My laptop, a Dell Inspiron 1100 purchased 6/03, has a problem.
The monitor turns off. The computer keeps going, but no screen.
I can shut the lid (sends it into hibernation) and turn it back on and there’s the screen. A while later, blink, it’s gone again.
It seems to be heat related. As in, for most of the day, it stayed on. Then it started going off with closer and closer intervals.
This is what I have tried thus far:
- updated the driver for video card
- cleaned off the fan from the outside
- took off the keyboard and removed the heat sink. cleaned it and everything else I could reach. Put a fan on the outside blowing in to help the fan suck air through (it blows out the bottom). Made sure the laptop cooling doohickey I got was working and cleaned it too.
- took off the keyboard again and unplugged/replugged the monitor
Nothing has worked. And I did them one at a time to narrow down the problem, IF it got fixed.
The only thing I didn’t do was clean stuff by shooting air. I have a little vacuum cleaner I use for ‘puters.
I called a friend’s BF who is a geek. He doesn’t work on laptops but recommended a company that did. I’ll call them tomorrow. If nothing else, I want them to clean the thing out. It was nasty in there! 3 years of dust and critter fuzz can add up!
I did backup all my writing files and other stuff while I was at it, in case the computer took a nose dive. I do have Lorna’s desktop but it doesn’t talk to the internet for some damn reason. And its CD drive doesn’t work. Both are possibly related to the fact the computer is older than dirt. (Lorna’s getting a computer built for her, in January, by the above mentioned BF.)
I had a genuine panic attack earlier, when I considered that the laptop could be dying. I hadn’t realized how dependent I am on it. Not just internet and games, but all my writing. I can’t really write without it. I could use Lorna’s desktop, but blech. Did I mention it was old?
I am better about it now. I have a plan and support. I am ready to face it.