Comments on: White screen on startup

Question: White screen on startup

Kronos_to_Earth — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 19:20:06 -0800

My computer- a Toshiba Satellite A65, running Windows XP SP2- will sometimes collapse on starting, displaying only a mottled white screen. The only way past it is to shut the machine off and restart (hoping it doesn't happen again). What component or process is failing?

By: samsara

samsara — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 19:29:15 -0800

How far into the process is the screen going white? Is the hard drive spinning up like it is still booting? Do you still get your POST beeps?

By: Kronos_to_Earth

Kronos_to_Earth — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 23:58:20 -0800

The fatal screen appears almost immediately after a start. The Toshiba/Intel splash screen doesn't even display. Actually, I've never heard POST beeps from this unit. It's beeped only a couple of times, when Windows was up and running without problems. (Just a single "meeep", from inside the case.) I honestly can't remember if the hard drive was spinning or not.

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 01:00:09 -0800

I have a similar periodic issue with my ancient Thinkpad, on bootup or sometimes after a while using it. If I tap and/or press around the edge of the screen, or near the hinges, it generally comes back, which leads me to believe (at least in my case) that it's a hardware issue of loose connections or something of the kind, in the wires leading to the display.

Just a shot in the dark, but my feeling is when the screen goes to white, you're looking at a hardware issue with the LCD.

By: tslugmo

tslugmo — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 01:08:23 -0800

I would guess the inverter board. Not too hard to replace, actually. Just a PITA to get the thing apart depending on the model. I am guessing the inverter is heating up and malfunctioning. Shutting down allows it to cool off. Normally white screen would be bad connection to LCD, but if a restart fixes, then I doubt that. Have you tried hooking up external monitor to VGA port?

see here for symptoms and a site that repairs them (I am not affiliated)

By: samsara

samsara — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 06:43:13 -0800

Tslungmo might be right, although it might be less headache overall to look at getting a new laptop if your current one is out of warranty. (eg. if it ends up not being the inverter board, but instead a bad capacitor on the main board, you're out $100 or so.) For your data there's quite a few askmefi questions answered on how to extract documents off a laptop HD. Whichever way you decide to go, good luck!

By: ml98tu

ml98tu — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 09:08:30 -0800

Do you get wierd horizontal lines across the screen? I had a problem with a lined-white screen on my Satellite (it would work when I pressed the border in the center or when I tilted the screen to a certain angle). I had it serviced and they replaced the LCD - works great now. Not sure if your problem is the same as mine, but it sounds similar.