ErinENj
08-06-2007, 02:17 AM
Help!! I used to think I was a whiz on computers, since back in the day, I was. When I got my first computer at 13, I was teaching my parents and anyone else who asked how to work things. I still thought I was that way. Guess not! :rolleyes:
I've been having issues with my laptop since Friday. The screen suddenly started going black for no reason. The first time it did it, I hadn't touched it for awhile, so I figured it had something to do with my screensaver. So I turned it off. I thought it was fixed. I used it for two hours or so, then went to the bathroom. I was in there for a few minutes, getting ready for bed, so probably something along the lines of 10 minutes between brushing my teeth, washing my face, etc. and when I returned to my room, my computer's screen was black. When I touched the touch-pad, the screen lightened up a little bit, but nowhere near useable. If I held it in the correct light at just the right angle, I could see just barely enough to move the mouse to the start menu and then clicking the "shut down" button when you shut down windows. I restarted it, and went so far as to use the system restore function on windows and set it back to the previous day, before the issues started.
Then yesterday, I started out in the afternoon with changing all of the power settings. I don't have a battery in it (I overcharged it and it fried, so I just use the power cord. It's really irritating and beyond annoying, but I don't have a choice. I hadn't realized how expensive batteries are!!) so I just set everything to "always on" or to never put it into sleep mode or hibernation, etc. I thought that because turning off the screensaver didn't work, there must be something wrong with when my computer went to 'sleep' or with the power settings. So, I turned everything to where it wouldn't have any effect on my computer.
So you could imagine my shock when about an hour later, all of the sudden while I was in the middle of researching for an article I had to write for this job interview, my computer did it again. The screen went black, and again, lightened up enough for me to see what I needed to do to turn it off, but not to do anything else. I restarted it, and started researching Geek Squad, and things like that. I figured I had an hour, and as I was downloading this program from Geek Squad that allows you to chat with one of their 'agents', it suddenly did it again, but this time, it was only after about 35-45 minutes. When I restarted it again, I truly timed it. I made sure I knew exactly what time it went on and what I did with every single click between the time it went on and the time it went off again. This time, I was in the midst of my conversation with the Geek Squad agent. It was only 12 minutes. I had to finish my conversation holding my computer up to the light and making sure it was just in the right angle, and let me tell you, it was amazingly difficult! I never realized how dirty my screen was!
The agent told me that it sounds like it is the screen's backlight. That it was burnt out. But how long does it usually take for that to happen? I'm not sure, but I think I've had my computer something like 3 years. I went to the Geek Squad in my local Best Buy, but the woman nicely told me that I should see what Dell says before I give it to them. She couldn't tell me how much it would cost me to get it fixed through them, since they were just the middle-man. I thought they fixed them themselves, but they send it out to a third-party. And with my issue, it costs me $160 just to send it out and get an estimate for how much the work might actually cost. I might get that money back, but I might not. They couldn't tell me. So I have to talk to Dell and see what the deal is (I've been working on my article all day, so I haven't had time to do it after I got back from Best Buy this afternoon.).
Does anyone know anything about this? Any ideas on how I can get it fixed either quick or cheap, or even both? Any suggestions? Luckily, my mom has a laptop that she doesn't use that often (she uses her desktop 98% of the time, so this just sits there) so I've been able to borrow that and use it after making it my own by downloading a few programs, etc. But there's stuff on my laptop I can't get to that I might need. Most importantly, my resume, cover letters, and all of my writing samples are all saved on that computer. I may be able to get them out of the emails I've sent, but I'm not sure, and there's some stuff that's not in any emails. I really could have used some of the writing I did in school to help me on this article I wrote today, but it's only on my computer! This is driving me insane!! :mad: :confused: :mad: :confused:
Any help or suggestions anyone can give me would be amazingly helpful and beyond appreciated!! I'd cyber-kiss your feet if you can tell me what I should do! My father keeps telling me he knows what to do and that I should just give it to him, but he thinks he knows WAY more about technology than he really does and usually ends up screwing things up WAY more than helping! :o So anyone out there that could donate some sage advice and counsel would be incredibly appreciated!! Thank you hugely beforehand!! :D
I've been having issues with my laptop since Friday. The screen suddenly started going black for no reason. The first time it did it, I hadn't touched it for awhile, so I figured it had something to do with my screensaver. So I turned it off. I thought it was fixed. I used it for two hours or so, then went to the bathroom. I was in there for a few minutes, getting ready for bed, so probably something along the lines of 10 minutes between brushing my teeth, washing my face, etc. and when I returned to my room, my computer's screen was black. When I touched the touch-pad, the screen lightened up a little bit, but nowhere near useable. If I held it in the correct light at just the right angle, I could see just barely enough to move the mouse to the start menu and then clicking the "shut down" button when you shut down windows. I restarted it, and went so far as to use the system restore function on windows and set it back to the previous day, before the issues started.
Then yesterday, I started out in the afternoon with changing all of the power settings. I don't have a battery in it (I overcharged it and it fried, so I just use the power cord. It's really irritating and beyond annoying, but I don't have a choice. I hadn't realized how expensive batteries are!!) so I just set everything to "always on" or to never put it into sleep mode or hibernation, etc. I thought that because turning off the screensaver didn't work, there must be something wrong with when my computer went to 'sleep' or with the power settings. So, I turned everything to where it wouldn't have any effect on my computer.
So you could imagine my shock when about an hour later, all of the sudden while I was in the middle of researching for an article I had to write for this job interview, my computer did it again. The screen went black, and again, lightened up enough for me to see what I needed to do to turn it off, but not to do anything else. I restarted it, and started researching Geek Squad, and things like that. I figured I had an hour, and as I was downloading this program from Geek Squad that allows you to chat with one of their 'agents', it suddenly did it again, but this time, it was only after about 35-45 minutes. When I restarted it again, I truly timed it. I made sure I knew exactly what time it went on and what I did with every single click between the time it went on and the time it went off again. This time, I was in the midst of my conversation with the Geek Squad agent. It was only 12 minutes. I had to finish my conversation holding my computer up to the light and making sure it was just in the right angle, and let me tell you, it was amazingly difficult! I never realized how dirty my screen was!
The agent told me that it sounds like it is the screen's backlight. That it was burnt out. But how long does it usually take for that to happen? I'm not sure, but I think I've had my computer something like 3 years. I went to the Geek Squad in my local Best Buy, but the woman nicely told me that I should see what Dell says before I give it to them. She couldn't tell me how much it would cost me to get it fixed through them, since they were just the middle-man. I thought they fixed them themselves, but they send it out to a third-party. And with my issue, it costs me $160 just to send it out and get an estimate for how much the work might actually cost. I might get that money back, but I might not. They couldn't tell me. So I have to talk to Dell and see what the deal is (I've been working on my article all day, so I haven't had time to do it after I got back from Best Buy this afternoon.).
Does anyone know anything about this? Any ideas on how I can get it fixed either quick or cheap, or even both? Any suggestions? Luckily, my mom has a laptop that she doesn't use that often (she uses her desktop 98% of the time, so this just sits there) so I've been able to borrow that and use it after making it my own by downloading a few programs, etc. But there's stuff on my laptop I can't get to that I might need. Most importantly, my resume, cover letters, and all of my writing samples are all saved on that computer. I may be able to get them out of the emails I've sent, but I'm not sure, and there's some stuff that's not in any emails. I really could have used some of the writing I did in school to help me on this article I wrote today, but it's only on my computer! This is driving me insane!! :mad: :confused: :mad: :confused:
Any help or suggestions anyone can give me would be amazingly helpful and beyond appreciated!! I'd cyber-kiss your feet if you can tell me what I should do! My father keeps telling me he knows what to do and that I should just give it to him, but he thinks he knows WAY more about technology than he really does and usually ends up screwing things up WAY more than helping! :o So anyone out there that could donate some sage advice and counsel would be incredibly appreciated!! Thank you hugely beforehand!! :D