[dveeneman]

Two days ago I was working on my laptop and the screen went black. I tried moving the mouse, hitting buttons, etc. and nothing worked. I rebooted and it worked fine. The next day it seems to work ok but I didn't really use it much. This morning I was working for about 45 minutes and the screen went black again. I've been to a couple forums and tried disconnecting the power, removing the battering, and then reconnecting and starting it. I've also tried hitting F8 but the screen doesn't stay up long enough to do anything. Any suggestions?

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Hello welcome to GeeksToGo, We will be happy to help you.

We will need some more information

Make
Model
Operating System
Age of the computer
Memory Total
Hard Drive Size, How much free space

In Addition please supply:

Any software installed\updated and driver updates done just before problem started.
Any hardware installed\updated prior to problem starting.

All this will help in determining a course of action to best correct the problem you are experiencing.

Have you checked for blocked vents to make sure air flow is good?
Can you tell if the fan is turning inside the laptop?

[rshaffer61]

Hello welcome to GeeksToGo, We will be happy to help you.

We will need some more information

Make
Model
Operating System
Age of the computer
Memory Total
Hard Drive Size, How much free space

In Addition please supply:

Any software installed\updated and driver updates done just before problem started.
Any hardware installed\updated prior to problem starting.

All this will help in determining a course of action to best correct the problem you are experiencing.

Have you checked for blocked vents to make sure air flow is good?
Can you tell if the fan is turning inside the laptop?

[dveeneman]

It's a Dell Inspiron 6000 with Windows XP. I received it for Christmas in 2005. The original problem starting when I was working on taxes in TurboTax. Other than TurboTax checking for updates, nothing new added. This morning I did have it upgrade to Windows Explore 8.

I can't answer most of your questions because when I reboot it starts the process, shows the normal start up screen and then goes black. So I can't do anything with it. It sounds like it is still running. I can hear the fan and the power light stays on. The icon next to the power light sometimes stays steady and sometimes blinks. There is an icon that looks like a lock or a box with a handle with the a "9" on it. It comes on at first and then goes out and the wi/fi light comes on and stays on. As you can tell I'm not very computer technology literate!

[rshaffer61]

Take a look HERE
Does this look like your laptop?
The specs show only 512 megs of memory.
FYI that is bare minimum for XP to function. The sweet spot is normally 1 gig. Something to think about in the near future.
Sounds like Explorer 8 may have done something. To make sure lets run some tests
Starting with the HD.

Click HD diagnostic in my signature below. Choose the manufacturer of your hd.(Fujitsu in your case)If no Fujitsu the try Sea Toolsand download the tool. Running this will tell us if there is a problem with HD itself. If not then we will pursue other hardware or software possibilities

[dveeneman]

Update: I went to Dell's website and ran some tests. I have hooked up an external monitor and am trying to determine the memory. From My Computer it shows the local disk as 51.1 GB with 25.8 GB Free Space. Not sure how to know what the memory capacity is. BTW when I hold the fn key and use F8 to toggle back and forth my laptop screen displays for about 2 seconds and then goes black again.

[rshaffer61]

There should be a service tag on your laptop someplace that when typed in on Dell's site should give your configuration of that laptop.
If nothing has been changed then the memory amount I mentioned in my last post would be what is installed.
The HD should be correct from what you stated.

[dveeneman]

The service tag # is 45LHZ81. Do I still need to run the HD Diagnostics?

[rshaffer61]

With external monitor are you being able to keep video going?
If not then yes please run HD diagnostics.
If you are then we can continue on.
If you can get into windows then to find the memory do the following


Push and hold the Windows key on keyboard. This is the one with the Microsft windows logo on it.
While holding Win key down click on the Pause\Break key

This should open the System properties window
On this window it will show

System info:

Microsoft Windows: type and version
Service Pack number

Registered Name
Register Number

Computer:
CPU type
Memory

I need all the above info in your next reply Except for Register name and number.
This is private and we don't need to know this information

Edited by rshaffer61, 07 July 2009 - 04:24 PM.

[dveeneman]

Sorry for the delay. I'm new to forums too and not sure how to know when you've replied. Here's the info:

System - Microsoft Windows XP, Media Center Edidtion, Vresion 2002, Service Pack 3

Dell Inspriron (6000) Intel® Pentium®M processor 1.73 GHz, 795 MHz, 504 MB RAM Physcial Address Extension

[rshaffer61]

This is the total ram memory as I mentioned before. I suggest that you go to 1 gig to help this out.
Are you using an external monitor and the video is not going out?

Go HERE and run the Crucial online scanner.
This will give you the exact memory configuration for your system. You do not have to buy the memory from there, but write down the information and if you need assistance in purchasing the upgrade memory GTG can assist with suggestions also.

[dveeneman]

The external monitor is working fine. I don't have wireless access but I'm not sure if that's because I'm in the basement, using my desktop to get info on fixing the problem or if it's because the laptop isn't picking up the wireless signal.

How do I run the online scanner for my laptop without being able to access the internet?

[rshaffer61]

If external monitor is working with no problem then that could mean your laptop screen maybe bad.

Try this one here on Newegg. Left side of the website where it says Memory Configurator.

You would need to chose the system platform and in your case it would be [b]Notebook
Then follow the menus from there.
It should be able to tell you what memory goes in your laptop and give you some recommendations.
Let me know if this helps.

Edited by rshaffer61, 07 July 2009 - 06:26 PM.

[dveeneman]

Thank you for all your help. I have someone whose going to stop by in a little while and try restoring the computer to what it was before I upgraded to Internet Explorer 8 and see if that helps.

If the memory capacity is a problem, would it help to try and clean some things off of it until I can add memory?

[rshaffer61]

Yes a easy way to do that is to uninstall un needed or rarely used programs. Do that by following these next steps.
Please let me know how everything goes with the monitor issue and if there are any other questions I can answer for you.

What I would suggest is Uninstalling All Programs you don't need or don't want anymore through Add/Remove Programs

Do this by going to
Start and then to Control Panel
Click Add/Remove Programs
Carefully choose the program(s) you don't need
Click on each Program then click Change/Remove and Follow the Uninstall Instructions


You may be prompted to Restart your computer.
Restart once you have all the programs you don't need uninstalled.
Be careful not to remove anything needed by your computer, some of which you may be unfamiliar with the name,