Laptop problem

My wife has a Compaq Presario M2000 with Windows XP Home. I am not sure if the problem is hardware or software; the computer appears to boot normally, but the screen stays blank. I assumed it was hardware, but if I plug my desktop screen into it, when booted it shows the initial Windows XP logo screen with the activity bar under it, but then it disappears and the screen remains blank from then on.
I can't work this out at all. Why does it show the Windows Logo screen on the external monitor but not on the lappie screen? And why do neither screen display anything beyond that point? Can anyone tell me what is going on here?

 

Does the screen go blank at a different point when the desktop monitor is not connected? What point is that?

The laptop may have settings for connecting a projector. Check in the User Guide.

Matt

 

Have you tried starting up in Safe Mode? If you have, does computer respond the same?

 

Thank you both for your interest. The machine boots normally; only the screen is not as it should be. Today I even heard Avast say "The virus database has been updated" so everything is functional except the screen.

I have investigated the projector option, and also Compaq's suggestion to hold down the Fm key and press F4, and I also tried briefly pressing the power button to bring it out of sleep mode, but none of these do a thing.

Going through what happens at boot up using both the laptop screen and my other computer's monitor may be of help -
Lappie screen: The big "COMPAQ" logo appears briefly on the screen and the screen then goes blank and remains that way. (This is usual, but normally the Windows boot up screen would then appear.)
External modem connected: The initial Windows screen appears and displays for maybe 30 seconds, it then goes off. After only a short time a blue message "Power saving mode" appears and then goes off. (This always appears briefly when I turn off my desktop computer.) If I pull the monitor plug from the laptop I get another blue message, "Check cable connection" or words to that effect. As I have just pulled it out this is understandable.

Getting into safe mode using either screen doesn't seem an option as the screen is blank. I can only assume I have got there, but can't do anything else with no screen.

All of the above tells me maybe it isn't hardware; certainly it doesn't seem to be a mal-functioning screen.

If anyone has any suggestions I would be very grateful.

 

Try tapping your F8 key during startup and when a black screen with white lettering appears, select "Last Known Good Configuration" for the type of startup.

 

I have already tried tapping the F8 key and presumably it worked but I cannot see anything as the screen is BLANK - it is not displaying anything at all. I cant select anything because there is no display of any kind to react to.

 

Send your laptop to a factory authorized service center for repair.

 

I've been sort of thinking the same thing; not getting anywhere at the moment.

Thanks for your time and efforts.

Bill.