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Laptop screen turns on completely white

Laptop screen turns on completely white

Postby phileysmiley » Sat Jun 27, 2009 7:25 pm

My laptop turns on but as soon as it powers up the screen simply turns white. Windows will not load. I can't even boot into the boot menu because it never even gets that far.

I even have a Maxtor external HDD with a CD that is supposed to restore Windows in the event of a complete loss but it won't even boot.

It's a Toshiba Satellite A105-S2716. The hard drive is relatively new -- I replaced it a year ago.

Help!!! :help:

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EDIT: Well after doing some poking around online it seems that this is very common. The first suggestion was to hook up an external monitor and see if that works and it does. So I know it's not the graphics, mobo, or HDD.
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Re: Laptop screen turns on completely white

Postby JabbaPapa » Sun Jun 28, 2009 4:55 am

phileysmiley wrote:EDIT: Well after doing some poking around online it seems that this is very common. The first suggestion was to hook up an external monitor and see if that works and it does. So I know it's not the graphics, mobo, or HDD.


Right, but it's either the laptop monitor or your Windows... but probably the screen, as you mention this happens immediately, whereas I can see that others with white screen seem to experience a short delay before it happens, ie it hits when Windows starts loading.

To properly test your hardware, and unless someone has some better suggestions or you can find another solution, you should really create a new partition and try and install Windows (any version, but if you are doing this as a test might as well use W7) to that partition. If white screen still occurs in this scenario, then you have a hardware problem with the the laptop monitor.

Depending which Windows you have installed there may be some other things you could try before dropping the bomb on your setup -- given that you can access Windows using the external monitor, you could try uninstalling the driver, and also during startup hit F8 and try to boot in VGA/Low Graphics mode.

If installing a new copy of Windows works (ie the new copy has no whitescreen), but no manner of poking and fiddling seems to help with your current Windows, then the answer is that you should clean install Windows as this is likely to be less time-consuming and frustrating than trying to search and destroy any software-based configuration errors that may exist in your current setup, particularly given that these errors might simply be the result of data corruption potentially, for which the only real solution is to reinstall anyway.
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Re: Laptop screen turns on completely white

Postby phileysmiley » Sun Jun 28, 2009 4:42 pm

Thanks for the suggestions, I do appreciate it.

Looks like it's just the monitor. I've been told that it may be a loose cable, which requires opening up the back of the monitor, or that the monitor will have to be replaced, which may not be worth it.
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Re: Laptop screen turns on completely white

Postby ar1stotle » Mon Jun 29, 2009 9:23 pm

With most laptops, if you just look under the keyboard and removable panel where the power/volume buttons are, you'll usually be able to find the video cable. It's kinda stubby but will probably have the most wires going to it and it'll be coming from the display. I've fixed a few laptops just by unplugging that cable and plugging it back in. That's usually all it is unless it's some internal issue. I've never actually had to disassemble the screen itself.
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Re: Laptop screen turns on completely white

Postby phileysmiley » Mon Jun 29, 2009 11:06 pm

ar1stotle wrote:With most laptops, if you just look under the keyboard and removable panel where the power/volume buttons are

Hmmm I don't see where that is.
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Re: Laptop screen turns on completely white

Postby ar1stotle » Tue Jun 30, 2009 1:36 am

OK, you'll see what I mean on this page. You remove that panel and the keyboard. And in the pic below, you can see where the video cable is.
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Re: Laptop screen turns on completely white

Postby phileysmiley » Tue Jun 30, 2009 2:00 am

Sweet!!! ^*^ I'm backing up some files now in case I blow it up and then I'll try to open 'er up. :yesnod:
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Re: Laptop screen turns on completely white

Postby ar1stotle » Tue Jun 30, 2009 3:06 am

Haha. Your files should be fine. Just remember to take the battery out before you start poking around in there ;)
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Re: Laptop screen turns on completely white

Postby phileysmiley » Wed Jul 01, 2009 9:07 pm

Okay, I got the first panel off (whew, not easy -- I almost gave up). I can't find a Philips head small enough to remove the 2 keyboard screws though so I'll go out and get one. I can see the monitor cable, though, and it does look like the insulation on the bundle itself is partly worn off. But it doesn't look like any individual wires' insulation is broken.
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Re: Laptop screen turns on completely white

Postby phileysmiley » Wed Jul 01, 2009 9:38 pm

:dontgetit :( Oh well, I unplugged and replugged the video connector and no change (I didn't have to remove the keyboard at all, though).

I even rotated it around in case it was snagged.
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