Screen flickers then goes white 1

[baracuda]

I believe my Win98 OS is corrupt for various reasons and I will be restoring my system as soon as I can get my files completely backed up, but in the meantime I have been encountering a problem that I am unsure as to whether it is OS related or another issue. I have a Presario laptop (17XL275). Over the last few days I have left it on only to come back to it to find the screen has gone white. It is not in standby nor hybernating. I restart the machine and then it is fine for a while but eventually it does it again. When I have been in front of it before it goes white, I have seen the screen flicker and then it goes white. I upgraded the memory recently to the max for the machine (512MB) and I don't know if that has anything to do with it (I updated the Bios beforehand although that shouldn't make a difference one way or another according to Compaq).

I have been having major issues with Symantec software and have been messing with my registry quite a bit. The timing of the symantec problems coincides with the screen issues. Is it likely that the screen issue is related to the OS problems, or is likely I have two problems here? Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[stormbind]

I think it's hardware, and would have it checked out by Compaq asap - the last thing you want to lose is the screen!

If the time it takes to blank is consistent, you could enter the BIOS setup, and leave it to see if the screen turns white. That should confirm if it's software or hardware.

----------
Memoria mihi benigna erit qui eam perscribam

 

[TekTippy4U]

Right click any blank Desktop area and mouse over Active Desktop and untick "View as Web Page"
This can also be done through Start > Settings> Folder Options..choose Classic style - or go into Settings under Customize and under Activew Desktop > choose Use Windows Classic

TT4U

Notification:
These are just my thoughts....and should be carefully measured against other opinions.
Backup All Important Data/Docs

 

[baracuda]

Thank you Stormbind and TekTippy4U. I tried both suggestions to no avail. I am 99 percent sure the issue is hardware related. I reformated my drive today and installed WinXXP. The computer was on a long time when I was reformating it and I had no problems until late in the day when I got the white screen again. It is possible this issue has something to do with the machine being very warm. I took the laptop apart enough to see the connectors for the screen (the backlight and the other connector) and made sure that both were securely seated but shortly after putting the computer back together the screen seemed to flicker a little again. At this point, I will probably have to take the computer to someone more knowledgeable than I to diagnose the problem. Unless there are other suggestions??

 

[stormbind]

It is possible that you have a failing capacitor. This is not that uncommon in PC hardware, and the effects are sporadic - most broken motherboards simply require replacement of a blown £0.10 capacitor.

I'm not sure if heat would trigger the fault, but it does sound feasible to me.

I'm also not sure that there are any capacitors in LCD screens, but there is probably at least one somewhere along the graphics circuit.

Sadly, I cannot give tips on how to confirm my suspicion, but if I am right: most PC repair centres outsource laptop specialists who could almost certainly fix it.

Compaq used to have good (online) support, so I still recommend you contact them first.

----------
Memoria mihi benigna erit qui eam perscribam

 

[baracuda]

Thanks for the best lead I have had all day. I will definitely follow up on the capacitor.

 

[baracuda]

Update: I eliminated the motherboard as the source of the problem by adding a monitor. When the laptop screen went white the monitor was still functioning normally. Once I determined that, I suspected the problem was an inverter and installed a new one in the screen assembly; it wasn't an inverter. Ultimately, the problem turned out to be a bad backlight -- common to presario laptops that are about 3 or 4 years old.