Upgrading & Fixing Laptops DUMmIES

Holding a Bad Video Display Card .............................................................

Depending on the design of your laptop, the video display circuitry may

be built right into the motherboard, or it may exist as a tiny daughterboard

that attaches to a connector on the motherboard. If a video adapter on the

motherboard fails, you’ll almost certainly have to decide whether it makes

economic sense to replace the entire motherboard. If a video adapter on a

daughterboard fails, replacement materials cost less, but you still face the

cost of labor to make the swap.

The most difficult thing about diagnosing a possible problem with a display

card is that you generally won’t be able to see any error messages on the

LCD. The first step is to determine if the problem is indeed caused by the

video card or instead is a problem with the LCD settings or the display itself.

If your laptop is equipped with a diagnostic utility, use its facilities to test the

video card, video memory, and the LCD itself. Figure 12-2 is an example of a

test using the CheckIt Diagnostic. The following sections offer troubleshoot-

ing steps for a suspect display.

Plugging it in .......................................................................................

Make sure that your laptop is plugged in to an AC source or has a fully charged

battery available. Turn on the machine and watch the LEDs and any other

Figure 12-2:

Part of the

test of a

laptop’s

video card, a

component

of CheckIt

Diagnostics.

In this

section the

utility is

testing an

AVI video

file.

190 Part III: Laying Hands on the Major Parts