Inspiron 5100 screen intensity is turned WAY down. Works in safe mode.

Question

I've seen a couple of threads that could be this problem but can't tell for sure. One day for no particular reason I came back to find the screen dark. All power saver, hibernate, screen saver, etc programs were turned off long ago to allow my autobid program to keep working so at first I thought it had shut down from overheating (even though I keep the battery removed from the bay and prop up the back with it for better ventilation) but on looking closer I could see a very faint image on the screen if the lighting was ideal. It is too dim to be able to make out the details but it does change if you click in the right places. After several months I have learned a few things about it. It works OK in safe mode which is what I am using now. The boot portion of the start-up works up until the point where windows (xp) loads so I would guess that there is a configuration or startup setting for the screen intensity that has been corrupted. Occasionally it has started correctly in windows. This has been after multiple reboot attempts, usually with at least one safe mode boot in the sequence. This has happened maybe 3 or 4 times max since the problem first appeared. This would seem to suggest that under the right circumstances a backup file has been substituted for the one that is corrupted. However each time it has booted correctly, within a finite period of time which is certainly less than a week and possibly less than a day but more than an hour, the problem recurred and the screen dimmed as before which suggests the possible actions of either a virus or a recurring causal sequence. I have run system restore, going back as far as it has restore points which is about 3 months and may possibly be after the problem first occurred. I can't say for sure. I have tried to repair the XP installation using the original installation CD with no change. This is my last resort before doing a complete software rebuild, so I hope from this description someone can identify the problem. If anyone can tell me where to look for the base screen intensity setting and what value I should expect to see I will gladly correct that if that is where the problem is. THX, Jim

dallascowboyswo · Answer

Did you try reinstalling the latest drivers. Click on technical support on the blue bar and click on driver downloads. Enter your system or service tag and install the video drivers. FN up arrow also brightens the screen.

Inspiron 5100
Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.66GHZ
512 MB RAM
32 MB MOBILITY RADEON 7500C
40 GB Fujitsu HD
QSI CDRW/DVD SBW-242
Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated NIC
Dell Wireless 1350 WLAN Mini-PCI card
BCM V.92 56k Modem
SigmaTel C-Major Audio
Bios ver. A31
Win XP Home SP2
pur. Jan 2004
WRT54GS Linksys router
ZoneAlarm Pro ver 5.1.011.000
Norton SystemWorks Premier ver 9

dallascowboyswo · Answer

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/type.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&SystemID=INS_PNT_P4_5100&os=WW1&osl=en&deviceid=2552&libid=6

Its the video driver you need.

Inspiron E1505
Intel Core 2 Duo processor T7200 (4MB/2.00GHz/667MHz)
15.4 Inch UltraSharp TrueLife Wide-screen WSXGA+
1GB, DDR2, 533MHz 2 Dimm
256MB ATI MOBILITY RADEON X1400
120GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
8X DVD+/-RW Drive
Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 802.11a/g Mini Card (54Mbps)
Dell Wireless 355 Bluetooth Module (2.0 + EDR)
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
Bios A08
pur. Sept. 7 2006

Message Edited by dallascowboysworldchamps on 10-14-2006 04:16 PM

Jim_Blackwood · Answer

I appreciate the help, but how do I pick the right display driver? It looks like there are about 50 of them. The Fn+ up-arrow does nothing btw. At present in order to get the display to come up I have to remove battery and power, let the laptop sit for a few minutes and cold boot with F5. Booting too early results in the dim display.

I think there is a default lower intensity limit that has been changed, but if you could tell me how to pick the right driver I'll try that.

Jim

Jim_Blackwood · Answer

Thanks, I downloaded the driver and ran the install, got an error message saying I need directx 8 (which I now understand is included in the xp install). I installed directx 9 and ran the install for the video driver again and got the same error message. Any suggestions? THX

Jim

dallascowboyswo · Answer

What operating system are you using?

Inspiron E1505
Intel Core 2 Duo processor T7200 (4MB/2.00GHz/667MHz)
15.4 Inch UltraSharp TrueLife Wide-screen WSXGA+
1GB, DDR2, 533MHz 2 Dimm
256MB ATI MOBILITY RADEON X1400
120GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
8X DVD+/-RW Drive
Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 802.11a/g Mini Card (54Mbps)
Dell Wireless 355 Bluetooth Module (2.0 + EDR)
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
Bios A08
pur. Sept. 7 2006

Jim_Blackwood · Answer

XP Home 2002 SP2

Jim_Blackwood · Answer

Anything new? Thx, Jim

dallascowboyswo · Answer

I dont know what to suggest except loading the video drivers. Dont know why they dont install. I have a cd disk that came with the video driver on it when I purchase the computer and I have installed them several times without it asking for direct x8.

Inspiron E1505
Intel Core 2 Duo processor T7200 (4MB/2.00GHz/667MHz)
15.4 Inch UltraSharp TrueLife Wide-screen WSXGA+
1GB, DDR2, 533MHz 2 Dimm
256MB ATI MOBILITY RADEON X1400
120GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
8X DVD+/-RW Drive
Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 802.11a/g Mini Card (54Mbps)
Dell Wireless 355 Bluetooth Module (2.0 + EDR)
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
Bios A08
pur. Sept. 7 2006

Jim_Blackwood · Answer

I'll try reloading the video driver from the CD. Jim

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