Occasionally my laptop screen goes blank and returns back to life, but with lines on the window title bars and start menu. This makes the text quite difficult to read, and indicates that something is not quite right. Additionally, when playing DVDs the screen can go blank with the DVD still playing in the background (as I can still hear the audio). I am unsure whether a hardware or software issue is causing this problem. However, I suspect this may be a hardware problem as sometimes when the laptop goes through the power-on self-test (before the Windows logo splash screen appears) all these little coloured dots appear on the screen. Do you have any advice for resolving this issue? The computer is running Windows XP.

In the past I have seen laptops with display problems, as occasionally the connection between the laptop screen and the main body of the laptop can become fatigued or broken over time with the repeated opening and closing of the screen, causing the laptop display to become intermittent. This is potentially the problem in your situation. Generally, this will result in a signal to the display or no signal at all. In your situation, you report that when the display returns there are lines over portions of the screen, and just before the Windows splash screen appears there are little coloured dots displayed. This may indicate a problem with the video card in the computer. However, given the fact that one of the problems occurs while you are using Windows, and the other occurs just before the Windows splash screen appears, there is a possibility that the problem is caused by Windows.

In these situations, the most reliable method to determine whether the problem is related to Windows is to do a clean reinstallation of Windows. This will either resolve the problem, or eliminate the possibility that the problem is being caused by Windows. Before undertaking this procedure make sure you do a complete backup of all the data you wish to keep, as this process will result in all data being wiped from your computer. In fact, I strongly suggest that you have multiple backups of your data on media such as CDs, DVDs, or a portable hard drive (just to make sure that your data is definitely safe). Once you have backed-up all the data you wish to keep, insert the Windows XP CD into your CD drive and restart the computer. The computer should boot from the Windows XP CD and you will enter the Windows XP setup. Proceed through the motions to format (wipe) your hard drive and complete a new, fresh installation of Windows XP.

Having completed the reinstallation of Windows XP on your computer, should you continue to experience difficulties, then the problem is most probably a hardware fault with the computer. In this case, there is not much you can do to resolve the issue yourself since laptops are not designed to be particularly user serviceable. As such, I suggest you contact the local service agent for the brand of laptop which you own to see whether they can evaluate the laptop and fix the problem.