laptop problem

[daygowop]

my friend has a sony vaio and it is about 3-4 years old. he tells me that he boots up his the laptop and he can hear everything running but nothing shows up on the screen. im just thinking its old and the screen just burnt out, or maybe the video card is bad. let me know what u guys think.

 

[jp198780]

it might be the screen, has he tryed a desktop monitor?

 

[daygowop]

no i gotta tell him to do that, ill let u kno what happens.

 

[daygowop]

ok he plugged into the desktop monitor and nothin happened, could it be the video card and if it is, is there a way to replace it just like i would to a desktop?

 

[alfredw1]

he cant replace the video card, because a laptop's space is small.

 

[Hairy_Lee]

it is possible to replace the video cards on some notebooks but it involves getting hold of the replacement card in the first place which is never the easiest thing to do.
In my opinion this is caused by bad ram; if you're lucky you'll be able to access both ram slots via the hatch underneath the system. If you have more than one stick remove one and try booting, if the same still happens try using the other stick on its own. Also, if neither works or you have a single stick try to get hold of another stick that you know works.
I have a fair bit of experience with notebooks and its surprising how a small fault can manifest itself in other areas of the system.

 

[daygowop]

can i get to the harddrive and take that out?

 

[Hairy_Lee]

yes you can get a hard drive to replace the current one.

 

[daygowop]

do u hav nay idea on how to dissasemble a sony vaio laptop?

 

[Hairy_Lee]

ive not had any experience with sony notebooks personally; but i would imagine it the same as any other notebook. taking them apart involves a lot of care and patience. The main problem is that all note books have different length screws and they're meant to go in specific places. Its not that hard as long as you take note of where every screw goes and you take your time.