Powers on, nothing on screen

Hold a flashlight that is turned on flat against the screen as if you were trying to look behind the screen and see if you can see anything. If there is, then it is the backlight that is the problem. Connecting an external monitor may not show anything because the computer may not send the signal to it with no configuration. While it normally will, it can also get hung up because of a configuration issue. But you will not see it because the screen is not working.

The flashlight trick will show you for sure.

If that does not work, unplug the computer and remove the battery for a couple hours. Then reinstall the battery and try booting. Watch the screen and see if you get anything displayed.

I got home yesterday after leaving the laptop unplugged and powered down all day. It started right up. This morning it was in the same state again. It's as if it's in sleep mode but when I push the power button it doesn't wake up. Nothing happens. So, I unplugged it and turned it over. The whole side of the laptop where the fan is was really hot! I think it's having a thermal event that's causing the shutdown. But, it doesn't fully shutdown. The power light is illuminated and the fan is running, but it won't turn on.

Thanks for your previous answer zaguru_hoov. I guess I could probably find a thermal even type error in eventvwr. What's the next step? Today, if I have time, I'm going to remove the panel that's over the fan and check for a dust build-up. I assume there's a fan check in the diagnostics CD. I left it on this morning before coming to work, and I placed it on the laptop cooling pad with the USB fans connected and running. Thanks in advance for any help.

The cooling pad may help it run, but you really need to get into the laptop and clean it. The fan is actually not where the problem is. Between the fan and the grate on the outside of the laptop is a group of cooling fins. They are just really thin pieces of sheetmetal orientated up and down with about 1/32 of an inch gap between them. They pick up the heat from the heat pipe and then the air from the fan picks the heat up and moves it out thru the grill. On the fan side of those cooling fins there is more than likely a large buildup of dust and pet hair (if you have pets) and other things you do not want to know. To remove that buildup (it will be like a felt pad) you will probably have to remove the heatsink off the CPU and the heatpipe and fan assembly. Then you may need to remove the fan and shroud to get it from the rest of the assembly. Then you will be able to clean the fan better, and get the buildup off the cooling fins.

Now put it all back together, and that should take care of the problem. If you need better instructions, let me know.

Thanks ZAGuru. I took the fan and heat pipe assembly out of the laptop and cleaned. It was not very dirty at all. So, I think the problem is elsewhere. The laptop is now back to not starting at all. When I push the power button, the fan comes on then stops after a couple moments. The laptop stays on, but nothing happens. I have to hold the power button down to get it to completey shutdown. I wish I had looked at the eventvwr the day it did run. What would be the next step in troubleshooting? Thanks in advance for your help.

Sorry I have not responded again, but I had some personal problems, including two laptops with the exact same symptoms as yours.

If you are still having this problem, before getting anything else, go purchase some thermal paste. This is used to transfer heat from the CPU and GPU to the heat pipe. Once you have some, get to the heatpipe and remove it again. Clean all the paste of of it, and from the CPU (and GPU if it has some on it. Some use a pad soaked in the paste) now remove and reinstall the CPU, put a dab of the thermal paste on the CPU, a little goes a long way, reinstall the heatpipe and reassemble the computer and see if it will turn on. If it does not start after that, hold the power button for 15 seconds to turn it off, and then try starting it again. If it still does not work, remove the battery and the unplug the power cord, and then hold the power button down for 1 minute, 3 times, plug the power cord back in and see if it will start.

Let me know if you have any luck with it.

Ok, I will try the thermal paste soon. I'm beginning to think it's the system board. I think if it was a paste issue, it would at least start up and then have a thermal event/shutdown. For some reason it's not even starting up at all. However, there is power going through the system because I have to hold down the power button to shut it down completely. But the fan only runs briefly after the startup attempt. I will try the paste. It may be a few days. Thanks.