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Latitude D610 won't work
Hello, I recently tried to use my Latitude D610 using an external monitor since the laptop's screen's been dead for years but it won't work. I think the screen is not getting the power it needs to work because I can barely see what's being displayed when I put it to sunlight. Anyway, once I've started the laptop on I press Fn + F8 twice and the external monitor connects (through VGA) but the monitor remains black. All that it shows is a flashing underscore and the laptop does not allow me to do anything. I was wondering if you could help me out with this issue. My laptop used to be very efficient and I miss using it.
robert p
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December 20th, 2017 03:00
Hi omarvelco,
Thanks for posting.
From your description, issue can be with the LCD or the Video card on the computer.
To isolate the issue, run the LCD diagnostics on the computer (hold down the D and Power button simultaneously).
Also, run hardware diagnostics on the computer. Restart the computer by pressing F12 at startup.
Post back to let us know the status of the diagnostics.
omarvelco
2 Posts
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December 20th, 2017 09:00
Thank you for taking your time on this, Robert. I'm back with a few updates. First, I tried holding down D and the Power button at the same time (both with the laptop on and off) but I couldn't see a thing. I also tried restarting the computer by pressing F12 at the startup but nothing seems to happen. The only time when the screen displays something is right when I turn it on, but it lasts just a quick moment. You can see this at: www.youtube.com/watch
jphughan
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4 Operator
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14K Posts
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December 20th, 2017 13:00
If the display is showing content but is too dim to be readable, it means the backlight is dead. That's not an uncommon problem on old displays. As for the flashing underscore, is that what you see with great difficulty on the laptop's built-in panel? If so, it's possible that Fn+F8 only works after Windows has actually loaded, which would account for why that key combination doesn't work, but then there's the question of why your laptop is getting stuck at a blinking underscore. One thing you can maybe try is powering up the system and quickly closing the lid, which may force the system to send output to the external display (although you would then have to plug in an external keyboard and mouse), but once again you'd still be confronted with the problem of the blinking underscore when Windows should be loading. Could be a dead hard drive. That system is over a decade old at this point, after all. You can get far newer systems running much newer, more secure, more compatible, and still-supported versions of Windows at very reasonable prices through places like Discount Electronics if you're in the US, which is a retailer that specializes in reselling PCs that have come off of corporate leases and the like.