Need help fixing a friends Satellite P105

I've searched the forums (and will continue doing so) but I'm having a hard time finding the answer so I'm hoping some of you guys can point me in the right direction.

A friend asked me to take a look at their laptop. It's a Satellite P105-S9337. They had no problems with it until last week when the screen mysteriously went blank. Then it started doing it randomly and basically stopped working.

So I got it and it began working. Vista did some sort of repair and it seemed fine. I got into Vista and before I knew it SP2 was being downloaded and guess what - screen went blank. I connected a monitor to see if it's the screen but the monitor is blank too. If you plug it in and turn it on things light up like it's turning on but the screen is blank.

I've read about BIOS updates, but those seem to be for newer models. I've seen some people suggest this could be the motherboard or the video card.

Can anyone help point me in the right direction? I can try just about anything with a little guidance. Thanks!

 

It could be just loose soldering by the graphic card socket to the motherboard. Search and see if any shops would perform the "baking" for you. At this stage you really have nothing to lose.

 

Well, I opened up the laptop and found a ton of dust. Cleaned everything out and it started working again. Didn't get hot. But Vista was messed up. Now, 2 days later it has stopped working. I believe it is the graphics card, which is a separate card. I can hear the computer starting up but the screen now remains blank and I can no longer see it on a separate monitor as well.

How can I tell if it just needs to be soldered (something I can do) vs. needing a new graphics card, which I've seen you say can't be replaced?