
Try connecting your laptop to an external monitor. If the same problem happens on the external, then its probably your video controller. If it doesnt happen on the monitor, then it might be the lcd or something else causing the problem.
 
I connected the laptop to a projector. It did show up for the first Windows XP screen with the same vertical speckled lines. Then, the signal just died. Nothing there. I think it's my video controller. What do you suggest for next steps? Can I get such an old machine repaired? Replace the video controller myself?
 
I connected the laptop to a projector. It did show up for the first Windows XP screen with the same vertical speckled lines. Then, the signal just died. Nothing there. I think it's my video controller. What do you suggest for next steps? Can I get such an old machine repaired? Replace the video controller myself?
 
What is strange is that it works in safe mode without the problem. In safe mode, I believe that the only difference is that the laptop is using a generic video driver to run the video, but its still using the same video hardware on the system board. See if you can reinstall the driver for the video in your laptop and see if that makes a difference. Maybe the driver has gotten corrupted somehow.
 
My Dell M70 does Exactly the same thing. It's not the video driver.. I re-installed it and the problem exists. I thought it was the BIOS, so I flashed it with the latest... but the problem still exists. I am now stuck.
 
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