Mac: thanks for your advice. It is not urgent as I have now set up a desktop for her to use. I want to repair this unit if possible as it was a high end unit over 2000 USDollars and has all her "Stuff" on it
Abacus Bill: thanks for your advice. I can bring up the bios and the boot screens on the external monitor but nothing on the laptop monitor. When I right clicked on the external monitor desktop and tried to actuate both monitors, I lost all the icons on the desktop and on the bar across the bottom. Only the background picture remains on the external monitor. What does this tell you?
Sapphire: thanks you for your advice. Yes I tried repeatedly to do a safe boot but it will not.
Hitman: thank you for your advice. I did try using the hot keys to switch between the displays ( usually FN and one of the F-keys pressed together). NO JOY Note that I have a complete backup of her computer on a free standing seagate hard drive. I wonder if I can restore from this hard drive back up to the desk top computer she is now using?????
Clover Kid: thank you for your advice. I have switched to the external monitor but only getting a picture of the background and no icons or menus, and only a curser there but of no use. the screen of the laptop is lit up but is all gray with nothing on it other then some very light blue streaks of various widths from 1/16th inch to about an inch.
Tony Hughes: Thank you for your advice. it is a high end computer that cost a lot and could not be replaced by a cheapo 350.00 laptop I can buy at a local electronic store. I really want to fix it but I don't want it to nickle and dime me to bankruptcy over the next periods of use.
Thank you to all who responded. I have a better understanding now of what I am dealing with. I guess I will just have to decide to bite the bullet and repair it or replace it. I have always fixed my own desk top computers over the last 25 years but I have never opened up a laptop.
Thanks to all,
Bebop