vista display error=black screen?

hey im new and had a look at some of the other posts and thought some1 coul help me.

i have windows vista installed on my laptop everything was fine when i got it untill now. just today when i played games or just had it on and running the whole screen would go black for about 5-10 secs then it would go bak to normal and a balloon in the right had corner in the task bar would pop up sayin that 'nvlddmkm' video driver has stopped workin and has fully recovered (or something like that) . but then my whole comp would freeze and go black and i would have to restart it and then it would keep on happening bout 10-15mins in. but now when i turn it on it just stays black i cant do anything or seen anything.

can any1 help me??
plz

thnx for ur help

 

Hi and welcome to the BBS,

Does the screen stay black from when you first push the power button or does it go black after you see the Vista loading screen?

Matt

 

it stays black from the start i dont get to see anything when i turn it on

 

It could need to have the system "reset ". On a desktop machine you can "clear the CMOS ", laptops are different though and I have spent a few hours trying to find out how to do it on just one particular model. Read in the "System Manual" if there is this type of "reset ". You could try disconnecting power (battery and AC) and leaving it for say 30 minutes (press the power button a few times to try to drain any residual power).

It sounds like a problem with the graphics adapter. Do fans and LEDs come on? Does it seem to be loading Windows?

The graphics adapter might have it's own fan and that fan has failed. You may be able to see the fans if you look through the intake grills. Let's just hope there is no damage to the electronics.

Did the screen "fade away" when it stopped working? The "backlight" on the LCD may have failed, although I have only come across the one screen failure.

Oh, nearly forgot, have you connected a monitor to it?

I will move this to Hardware. If we can't see much else, you will need to look at getting it looked at by a tech. You can(?) find a list of repairer's at the manufacturer's Support website. Ring and discuss what it is doing first, ask them what might be the possible outcomes and how much those might cost. Unless it is under warranty, you will need to weigh the cost against it's age and replacement value. Get them to give you a quote on replacing the motherboard, even if that might not be the problem. You should not hand it over then find it is returned with a bill for say, twice it's worth.

Matt

 

kool thnx for the reply ill do wat u say and ill try to fix it....il reply back if it works or not

 

the thing is how am i suppose to try a different version of driver if i cant even see anythin on my screen so i wouldnt know wat to do

 

It would be helpful to know the model # and manufacturer of your laptop. If this is an onboard NVidia GPU, I would say the symptoms indicate a good possibility that you will need to send your laptop to a factory authorized service center because this is a surface mounted GPU on the motherboard. You can try removing the battery pack and starting your machine without it while using the AC power adapter but it sounds more like your graphics processor is failing or has failed.

 

model is benq (uhm dont really know why i got it now.....i see why ppl dont like it :/ ) s41 series

 

yes the leds and fan and all turn on but i dont know how to connect a monitor to it

 

I just googled your laptop and most reviewers peg this as a very good laptop with an independent GPU - in other words, not a surface mounted video chip. Although there was considerable ambiguity, I can't confirm that it is an independent GPU and can't locate a mobo schematic. However, this is probably good news because it would be an easier fix if the graphics adapter is bad.

For starters, you can try following Arie's instructions by tapping the F8 key at startup to see if you can get to a selective startup screen and boot into safe mode. There are apparently two models of this GPU in use by Acer (BenQ). One has 128MB of memory and the other has 256MB. It is my understanding (from reading, not experience) that there is also a turbo-boost feature providing up to I GB of combined video memory.

F2 is the restoration key for Acer and I am going to assume this holds true for BenQ but be careful if you elect to start while tapping F2. If caution is not excercised in this regard and you do get a startup with or without graphics, there is a chance that you could lose all of your data through a full system restore.

Your safest bet is still to seek out a factory authorized service center because this laptop has a two year manufacturers warranty.

 

ok ty and ty every1 for helpin me with this i think ill just call up the company and see wat they can do