I have a Dell Inspiron 9300 that has been working fine for the past two years until this morning.  After turning it on, the Dell Screen appears, then the Windows XP logo and then the screen stays black, but the Windows startup tune plays and the hard drive light goes on just as it normally would.

 

I have run Dell Diagnostics that is loaded on the HD without any issue.  I get the same black screen if I try to hook up the laptop to an external monitor (both analog or DVI).  Booting in safe mode or enabling VGA works fine.  I have not installed new software or updated anything recently.

 

I have read that people have had a similar problem relating to a lid close pin that gets stuck, but I cannot locate this on my system.

 

I appreciate anyone's input!