Laptop boot to black

[Thomas_100]

I have an Dell Inspiron 15-7000 series laptop running Windows 10 that I've owned for about a month. When I turn on the laptop it goes immediately to black. The laptop is on and the screen is backlit, but black, no cursor or logos. Sometimes the shade of black will change, I assume its as the processes I currently cant see are moving from brighter to dimmer screens. If I put the laptop to sleep and wake it back up, normally 3 to 6 times, though it has on occasion been significantly more, the screen will pop up with the Windows lock screen, and I can use the laptop as normal.

If I restart the laptop it sometimes turns on right away. Meaning I can see the dell logo and then Windows starts. Though other times its back to the black screen. If I allow the laptop to fall asleep from inactivity waking it up sometimes results in a black screen again.

Ive updated drivers, reinstalled windows, changed start up settings, scanned for issues using software. Just yesterday in desperation I returned the laptop to factory settings, which didn't fix the problem.

I'm competent with computers, but by no means skilled. But from what I can discern its like something in the laptop isn't turning on right, and turning the screen on and off eventually gets it to work correctly. Like turning a key in a beat up car until the engine finally turns over.

Its not a dire problem, I can eventually use the laptop, buts its a hassle, and I'm afraid it might be indicative of a larger issue. Can I fix it or should I take it to someone? Its out of the first week best buy warranty.

Any solutions or information would be much appreciated.

 

[Laptop_Nerd]

Hi,

Please do try these troubleshooting steps that may help. It seems like a problem either with the built in display or the GPU itself already.
- Start by connecting an external monitor if the laptop is stuck on that black screen and see if you'll get any display from it or not.
- If you'll get a display from the external monitor while the built in display is just black, press the Windows key +P at the same time and select "Computer Only" then press Enter, see if you'll get the display back on the built in display.
- But if there's still no display on the external monitor chances are the GPU is failing already.
- I would suggest opening the laptop and clean the inside of it, remove the dust off the fans and apply new thermal paste on the CPU and GPU.
- If all these will not work the problem is the motherboard specially if the GPU is built in.

 

[Thomas_100]

Thank you for your help.

I used my TV as my external monitor. The display came up fine on the external monitor while the built in was black. I logged in and switched to "Computer Only", like you said. However that turned the external monitor off and there was no change in the built in. I was blindly able to press Windows + P and move to "Duplicate" and the external monitor came back on, still no change on the built in. I unhooked it and switched between sleep and awake until the display turned on correctly again.

I have no idea what this means. But if it indicates its a problem with the GPU. I'm not sure I'm comfortable popping the laptop open. But I'm certainly willing to take it to a repair place for cleaning.