IBM Thinkpad T40 Display Problems

I have an IBM Thinkpad T40. Not sure if the problem I am having is battery so before I purchase a new one, does anyone know if bad battery can cause other problems (screen goes off/back on - curser freezes - other display wierdness) even when machine is plugged in?

 

That doesn't sound like the battery to me. Have you scanned for malware lately?

 

I think you are right. The problem also occurs when plugged in with battery detached After a period of time with the machine not booting (just fan running, no screen) it finally booted and it seemed like it was working. Then the cursor froze, then black screen, and now I can not boot again. I noticed that wuauclt.exe (supposedly windows update) was running as well as some other suspicions apps. What would you recommend I use to scan if I can get this booted up again?

 

Use whatever antivirus app and antispyware apps you have installed. Or try one of the online scanners. TrendMicro and Panda are a couple that I can think of off the top of my head.

 

Does it still happen in safe mode? Aolso you could try a system restore if it's not been going on too long.

 

Yes, also happens in safe mode. And now I can barely get to safe mode with it before it freezes and the screen goes off. But 80% of time when I power up, the only thing I get is the fan running. Not sure I can do a system restore (let alone trying to run virus software) when I can't even get the machine up in any mode. What can I salvage from this? HELP!

 

Time to do a reinstall.

 

How do I do a reinstall when I can not even get the machine up past just the fan running?

 

I'm going to bump this up and see if anyone else can help you.

 

I have exactly the same problem, just random screen freezing ive checked memory etc still no joy difficult to image it being software my gut feeling is motherboard i hope not though, any ideas anyone it would be appreciated
thanks Tim

 

My IBM Thinkpad T40 is doing the exact same thing as described in this thread. Any news on what the solution is?

 

I have this problem. When I connect an external monitor to my T40 it works fine. There are no problems with the OS or and software. This is a HW problem.

 

i am having this same problem with my laptop. i had ubuntu installed so thats the first place i checked. according to some threads on the ubuntuforums this problem is most likely being caused by a crack in the motherboard and that there is usually a crack in the front of the case by the trackpad also which i just found out mine does. so pretty much we're screwed since we got ours off ebay. i don't know about you guys.

 

does anyone know if the LCD inverter has anything to do with screens not having enough power for a backlight? Mines just goes blank if i remove the ac adapter.. thx in advance!

 

You can configure the screen brightness in the control panel. Its under power options.
Just set the screen level to max, and your screen will be the same brightness as when it runs off of AC power.

its a simple fix

Let us know if this works

K-TRON