When I first boot the laptop after the laptop has been off several days, the screen stays lit just long enough to almost complete the windows startup process (not quite reaching the login box). It then goes dark, with a faint image that I can see if the light is shining on it. I then push FN-F8 (CRT/LCD toggle) and it lights up again – for just a few seconds (about long enough to get my hands back on the keyboard in typing position), and it goes dark again. This process can be repeated infinitely until I get tired of it. If I shut down and reboot, the screen doesn’t even stay lit until Windows loads. If, however, I let it sit for a bit (the day, a couple days, whatever) it starts back as I originally described.

Any clues on what to do here?

I think you have a failed screen inverter. The screen inverter works as a power supply for the LCD backlight lamp, it converts low voltage DC power into high voltage AC. When inverter goes bad, it starts acting up exactly as you described. In most cases you’ll find the inverter board inside the display assemble below the LCD screen. Usually it is attached to the LCD cover by one-two screws and can be easily replaced. The inverter board has two cables plugged into it on both sides. One cable (right) connects to the screen backlight lamp (the lamp itself is located inside the screen) and another cable (left) is usually a part of the video harness. Here’s an example of replacing the inverter board on an IBM laptop.
It is also possible that you have a faulty backlight lamp but I would try replacing the screen inverter first. Backlight lamp failures are not as common as inverter failures.

 

 

 

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