Member Avatar for SmudgeXVI

Hi there All. I'm a 70 yr. old crinkly, but have done a bit in my time. Now I have a Toshiba laptop and it will not boot up. All I get from a normal boot is the menu for an unexpected shut down last time of usage. The menu recommends normal start up, then locks up followed by a ribbon of short white vertical lines. I would really be thankful for any assistance any one may be able to offer. SmudgeXVI

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Brief recap for : the machine gets to the shutdown/recovery menu, then immediately locks and a ribbon of short white vertical lines appears. Since the software-side attempts in the thread did not recover the system (noted by and ), the next steps should be aimed at isolating hardware from software.

First, isolate the video path. Connect a known-good external monitor (VGA) and power the laptop on. If the same vertical lines appear on the external display, the fault is upstream of the LCD (motherboard/video chipset). If the external is clean while the laptop screen shows lines, the problem is probably the LCD panel, the LVDS cable or the inverter. Next, try powering the machine with the hard drive removed (power off, remove battery/AC, pull the drive, then power up). If the artifact appears before any OS or drive activity, that again points to display or motherboard hardware rather than Windows itself. Booting from a USB/CD (a live Linux or Memtest image) is also a quick way to bypass the installed OS and check whether artifacts persist under a different environment.

Do simple, low-risk service steps before opening the case: perform a power drain (remove AC and battery, hold the power button 20–30 seconds), then reseat RAM modules and test one module at a time in each slot. Faulty or poorly seated RAM can cause immediate freezes or corrupt video output. If comfortable opening the machine, visually check and reseat the display cable at both the panel and motherboard ends; damaged or loose LVDS cables commonly produce vertical lines.

If testing shows the problem only on the internal panel, a screen or cable replacement is often the economical fix. If the same lines appear on an external monitor, the motherboard/video circuitry is likely at fault and repair may be costly; at that point salvage the hard drive (use a USB enclosure) to back up data and consider professional diagnosis or replacement. Handle internal parts carefully, avoid static discharge, and if unsure, take the laptop to a local repair shop for a bench test.

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Member Avatar for zeroth

as you boot up, start tapping the F8 key until you see a black screen offering you several choices. You can choose "safe mode" and try to fix the problems in Control Panel/Display.

Or, if it's available, you can choose last good configuration and back up to the point before you had your problem.

Member Avatar for SmudgeXVI

Hi Zeroth.

Thank you very much for your kind efforts, however, I tried the F8 the F2 and the F5 buttons and although I had the black screen to which you described, Once I pressed the Enter button or indeed left it for the 30 second timer the m/c locked up straight away.:(

Still thank you once again.

SmudgeXVI

Member Avatar for comlor

Hi Zeroth.

Thank you very much for your kind efforts, however, I tried the F8 the F2 and the F5 buttons and although I had the black screen to which you described, Once I pressed the Enter button or indeed left it for the 30 second timer the m/c locked up straight away.:(

Still thank you once again.

SmudgeXVI

When you say the computer locked up right away, your saying it locked up and all the words are left on the screen and does nothing. Is this correct?

If so i would suspect you hard drive may be bad. You can download this file and burn the image to a blank cd to test your hard drive:

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