Laptop problems, computer guys help!

[PorscheGuy79]

Hey guys,

I have a Alienware Laptop computer that I purchased about 3 years ago, it was one of their first laptop models. It had been running like a champ for the past 3 years, with only minor software issues here and there as you would expect from a computer of its age.

Recently, I had left it on for a couple hours when I was at work. the monitor went off as it usually does and I came back about 3 hours later. I found the computer on, the fan running on high (not terribly unusual) and the mouse, keyboard and touch pad all unresponsive. After not having any luck getting it back I did a hard shut down and waited for a good bit before turning it on again. When it started to boot up there were now dozens of small (about the size of a stamp) groupings of horizonal lines (maybe about 5-6 lines per group). This happens across any screen that isn't a DOS prompt, that means the windows boot screen, the Alienware start up screen, and the login screen. The DOS prompt does not have this error (IE the screen where you can select to start it in safe mode). Another thing about it is that when you get to the XP sign in screen the cursor works but my login name and icon are unresponsive. This is true for both a normal boot as well as in safe mode.

I hope that you guys can possibly give me some direction on how I could proceed. Alienware wants me to sign up for an additional warranty to try and fix it but I wanted to get some cheap input first before paying money on something that might be toast.

Thanks in advance.

[svandamme]

reinstall the bugger...
if that don't work ... get a new bugger...

[PorscheGuy79]

Originally posted by svandamme
reinstall the bugger...
if that don't work ... get a new bugger...

I am some what computer savy but its been ages since I took a class on it. How do I go about reinstalling again? (am I gonna lose everything I got on the comp too?)

[svandamme]

in that case... find a geek locally
no way am i gonna remote geek your pc... sorry mate , but it don't work like that to risky

[PorscheGuy79]

Originally posted by svandamme
in that case... find a geek locally
no way am i gonna remote geek your pc... sorry mate , but it don't work like that to risky

No biggie, I understand. My mom knows how (sad I know). Im a pretty good Geek, just haven't had much opportunity to practice restore disk procedure.

[Icemaster]

Try a system restore first just for giggles.

Start - All Programs - Accessories - System Tools

Take it back to a few days ago, you wont lose anything.

[Icemaster]

Disregard that...i just re-read you'r post.

So you can't log in at all? Even in Safe mode?

[PorscheGuy79]

Originally posted by Icemaster
Disregard that...i just re-read you'r post.

So you can't log in at all? Even in Safe mode?

I will try again but as of last time I tried...nope not even in safe mode.

[Icemaster]

Uh oh...did you receive any system restore CD's when you bought it?

[PorscheGuy79]

Okay this is gonna sound ridiculous but... I let the computer sit and think about what it had done. I started it up this morning, everything looked fine and then just ask I am typing this message...about at the word "computer" it started putting out all these little boxes again...and they keep multiplying...they are multiple colors...black, green, red, yellow. Ahh I will try and restore now.

[ChrisBennet]

I'm not a computer expert or anything but if it was me, I would pull the hard drive, put it a desktop PC and copy everything off it before doing anything that might make cause me to lose all the data.
-Chris

[Icemaster]

Sounds hardware related to me at this point. Video or system board is my guess from this distance, doubt that re-imaging it would cure teh problem. BUT...if you can get to a state where you can drop your most ritical stuff onto a USB thumb drive, I'd do it just for safe measure. If it IS system or video related, your hard-drive most likely will be OK once the failed part is replaced.

Chris, without the right adapters, no way to pull a slimline laptop drive and slap it in a PC. It can be done, but you need the right cables (which I no longer have...).

[Vipergrün]

My bet is fried video. Have you tried hooking up an external monitor to it? If you need to save the drive, you can get a 2.5" drive USB enclosure. Drop your laptop drive into it and access it via a desktop system.... To troubleshoot further, whether it's video or not, try to download a bootable copy of Knoppix (Linux). You can boot from that and examine your system.