i just got this dell c640 2 days ago and everything went ok i got windows xp installed and than i noticed when the laptops is on and you close the screen and than open it it is black and stays that way if you move the mouse or press any buttons it doesnt work just a black screen and that only happens when you close it and than open it can anyone please help
125391
Well I work for Dell but you laptop is not one that I support but the XPS M140 has the same issue. When you close your screen your system goes into a sleep mode to save on battery life. I can't remember off the bat on the configuration on how to turn it off but next time I'm at work I will look it up for your system. You also might want to check you power option in control pannel. drop me a line in messenger sometime and we will go through a few things
590429
2 possible reasons\n\na) If you are lucky: your graphic card drivers are messed up. All you need to do is reinstall your graphic card ( using its recovery cd or downloading it from its brand's website )\n\nb) If you are not lucky: your screen is dead. Leave your laptop off for some minutes and turn it back on. If it still is turned black you best take it to the first laptop shop.
362398
Its hard to tell from your description exactly what the problem is but I'm going to guess it's a problem with the resolution.\n\nright click the desktop and choose properties\n\ngo to the settings tab\n\nMake sure that the resolution scroll bar or drop down menu is at least 1024x768 or greater. (The numbers might be slightly different if you have a widescreen laptop, but generally higher is better).\n\nAlso on that same tab make sure your color settings are set to their highest setting. Usually 24 or 32bit.\n\nHit Ok, the screen may blank out for a second but it should come right back.\n\nHopefully this will fix it.
638205
dear friend u must install driver for it\nu can find it in cds \nu must install driver for pointing stick and your touch pad\nif can nor find it have a look in www.dell.com and serach for your Dell model and downloadable softwares\n\n&#92;befor that go too contrl panel>mouse and see if is there any touch pad or device select tab\nif u have "device select" tab beshure that your touch pad in enable\nmaybe it's disable
554527
Brand names really don't make much difference.  Sounds like the computer needs a new video card.  Perhaps the light setting dial under the monitor may have been moved to dark also.  Hoope this heps
554178
You're not getting anything on the monitor either?  My guess is that the power supply's shot.  With a dell, you may be screwed.  Many, if not all Dells use proprietary (made by Dell, for Dells) hardware.  Power Supplies are one example of that.  \n\nAnd power supplies are like lightbulbs; they don't crap out just at random, but rather right after they're turned on.  You know what I mean, right?\n\nFirst, make sure that all the right cables are in place inside your machine.\n\nCrack open your PC, making sure everything's unplugged beforehand.  Since every PC case is different, it may be screws holding it together, or on dells, it's often kept closed by a couple tabs that click into place when it's closed.  When you have it open, hold onto a metal part of the chassis to discharge any static electricity from your body that could damage your computer.   Anyway, just take a look around the motherboard to see if there are any cables from your power supply that are loose.  If you're not sure about where the other stuff goes, just make sure that nothing's loose.  You can let go of the case now (it's not that crucial when you're messing around with the cables, but it's just another precaution)\n\nIf everything's plugged in, try turning it on again and see if the fan on the power supply is moving.  If it isn't, then your power supply's gone to computer heaven.  So here's what you do now:\nUnplug your power supply from the wall and all of the stuff inside your computer.\nTake a screwdriver and undo the 4 screws on the back of your computer that are holding your power supply in place.  (Make sure you're hanging onto the power supply with your other hand, otherwise your it may come crashing down and send your graphics card, sound card, or network card to computer heaven also)\n\nNow, I'm not sure whether dell still uses proprietary power supplies, but if they do, here's what you do:\n\n Go to your friendly neighbourhood used computer store with your former power supply, and ask whether they have a power supply with the same connectors.  It shouldn't cost that much.\n\nIf they are starting to use standard power supplies, then you're in a far better situation.  When you buy a new power supply, make sure all of the connectors match, just in case.  Also, don't scrimp when it comes to your power supply.  A low end power supply will provide your computer with power.  A good power supply will provide your computer with clean, consistent power.  How to tell which is a good power supply?  2 simple ways:  The price and the weight.  A 25 dollar power supply that weighs only 300g is not what you're looking for.  A 75 dollar power supply that weighs 2 kg is almost certainly better.  I know it seems like a crude method, but still, it works.  Sorry for being long-winded, but I like to be specific.\n\nAlso, if at any point you're not confident that you can do it, by all means take it to a professional.  It may cost more than doing it yourself, but it's still cheaper than if you happen to blow it royally.\n\nGood luck.
560616
The most common cause of this symptom is insufficient RAM... Dell has a habit of selling underpowered PC's with as little as 256Mb of RAM... This is really insufficient to run XP!  A minimum of 512Mb should be installed (preferably 1Gb) to avoid this type of issue!
469009
With some Dells, you can press the Fn key along with F7 to enable screen expansion.  I hope this works for your laptop, but if it does not, then I'm giving you the link for Dell online support.  The site was a bit fussy tonight and I could not get through, but "enable screen expansion" is the issue you want to research.\n\nhttp://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dsn/en/entry?c=us&l=en&s=gen\n\nGood luck to you!
345687
Well here the deal with  Dell No ONE CARRIES THE DELL CARTIDGES\nand if you get them refilled they may not work and if they do the most they will is 2 times this is becasue dell put a chip in the cartriges that tells the PC that its bad so you have to buy them from dell so your going to pay sooner or later
417158
Hello. I have had the same problem with my Dell 15" LCD. I don't know what happened when suddenly I'm playing a game and I'm thinking that the game's graphics are awesome because its raining and the thunder really lights up the screen. Then I realize that my pixels are fading, exactly how you described it. I tried unplugging everything and replugging it in again, but nothing seemed to work. I decided to go back to my old CRT monitor and for a few months that worked fine. As luck would have it, it broke as well. I decided to test my LCD again, and to my surprise, it worked now. After about two weeks, I unplugged everything because I was moving my computer to another room. When everything was replugged, the same problem plagued my monitor. That's when I've had enough. I called Dell Customer Service, which was really helpful, and they offered to replace my monitor with a new one even though it was out of warranty. I don't if there is maybe something wrong with the entire line of Dell monitors, but they sure were helpful and considerate. Of course you have to send back your old monitor, but they picked it up from my house and paid for the shipping costs as well.
673499
this happened to my grandma, u should take it to a software company, i just think its overfilled.  Take it to dell or a friend who knows what to do
144220
Is this laptop new (like maybe only a few months old)?\nIf not then you might need to update you're video driver, or reinstall it.\n\nIf still nothing, goto control panel, click display.\nGoto the last tab and click the advanced button.\nAt that point I really can't help you too much, just find something that talks about a 2nd screen/monitor.
518285
glitch in the graphics card\nalienware just hasnt been the same since Dell purchased them
96705
Go to the manufacturer site of your computer (Compaq, Dell, etc.) and search for drivers/downloads for your MODEL of computer.  Make sure you find the exact model that you have.  Look for the "chipset" download.\n\nPull that down, install the chipset.  Restart your computer.  If that does not work, please email me at mgopher007@yahoo.com
327538
1) I am assuming you have tried turning the machine off (by unplugging it at the mains, and by turning off the off button) and then turning it on again?  I am also assuming you have checked CAREFULLY that all the cables are plugged into the PC and the screen properly.  They fall out so easily when you are playing games or attaching joysticks or whatever.\n\n2) If the pc starts to start up but doesnt get very far, there is probably a hard disk drive problem in which case you need to use the set up menu to start up the machine in safe mode or by booting to a CD.  To get to the setup menu, try turning it off again, hold down the Esc key and turning it on again.  If that doesnt bring up something on the screen try step 2 using the F1 or F8 key instead of the Esc key.  Once in the setup menu, you need to find the menu that allows you to change how the pc boots up (different on all pcs sorry I cant help you further - you may have to look up the pcs manual) and set it to boot up from a CD instead of the hard disk.  Then insert a CD into the CD drive and restart your PC.  It should boot up from the CD and will prompt you to help you get your PC up and running again, hopefully.  Otherwise F8 is sometimes a troubleshooting option. \n\n3) If this doesnt work, it sounds like your screen is not showing input - in which case someone probably accidentally hit the overhead projector key - most laptops have a special key combination that switches the screen to display on an overhead projector - you will need to check the manual for the pc for this key - but it usually is F8 or Ctrl+F8 (i.e. press and hold the Ctrl key and then press the F8 key).  Try this to see if you then get some screen output.
611807
the problem may be the ribbon cable going from the computer to the screen. check if it is broken. You may still use the laptop with an external monitor.
571719
Its a driver issue.\n\nGo to www.dell.com and select the download part and go from there.\n\nWin98 on a Dell Latitude? Seems a bit dated too, you may not be able to have infrared on 98, but Im not sure about that