Member Avatar for Captnjj

I was given a Dell Inspiron 1150. It worked for a day and then I updated all Windows security stuff. The friend that gave it to me explained that I needed to fully charge and then fully discharge the battery to get it to last longer. After updating, I rebooted and left on without charger plugged in. Now it will turn on (with the charger on) and I see the power button on and hear the hard drive spin gut get absolutely nothing on the screen nor on my desktop monitor when I plug it into the video plug and type "function F8" labeled "crt/lcd". I don't know if the Windows killed it or running it completely down on battery killed it. Any suggestions? BTW, like a good boy I perused 65 pages of threads on monitors here and did not see quite the problem I am having.

  • 2 Contributors
  • 2 Replies
  • 120 Views
  • 3 Days Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by Captnjj

Dani AI

Generated

Good catch by and useful diagnostic direction from . A dead or blank display on a laptop that otherwise powers up often traces back to POST (power‑on self test) failures — and faulty RAM is a common cause. Below is a compact, practical checklist and safe next steps for anyone who lands on this thread with the same symptom.

  1. Look for POST signs first: listen for BIOS beep codes, watch keyboard LEDs during boot, and note any HDD/LED activity. Those are better indicators of whether the CPU/BIOS started than the presence of a screen image.
  2. Power down, remove AC and battery, discharge residual power (hold power button ~10s), then open the RAM access hatch. Reseat modules firmly, then try booting with a single module in the primary slot. Swap modules and slots to isolate a bad stick or bad slot. Ground yourself and avoid contact with the gold edge contacts.
  3. Use a bootable memory tester for a definitive check. Run several full passes of MemTest86 from USB; a few errors almost always indicate a defective DIMM (or incompatible timing/voltage). MemTest86 is the go‑to tool for this.
  4. If a bad module is found, replace it with the correct type and speed for the machine and test again before reinstalling the OS. Buy from a reputable vendor with a return policy. If all RAM tests clean but the screen remains blank, next steps are checking the display assembly/inverter/cable or GPU/motherboard diagnostics.

Cautions: avoid BIOS updates until hardware faults are ruled out, and always handle modules on a non‑conductive surface. These steps will turn a blind‑screen problem into a clear hardware diagnosis in most cases.

Recommended Answers

All 2 Replies

Member Avatar for OlyComputers

Nothing you did should have had any effect on the screen. With that said, there is something wrong with your video adapter, it might have just been a coincidence. If you know how to access your router, turn the laptop on and connect it to the network. If your router sees it on the list of attached devices you know it's an issue with the video, not the laptop as a whole.

There is a chance, although slim, that if this system was unused for a long time then reconnecting it could have worn out the old video adapter.

Member Avatar for Captnjj

Nothing you did should have had any effect on the screen. With that said, there is something wrong with your video adapter, it might have just been a coincidence. If you know how to access your router, turn the laptop on and connect it to the network. If your router sees it on the list of attached devices you know it's an issue with the video, not the laptop as a whole.

There is a chance, although slim, that if this system was unused for a long time then reconnecting it could have worn out the old video adapter.

Thank you for your imput, I have since found out that it had a bad memory module! When removed, the machine booted up perfectly (altho a bit slowly with only 256 ram installed) Again, thanks. Captnjj

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.