HP DV4 Screen Not Turning on when starting the computer... help?

Hey guys, about a year ago I upgraded my laptop and gave my old one (my dv4) to my girlfriend so she would have a laptop for school. I took really good care of the laptop before I passed it along to her and when I gave it to her it was in very good condition.

I still use the laptop every now and then while at her house and it seems like she has also been taking good care of it. I even bought her a new battery and new ac adapter to hopefully give her more life out of the laptop.

However, apparently she lent the laptop to her brother to do some college homework I guess. He was the last person to use the computer but says that he just did the work and stopped using it. I noticed while walking by his room that sometimes he leaves his laptop on (which I don't know why he didn't just use that) his bed while it's on and I know that if you leave a laptop on a fabric surface for a long period of time that can cause problems with overheating which we all know is one of the main causes of deaths in laptops especially when combined with dust. Anyways...

Today I tired to turn it on and basically I could hear the start up sound of Windows 7 but the screen showed absolutely nothing.

So far I've tried to hit Fn + F4 (I think) to switch the monitors to see if that was the problem. That did nothing.

Then I unplugged the computer, turned it off, removed the battery then held down the power button for 30 seconds to do a power reset and that didn't do anything either.

After searching on various sites I have read that other people have also had this problem and that it's most likely an LCD problem. I realize this sounds kind of vague, but that's why I'm hear. I wanted to know if you have had/heard of this problem and perhaps knew a method as to how to fix it or if my girl is screwed.

Any ideas or feedback would be appreciated. Thanks a lot!

 

Try placing a really bright flashlight up against the screen after you hear Windows 7 start up. Can you see the desktop icons?

On my HDX18, the inverter for the screen lamps failed. The screen looked blank, but the flashlight showed everything was there. I got a new inverter on eBay for about $25 and that fixed the problem. Apparently this was a known weakness of that model.

I think verifying whether or not the laptop has really started up is the first thing you need to do. Then you can troubleshoot the display.

Mark

 

Hello iMaCuLaTe,

I work for Hewlett-Packard. I would like to look further into your issue. Please send me your contact/product information to [email protected] for further review of your issue. I look forward to your response.

Regards,

Scott B.
Hewlett-Packard Company
Executive Customer Relations
Palo Alto, CA

 

Thanks for the responses guys. And sorry for the delay I've been busy with work. I will send you the product information as soon as my girl tells me the serial number. Thanks again fellas.