My laptop turns on but the screen is black. What do I do to fix it?
Other answers have jumped to a hardware fault. Perhaps not incorrectly, sure. But I'd first make sure we're not dealing with a software issue, or any other "have you tried turning it off and back on again?" sort of things.First, and foremost, does your laptop have a "Display Off" button? I have a Sony Vaio which has one of these. It's a flush bezel button near the clamshell hinge. I have absolutely no fucking clue why it's there. But it is. The only thing I can think of is it's a "privacy" button...for when you can't quite hit the (x) close button on the browser window when your spouse walks in on you ogling (.)'s.Since you didn't post a picture I will assume that you mean the screen is entirely black. No faint glow, no nothing? In other words, it doesn't look even remotely like this [note the blinking cursor]:Have you plugged anything new into your laptop recently? A new USB device? A new external drive? Do you have a docking station? If you have a docking station, does it behave differently if on or off of it?Have you verified that your battery is charged, and that even if not, your power supply is providing proper charging to the battery when it's plugged in? My laptop has a little lightning-bolt LED that indicates the power supply is properly plugged in. Sometimes those stupid connectors can become loose -- or worse, crimped [kids knocking the thing about, etc.] -- so that they don't make a proper connection. I can't tell you how many times I've sat down with my laptop that had been "plugged in" for hours only to hit the power button, see it appear to go through its start-up groans, only to have it fizzle-out and not work shortly after.Do you have a recovery disc for the OS you have installed? What happens if you turn the power on with that in the laptop?Do you have a USB memory stick? If so, there are a bunch of different things to try here Boot and run Linux from a USB flash memory stick, even booting DOS from it.