Blank screen after XP welcome screen

[xrispleytre]

I have a Dell Latitude (laptop) C640 with the standard Radeon 7500 video and am running XP Pro SP2. I recently was updating the video driver and after running into some problems while doing so, I managed to remove the Display Adapter (why oh why does Plug and Play not recognize this??) After rebooting, I only get a blank screen after the welcome screen. The computer seems to be operational (wireless pci card is on, hard drive reacts from pressing the keyboard, CD drive reacts to a cd being inserted), but I cannot do anything. I have tried ALL of the modes under the F8 screen, but only get a blank screen with blinking cursor or just a blank screen. I cannot boot from my XP install disc, because nothing shows up on the screen. I have tried to connect to another machine via network cable, but need a password (which I never set up) to log on. I am at a complete loss. Any helpful suggestions are greatly appreciated!!

 

[phantom]

what induh?

I think i did the same thing on my desktop xp. The instructions for installation were close to useless and I now have a blank screen after the XP welcome window..

It told me to go into Display in control panel and disable the current graphics card so i did.. any help would be awesome..

 

[xrispleytre]

I would LOVE to be able to access the control panel, but with the blank screen I am working blindly.

 

[nickc]

xrispleytre, sounds like u need a format and start over or atleast a repair. can u do either?

 

[xrispleytre]

I wish I could reformat or repair, but I need the screen to be working to see what I would be doing. If you know of a way to do those things with a blank screen, let me know! I really had assumed that Plug and Play would have detected the display after it had been removed (as it does with almost all other components.) Anyway, I think I am going to remove the video card and see about replacing it.

 

[xrispleytre]

Now the speakers are gone!!

I was able to re-install XP with a bootable cd rom, and everything is back to normal....except the machine does not recognize the built-in speakers! I went into the control panel, but am not able to do anything with the sound properties. Oh well, maybe next time!!!

 

[nickc]

have u got all the drivers for the laptop, if so I think if u reinstall all u'r problems will go away. if u do not have them go to the Dell site and do a search for them and see if they can be downloaded, I have never had a Dell laptop and do not know if they can be.

 

[phantom]

Im still screwed with my desktop.. I dont have a reboot cd (gateway tower i bought) and stupidly didnt make a restore cd so i guess im SOL

cant get in with safe mode either

 

[Tmagic650]

Im still screwed with my desktop.. I dont have a reboot cd (gateway tower i bought) and stupidly didnt make a restore cd so i guess im SOL
cant get in with safe mode either

It's time to take it to a repair shop i would think. I repair laptops, but there are things I can't do. I sent a Sony Vaio notebook off for repair. I replaced the CPU fans, the CD R/W and the DC jack... It needed a motherboard. The customer could have bought another laptop for what this is going to cost

 

[AlexPanos]

Hi,
These matters are usually tackled while you enter DOS with the help of a recovery CD. WinXP provides for a such a recovery.
Another way is to create an image of your primary Hard Disc C and save it in an external Hard Disc or storage device.
If your physical HD has more than one partitions then you must create an image of C regarded as a partition.
There are several programs out there for doing this. Eg Norton's Ghost Image can do the job by using the option Partion C to Image.
In order to keep the image size relatively small PC users partition the physical HD into two partitions. In the primary partition C they install the operating system and in the other install all their applications and data.
This choice allows them to store a small image of C into an external storage device in the case problems arise as above.
Then they simply reformat C and re-install the image from the external drive.
Of course, there several approaches to your problem. I have just described one of the several available.
I hope the above is of help to you and Good luck.

 

[tweakboy]

Go into safe mode,, Run driver cleaner pro ,

remove the driver , ATI or nvidia ,,

Reboot system and it will come up, Now install latest official catalyst from www.ati.com ,,

should be good to go ,

 

[xrispleytre]

Again, any and all of the modes in the F8 safe mode screens were useless because the screen would go blank. I solved the problem by simply using my boot cd rom and repairing the install.

 

[nickc]

xrispleytre, glad to hear u got urs fixed

 

[tifc8lraz]

Hmmm...I hope Vista doesn't pull this stuff off or :blackeye: <------Microsoft <------Me!

 

[xrispleytre]

Glad it is fixed. Not glad that I probably have to reformat the drive anyway due to the 'conflict' of MS drivers and Dell audio (Crystal4205?!?!"!##!#¤"¤%&)¤#")