Extremely Strange Laptop Boot Problem

[WhatHappenedd]

I recently reinstalled Windows 7 32-bit on an old asus laptop (Model K50IP from what i can tell)
Before the reinstallation the Laptop worked ok, but was filled with redundant files that the user didn't need anymore.
After the fresh install, the Laptop had a few strange issues, like freezing on restart, and windows reporting the battery to be faulty.
Today the user came to me with his laptop and on boot this happens:

This happens as soon as it powers on, no windows logo or the usual boot operations, just a gray screen with a visible blue bar on the top left (Not visible too well in the picture).
The rest of the screen is gray.
I have never encountered this, my money is on hardware failure, but I'm not sure what died.
Any ideas on what died, or a miracle fix?

 

[jarotech]

Hi, try to go in the BIOS, if you can't you definitely have a problem with the motherboard.

 

[WhatHappenedd]

I can't really access the BIOS at all, it instantly moves into this gray screen.
Can't really say i expected much, i am however a bit bummed it happened after this person went to college when she most needs it.
Thank you for your quick response.

 

[jarotech]

Can you try an external monitor with the laptop?

 

[WhatHappenedd]

Thank you for your advice, I'll try it as soon as I can.
I'll report back.

 

[WhatHappenedd]

Ok, so I tried it, after seeing some hardly noticable text at the bottom.
The PC works, but the display is screwed for some reason.
She was travelling with it and when she came home it didn't work.
What would have caused the display to die though? She said she didn't hit anything.

 

[jarotech]

If you have a problem with the laptop screen and an external monitor, the problem is probably from the GPU, if you have two memory sticks, try one and exchange with each other.

 

[WhatHappenedd]

Yeah only the Laptop screen is dead. On the external monitor everything displays normally. The strange part is that when I used the external monitor the things on the laptop screen could be seen somewhat clearer. Albeit the screen was still gray and it was freezing all the time.
Are displays that old still repairable or replaceable?

 

[jarotech]

Ok, I didn't comprehend well what you said about the screen for the external monitor, sorry. What you can verify, is the cable for the screen, on the motherboard and the back of the screen, maybe it has a bad connection.

 

[WhatHappenedd]

The display on the external monitor works fine, with the boot and everything. It is the laptop display that is still not working. I'm guessing the display on the laptop itself has died.

 

[jarotech]

The problem can be one of the three components, the cable, the GPU or the screen. So verify the connections of the cable first.

 

[WhatHappenedd]

It was the connection

 

[jarotech]

Good, it was the less expensive solution to try.