I got this request from a family member:
"Anyhoo - I have an older HP Pavilion entertainment....something. It's currently packed away. But, I'm thinking that I might be able to fix one of my old computers to give to [family member]. That Pavilion worked for years but, suddenly, the screen went black. I've looked up a couple of "fixes" but I thought, as an HP person, you might know of some quicker fix? When I turn it on, the computer seems like it works - hums, lights up, etc. but there is no display at all. I looked into a couple of recommendations that said I could hit some of the F keys - got me nowhere. Any thoughts?"
My response:
"I don’t know right off any easy answers to what you’re describing. Will have to involve some troubleshooting to figure out what the problem is. Have you tried it with a different cable and monitor? Do you get a series of unusual beeps when you turn it on? If you’d like, I can throw your question out on HP’s forum and see if some of the PC experts can help. If you had the model number, I could probably get some more specific help from people who are true experts in that area. What is {family member} intending to do with the PC? Just Internet browsing or more comprehensive work / games?
"
Reply to my email:
"My old computer is an HP Pavilion dv9000, probably 6 years or so old. It was my only computer for years but suddenly, I tried to turn it on and got nothing other than the little operating noises I mentioned, but the screen just stays black. It doesn't make any weird noises unless I hit the F keys. Then it beeps with each key. The only other notable thing I can think of is that, when I turn it on, there is a glow all along the bottom of the screen. No matter what keys I hit, I get nothing on the monitor.
No, I don't have a separate monitor to test it. Can I check it with my current laptop? It's a Lenovo and I do have various cables. What do I do to test the HP?
If I can resurrect the computer, I want to give it to [family memeber]. It is a gaming machine but I only ran movies on it and then various office work. [family member] does nothing on computers so, all he needs is a very basic computer - just for email and capable of handling the very basic functions of a simple web page. I would like [family member]to be able to do email.
"
My request:
Can I get some help on troubleshooting this problem? if I was there, I'd try a different cable and monitor to determine if the problem is caused by one of those. Failing that, I'd replace the video card and see if that solves the problem. She doesn't have spare cables, monitors, or video card to test with. Any suggestions? Any information I've missed that would help identify where the problem is?