Issues getting windows installed on a laptop with a bad display.

[EZTech]

Pertinent specifications:
Acer Aspire 1640z
Windows XP Media Center Edition

A customer brought in her Acer Aspire 1640z with the complaint that it was not turning on. I hooked it up, powered it on and noted that the backlight did indeed come on. After a while I looked a little more closely and saw that the screen was indeed displaying something. Turns out the customer's daughter knocked it off a table (and neglected to mention it until that very moment which was quite funny.)

I hooked it up to an external monitor and rebooted and eventually got an error message stating it couldn't find some system files to show up on the external monitor. So I let her know that it seems the computer is still functional when using an external monitor and that it could still be used after repair. After weighing her options she decided she would like me to reload Windows for her.

So the restore finishes and it reboots. The windows xp loading screen flashes up on the external monitor then the external monitor goes to sleep and the notebook display shows some nebulous green blob. I can't press FN+F5 to toggle the display to the external output. I know it is sitting on the Windows XP setup page but without video I can't get it past that.

TLDR;
Laptop that has a bad display cannot complete a system restore due to inability to view external monitor during initial windows xp setup screen.

I figure I could make an unattended installation if I had a disc but I do not. Perhaps after it gets into Windows for the first time that FN+F5 toggle would work and I could see what I was doing.

At Staples I am not supposed to really open up a customer's laptop other than to swap out the basics, so completely disconnecting the monitor cable to see if it defaults to the external display is out of the question.

Are there any other ways to get around this? Or do I need to find an OEM disc of XP MCE and make an unattended installation and go from there? I really would like to limit how much outside work I have to do on this since I am not getting paid for it.

 

[Alan22]

This looks like a Consumerist.com post in the making.

Does Staples really limit you in how a computer can be repaired? From what's described it seems like the LCD display needs repair or replacement, or maybe just reseating the connections. If you're not allowed to open the system how can it be properly diagnosed and repaired? Seems like because of the limitations they place on you you're forced to look for workarounds & not repair the actual issue. In my opinion that's not the right thing to do for the customer.

If it couldn't be repaired properly by Staples the customer should have been told this and referred elsewhere. I do this on occassion when presented with a repair that is beyond the scope of what I do. There's no shame in this - the focus is on doing the right thing for the customer.

To me it looks like the repair method came to bite you in the ass. I think you're right back where you started & the original issue needs to be diagnosed and repaired properly.

 

[Alan22]

I really would like to limit how much outside work I have to do on this since I am not getting paid for it.

Do you work for Staples for free?

 

[NYJimbo]

Do you work for Staples for free?

Yeah, that line confused me too. If staples is paying him what difference does it make if he puts in 100 hours on it ?. Am I missing something here?

 

[EZTech]

No I don't work for free. It's hourly but I don't get paid for time researching at home. I want to make this right by the customer but of course I would rather not spend both my days off dealing with it.

As far as being limited, yes. I am quite limited in what they allow us to do in store. I offered to fix the original problem of the broken screen but the customer declined. Hardware repairs to laptops are done at a depot and costs almost as much as a new low-end laptop. She is strapped for cash and preferred the idea of a cheaper workaround within our constraints.

So back to the original question. Does anyone know of a workaround?

Also I will refer her to someone else if I can't get what we agreed upon to work. I didn't think it would be an issue when we first agreed on what was to be done.

 

[Alan22]

The only thing I can think of (without opening the system) is going into the BIOS and see if there's a setting to make the vga port the main display or disable the onboard display.

 

[Alan22]

No I don't work for free. It's hourly but I don't get paid for time researching at home. I want to make this right by the customer but of course I would rather not spend both my days off dealing with it.

As far as being limited, yes. I am quite limited in what they allow us to do in store. I offered to fix the original problem of the broken screen but the customer declined. Hardware repairs to laptops are done at a depot and costs almost as much as a new low-end laptop. She is strapped for cash and preferred the idea of a cheaper workaround within our constraints.

So back to the original question. Does anyone know of a workaround?

Also I will refer her to someone else if I can't get what we agreed upon to work. I didn't think it would be an issue when we first agreed on what was to be done.

Thanks for clarifying

 

[EZTech]

The BIOS had two options for display. Auto and both. I should have mentioned that before. When it is in Auto the display shows some funky colored lines, but when it is in "Both" I can close the screen and press down a bit, open it back up and barely see the first page of the setup yet I can't move the cursor from where I see it. It is almost as if the display is just holding the last input that it got regardless of what you are currently doing. I managed to get past the first screen to the options of your country of origin and whatnot but couldn't get beyond that.

Both options, "Auto" and "Both" in the BIOS would have the external display turn off when it boots into the initial setup page of Windows XP MCE.