Although your Toshiba portable computer appears to be on and running, there is no image on the built-in LCD display screen.

Look closely at the LCD display screen. If you can see a faint image on the screen, the display screen's fluorescent backlight may be turned off. Shining a flashlight directly at the screen will make it much easier to see whether or not there is a screen image actually present, though not lit up. On most Toshiba portable computers, there is a small plastic or metal pin near one of the LCD display lid hinges. When the display lid is shut (closed), this pin is pressed against an internal switch which turns off the backlight, saving battery power. You may be able to turn the backlight on again by tapping this pin repeatedly. The normal screen image will then suddenly appear, or re-appear.

If there appears to be no display image at all, the problem is probably not related to the backlight. In this case, press and hold the Fn key and then press the F5 key several times, pausing several seconds between each keypress. This will cycle through several display output modes: Internal, External, Simultaneous, and possibly one or two more.

If no image appears on the LCD display after cycling through the Fn-F5 sequence, try doing so with an external CRT monitor attached, if possible. If you still see no image, on either screen, try restarting the computer with the CRT monitor connected.

If you see a screen image that looks normal when the computer is first powered on, or when you try to enter the BIOS Setup during the power-on sequence, it's an indication of a software problem (a driver or an application that's launched while the computer is loading Windows, possibly). Try downloading the display drivers for the computer from the Toshiba Support website, and then re-installing them.

If the LCD screen or an external CRT monitor is blank only while the computer is first powered-on, but then works fine, it's probably not an indication of a problem. Some models display no text or images during the startup  process. Additionally, installing some Windows Updates may delay the appearance of the familiar Windows desktop.

If there are blank margins bordering the image on the LCD screen, launch the Windows Control Panel, then double-click the Display icon. Click the Settings tab, and then adjust the Screen Resolution setting until image fills the entire LCD screen, which will cause the margins to disappear.

If the font size on an external CRT monitor seems too small for comfortable viewing, try clicking the Advanced button on the Settings page, and then adjust the DPI (dots per inch) value. Try 120DPI and 135DIP, to begin with. Avoid changing the DPI to much greater values, in order to avoid settings that will be difficult to change.

See also these Support Bulletins on related topic:

98080952 Computer will not turn on

98081202 Screen turns off / blanks out while computer is being used

98070562 Blank screen, and blinking Power On light

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