Screen remains dark - Toshiba Satellite M35X-S1142 Notebook

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1.Try to increase the Brightness of the LCD screen.
Press the Fn key, and tap the F7 key.

If this does not increase brightness, or dims later on, I suggest you have a bad Backlight Lamp, (Bulb), or Inverter.

Backlight's are usually the first to go, then the Inverter. However,...although Backlight's are cheaper in cost, they are much harder to replace.

The Backlight is located in the side of the LCD screen itself.
An LCD screen cannot give off enough backlighting by itself. It needs an external source such as a Backlight Lamp.

The Backlight Lamp is a CCFL. Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp. (Resembles a real small fluorescent tube)

To briefly illustrate where the average Backlight is located, and what an average Backlight looks like,

http://www.laptopparts101.com/screen-backlight-ccfl-lamp/

This shows you how to access the Inverter, ( Board), and what it looks like for the Toshiba Satellite M35X series of laptops,

http://www.irisvista.com/tech/laptops/ToshibaM35X/Satellite-M35X-display-1.htm

[Click on Page 2:: at the bottom of this page. Step 9 and 10 illustrate. You can click on the photo to enlarge]

The Inverter supplies power to the LCD screen, and to the Backlight Lamp.

To access the Backlight Lamp, as you can see, you have to carefully separate one side of the LCD screen, itself. The LCD screen is composed of layers. One mistake here, and you are buying an LCD screen. Average cost? $125 to $225. Depends on where you buy it.

Access to the Inverter, (Board), is much simpler.

BEFORE anyone should attempt this, there are guidelines that should be adhered to:

1.ALL electrical sources should be removed. Remove the AC adapter, (Charger), and the Battery.

2.The tech should wear an ESD wrist s-trap, and have the alligator clip attached to a good ground source.
(Electro Static Discharge. Your body carries Static electricity. Static can burn out the hardware components in a computer, in a flash. You probably won't see it, or feel it.

POOF, and you'll never know why your computer doesn't work anymore!
Wearing a cheap $6 ESD wrist s-trap, and having it connected to a good ground source prevents this. I connect to an empty desktop computer case)

3.Have a multi-compartment, clean container, that you can label each compartment, for the various screws.
Some screws look Very much alike. You install the wrong screw, and you'll strip the threads out in the screw hole, or the screw. {Or it will be stuck in halfway, and twist off when you take it out. All sorts of fun? stuff}

4.If you need to, take notes, make drawings as you disassemble. May make it easier when you go to re-assemble. You may want to use a digital camera, and good lighting.