[cjc_nrc]

my dell inspiron 5100 drank a full cup of hot coffee via the keyboard while it was on. before i powered it off, the display went black. i totally disassembled it, dried it with compressed air and paper towel. the video card has the only visually burnt spots on it. the motherboard, memory, hard drive, cdrom drive, modem, wireless card, all more or less avoided the moisture. i reassembled the pc and it appears, sounds to boot normally, albeit w/ no display. my question is, is there any way to test the pc to see if its working correctly w/ a bad video card? I dont have much money, and i dont want to spring for a video card for a computer i dont know is saveable. ty

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Hi. Do you hear any beeps or squawks coming from the computer?

[Facedown98]

Hi. Do you hear any beeps or squawks coming from the computer?

[cjc_nrc]

no, but the speakers were soaked so im not sure if they even work

[Spider-Man]

The 'beeps' that Stormknight6 was referring to are Post-BIOS beeps which are emitted by the case speaker, not your system speakers that you listen to music etc from. If your computer 'sounds' like it is booting properly with the exception of your display being shown, I'd advise you to buy a cheap replacement graphic card which is compatible with your motherboard, just so you know that the graphic card is the problem and not any other components, as you're more likely going to find a cheap graphic card than you will find a cheap compatible motherboard to test.

[98springer]

Does the laptop have a connector for an external monitor? If so, connect a monitor and see if it POST's and boots. You may have to use some key combination to select the external monitor.

[cjc_nrc]

it does, and ive tried connecting it to my desktop's monitor, but it does the same thing........any ideas on what key combo i might use to enable the external monitor......and wouldnt the video card run the external monitor as well as the laptop screen? any input here is greatly appreciated.....i have a multimeter and know how to use it, if there was any way of testing the basic functionality of the motherboard or other critical components using this or some other means i would attempt it. thanks again all

[98springer]

"i have a multimeter and know how to use it"

That just cracked me up!!

Sometimes (and mind you most of the laptops I see have all video circuitry built onto the system board) the LCD will not display but the external port will work. The LCD itself is fine. Just don't want you buying a video card for troubleshooting if you can gain more info without it.

Check the user manual for keystrokes. Some laptops detect the external monitor automatically.

If you don't hear any unusual beep codes and you see HDD activity (HDD LED flashing like it's loading) you might be okay.

[cjc_nrc]

yeah yeah lol.... there arent any strange system beeps, and yes the hdd light does flash.. there is a circuit board (says ati radeon mobility 7500) that plugs into the motherboard, and the connector from the lcd display plugs into that.... the plug for an external monitor is wired into the motherboard. i bought it used w/ no manuals, ill check dells website for info. keep the suggestions comin please