Ds1 dropped my notebook laptop and now it switches on but the screen stays black!!!!! Help

[magnolia74]

Is it the end????
It kind of starts up but not fully and the screen stays black

I can't afford a new one!!!!!

[RustyBear]

It could just be something that got moved out of place, or it could be fatal - very difficult to tell.
Do you have a desktop computer with a monitor which you could connect to the laptop - if you can get it to display to a monitor it might be easier to see what's happening.

[zebramama]

Do you get the windows start up music (assuming you didn't turn it off)?

If you do then the screen is either dead or has a loose connection.

You would be able to use RB's suggestion but might need to initialise the monitor port on the laptop by pressing a certain Fn Keystroke (often Fn + F7)

I'm no legal expert, but you may be able to claim for the repair / replacement on your household contents insurance? That is a question for another part of this forum though.

[magnolia74]

Its on silent so can't tell if start up music is on

The excess on our insurance is high so can't use that.

It was given by my brother in law as i couldn't afford one.....Oh well using mums computer for a bit will stop my internet habit!!

[zebramama]

If it is a Windows XP laptop then turn it on and give it 5 minutes to boot up (or however long it normally takes.

Look on the keyboard for keys with volume related symbols on them. Volume Up commands or Mute commands should cause the machine to Beep at you.

Then press the following keys with a second or so's pause between each:

Windows (the flag key)
u
u

That should cycle through the Start Menu command to Shut the PC down. If it shuts down then bingo it is just the screen.

If it is a Vista Laptop I have to say I don't know what the equivalent keystrokes would be.

[steamedtreaclesponge]

It could just be that the screen is broken - my DP dropped my laptop and smashed the screen a couple of years ago, was not happy! But I did manage to fix it:

If it is just the screen that's broken you can just replace that part without having to get a totally new laptop. If you unscrew the front bit of your laptop (the tiny screws are usually hidden under small round stickers) you should be able to take the front off and unplug the screen. Once you've done this, you can check what type and part number it is (will probably have information on a sticker on the back).

Use this information to do a search for a replacement part (I used Ebay, but there are probably some dedicated computer parts websites out there), order it and voila! Installing the new screen shouldn't be much more complicated than plugging it in at the bottom and replacing the front of the laptop case.

HTH

[magnolia74]

Its not just the screen as the lights to the left are not lighting up as the normally would just the power light is on.