Screen split into 4?

[BoNkeRz808]

Hi all!
This is my first post on this forum (although I've been a long-time reader, now I feel I can help a few so I signed up) and need some advice.
I have a Dell Inspiron that has its display split in 4 screens. After the windows login, an error stating that the ati driver is not installed is displayed...4 times lol. I also booted from a live linux cd with the same results. I have an external monitor but no vga cable so I am not able to tell whether its my video card or my lcd...
Now here's where I look stupid. I have an older dell inspiron, different model, and the lcd connector fits on my newer inspirons' motherboard, but when I boot it up there is no pic...Help!

 

[hang-the-9]

An improper inverter or LCD screen for the model can cause this, as can a bad cable. What happened before this started, where you trying to replace or fix something? Did you try installing the correct video driver for the laptop from Dell, not from AMD/ATI?

 

[BoNkeRz808]

An improper inverter or LCD screen for the model can cause this, as can a bad cable. What happened before this started, where you trying to replace or fix something? Did you try installing the correct video driver for the laptop from Dell, not from AMD/ATI?

Yes, a friend had given me a big bag of what he thought to be "broken/useless" laptops and I ran into this problem on this Dell. As for installing the correct driver, I didn't try that because I tried booting from a live linux cd and I was under the assumption that linux automatically detects and installs the drivers. I will try your suggestion and update. Thanks!