Green lines on laptop screen, now laptop won't turn on
Question/Problem: I was doing normal stuff on my Dell Inspiron 1420 laptop when all of a sudden the whole system froze and some weird green/pink pixelated lines appeared on my screen. I had to manually turn the computer off and on, and for about half of hour of trying it would only boot successfully in safe mode. Whenever I tried to let it boot normally, I would hear the Vista startup theme, but there was no display. Finally, it booted normally, worked as normal for a few days, and then the same deal happened again. It hasn't worked properly since then, I can't get a display at all right from the get-go. It's not a problem with the battery, as it does this running on both battery and while plugged in.
Operating System, Version and Service Pack: Windows Vista Home Premium
Web Browser and Version: Firefox 3.6
Your level of experience: Beginner/Intermediate
When did the problem start? Has it been going on constantly since then? About two weeks ago - it's not turning on at all now, no matter how much I try. As before, I HEAR the system starting up, but there's no display.
When I booted up my system in safe mode the first time I pretty much backed up everything onto my external harddrive, so I won't be crushed if this laptop is toast (it's about 4 and a half years old anyway), I just want to know what the problem is and if it's worth getting it repaired (I'm assuming it's a hardware problem) versus buying a new one completely.
Operating System, Version and Service Pack: Windows Vista Home Premium
Web Browser and Version: Firefox 3.6
Your level of experience: Beginner/Intermediate
When did the problem start? Has it been going on constantly since then? About two weeks ago - it's not turning on at all now, no matter how much I try. As before, I HEAR the system starting up, but there's no display.
When I booted up my system in safe mode the first time I pretty much backed up everything onto my external harddrive, so I won't be crushed if this laptop is toast (it's about 4 and a half years old anyway), I just want to know what the problem is and if it's worth getting it repaired (I'm assuming it's a hardware problem) versus buying a new one completely.