Startup issues and Color and resolution problems on Inspiron 8000 Laptop

Question

I recently made a very foolish mistake by deleting a shared folder on my HD, causing all kinds of problems. So mmuch so that I just had to make a clean re-install of XP. Well, the computer is running now, but on startup it starts with a black screen, then about 2/3 of the way down the screen, is a white bar (almost looks like a zipper) that appears, and them a solid bar begins to make it's way across (almost like it's loading somthing, and it's a progress bar) While this is going on, the HD light is solid, with the hard drive spinning at full speed. After approximately 3-5 minutes, the startup screen  appears and I can log on. After logging on my desktop picture almost looks like a color negative, and where there is a blue border, it's blue and purple. Video is the same, and the fonts are fuzzy and hard to read. This morning I installed Norton Utilities, and upon restar, the monitor was crisp and clear, like it was before the 'incident.' However, it went back to the faded colors etc. I downloaded what I though was the latest video drivers from ATI, but has made no difference. Anybody have any ideas what I should be looking at? Thanks in advance, and my apologies if this is not the right forum, but it looked like the closest one to my issue. Dell Inspiron 8000 256 RAM, 40 g HD, XP Professional

Rollie_R · Answer

budzrig,

Thank you for using the Dell Community Forum.

Attach an external monitor to the VGA port on the back of the system. Then using the Fn-F8 key combination, toggle the video signal to the external monitor and see if the display is good on the external monitor. Check if the same problem appears on the external monitor. If you have an intermittent problem, then you need to use this configuration until the problem appears. Most problems that appear on the LCD, and not on the external monitor will mean the replacement of the LCD.

Try running the video test from the Dell Diagnostics.

budzrig · Answer

Thanks...I'll certainly try that

budzrig · Answer

Hello Rollie,

I hooked it up to an external monitor and of course, it's clear as a bell. Is there anything I should look for that might have come unplugged in transit (it was recently Fed-Ex'd to me, wrapped really well) before I start looking for a new LCD that I cannot afford? And how about the startup issue, ever heard of that one before?

Thanks again,

Marty

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