Screen went blank: sign of problems?

[freddiemercurystwin]

The screen on my 4 year old Dell laptop went blank, well orange to be precise, I did the usual stab the keyboard a bit in annoyance but with no effect. Turned it off and all is well. Using Firefox posting one here at the time it remembered all my keystrokes and showed that (as I stabbed the keyboard) the laptop clearly hadn't locked up, just the screen went doodar. Is this sign of problems to come maybe?
Have been meaning to get a hard drive for a backup for ages so this is a good prompt, any comments on this fella?: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Dig...-Drive/dp/B001GO9ERE/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

 

[mattylad]

The screen fault & a backup potentially have nothing in common.

If the monitor or video card are going faulty then your data should be OK.

However, for a 1tb drive, that does appear to be a good price and a backup is always a good idea.

I just got a 500gb Lacie Network drive from Asda as they are being discontinued so got it for £31.50 (brill bargain).
Got my son one too & he isgoing to rip the drive out & put it in his desktop.

Is perhaps the video cable to the monitor just not fully pushed into the socket?

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Hello, yes I assumed doing a backup and a faulty screen were unrelated just getting a bit paranoid as I use my laptop for my job now. as mentioned its a laptop so no cables on display, is it worth taking the cover off and making sure the cables are fully home? thanks.

 

[mattylad]

Sorry, that will teach me to skim read.
Never noticed its a laptop.

Do a backup now....

Do you have an external monitor port?

Could be many things on a laptop, from dodgy cables, cable connectors, video IC, drivers even.

Even worse on a laptop as that makes it a more expensive repair.

Ty researching your specific laptop & seeing if there is a common fault on the screens, might give you some ideas.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Yes it has a monitor port, I've done a backup of the essentials now, many thanks for the help.