Laptop display goes off but computer still running

Hello

I hope somebody here can help me with my problem.
The display on my laptop sometimes disappears but the computer is still running. It only opens when I have been away and never when I'm actually using it. I can see that the computer is still on because the power lights are still on and the fan is still spinning. There are days that it doesn't happen and other days it can happen three or four times. I have to hold down the power button and restart which probably isn't good for my laptop.
My laptop is always plugged in and my power plan, shown in the image, is set to go off after 30 minutes.
I'm grateful for any advice.
Thanks.

What happens if you temporarily change the power plan so that it does NOT turn off the screen after 3 minutes (set it to NEVER).

Berton said:

What I usually do in a sporadic problem is boot to a Linux LiveDVD and run it awhile to see if the issue is with the hardware. Notebooks have a hardware feature controlled by keys that toggle between the display panel, an external monitor/projector or both at the same time.

I wouldn't even know where to begin with a "Linux LiveDVD".

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hsehestedt said:

What happens if you temporarily change the power plan so that it does NOT turn off the screen after 3 minutes (set it to NEVER).

If I set it to never then the display doesn't disappear.

So, just to make sure I'm understanding correctly, once the screen shuts off nothing you do will wake it back up? Moving the mouse (or touchpad), hitting the keys on the keyboard, none of that wakes the display?

Is your display driver up to date? As a test, you might try running msconfig, then go to the boot tab and check "base video" and reboot. See if it happens running just base video as well.

hsehestedt said:

So, just to make sure I'm understanding correctly, once the screen shuts off nothing you do will wake it back up? Moving the mouse (or touchpad), hitting the keys on the keyboard, none of that wakes the display?

That's correct. Nothing I do will wake it back up.

hsehestedt said:

Is your display driver up to date? As a test, you might try running msconfig, then go to the boot tab and check "base video" and reboot. See if it happens running just base video as well.

I checked the Base Video option and rebooted which made things look a little different so I unchecked it and rebooted it to how it was previously. Is there something I should have been looking for?

Yes, base video will look different because it bypasses the driver you have installed to run just the base video driver. The idea was to wait until the screen blanks to see if it will wake up again when you hit a key or move the mouse.

If you want to make the test quick change the screen timeout from 30 minutes to 1 minute.

Again, this is only meant to be test. If you can wake the screen, it would indicate a problem with the display driver.

Have a look in Device Manager>display adapter for any flag,Then check Reliability History for flags at the time the problems occurred.
In the search box,type in---dxdiag--- and in the Display page,see if a problem is reported and also note the Driver details given on the right hand side.Download this driver,or a later version,from the maker's site only,then uninstall the present driver,using Display Driver Uninstaller {DDU} in safe mode and install the new driver.

Try3 said:

Sam,

Can you find any external evidence that the computer is operating or is frozen during the blackout period?
- If you have a network, do the other computers still find it?
- If you have some means of monitoring your internet connection does it still show any traffic [email checking, small stay-connected signals, anything]?

Denis

I can see that looking at another computer on the same network that it is no longer visible when the display goes off. But the lights are still on (see image) and the fan is still running.

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hsehestedt said:

Yes, base video will look different because it bypasses the driver you have installed to run just the base video driver. The idea was to wait until the screen blanks to see if it will wake up again when you hit a key or move the mouse.

If you want to make the test quick change the screen timeout from 30 minutes to 1 minute.

Again, this is only meant to be test. If you can wake the screen, it would indicate a problem with the display driver.

I've tried this but have not been able to repeat the fault. It could be that I don't leave it in the 'base video' mode long enough. I'll try it again and leave it over night to see if it happens.

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joeandmarg0 said:

Have a look in Device Manager>display adapter for any flag,Then check Reliability History for flags at the time the problems occurred.
In the search box,type in---dxdiag--- and in the Display page,see if a problem is reported and also note the Driver details given on the right hand side.Download this driver,or a later version,from the maker's site only,then uninstall the present driver,using Display Driver Uninstaller {DDU} in safe mode and install the new driver.

There were no flags and no problems reported when I ran dxdiag.
I uninstalled the driver in safe mode using Display Driver Uninstaller (I clicked on 'Clean and restart') and reinstalled the same one as it is the latest version. After leaving the computer for half an hour or so I returned and the fault is still there.
The display is off, the lights on the side are on and the fan is running.