Windows

Hi try reseating the ram, otherwise you may have a bad ground somwhere, also check por bent pins on any of the ports of the laptop, check the cpu fan is working (or any fan that s inthere)

also try reseating the vdeo cable int th eMB.

there was a class action lawsuit over that.

http://www.sfmslaw.com/class-action-lawsuits/cases.php?id=300

The deadline for the nVidia Class Action Lawsuit expired. There are some work around's to assist in preventing over-heat related problems. If you've already lost it, unless it's the display bulb, you've got your work cut out for you. I've got 4 I'm in the process of repairing. The problem is similar to the X-box red-ring-of-death or the 1st generation PS3's ylod (yellow light of death).

There are modifications that can be made to the bottom cover, GPU fan port is partially obstructed by a piece clear plastic (intended for added support). I very carefully cut around it with a razor knife, providing additional air-flow. There's a gap between 2 of the heat sinks, that needs to be blocked, to prevent hot air from blowing on the mobo. Additionally, I've added a piece of copper to the heat sinks (pre 1970's pennies work).

You can try what is referred to as the "Easy-Bake" oven trick (strip the mobo, flip it, re-flow in the oven), reflows don't last very long according to what I've read. There's also a product that lets you reball the connections without using a re-work oven. All of which I found via web searching. I'd send along links, but I'm not on my laptop & don't have the links at hand.

Hopefully it's just the lcd bulb.

It says on the website that if you take battery and power cables out and hold the turn off button it resets the motherboard and settings, I am not sure how effective this is but it worked for others so feel free to give it a try and hopefully it works for you!

Same prob last May. Tried all above DIY. Finally paid $400 to have it fixed: "repair system" was the only work done. NOT restore system. November, same black screen. Opened case found very dirty, old component case-definitely not OE! Advice from another IT consultant? Take out the HD & RAM, trash the dv7! Haven't done that yet-still hoping 4 a fix!

The easy bake method is what I finally went ahead and did. It was an easy fix and the laptop is back up and running.

I disassembled the laptop down to the motherboard. I removed all the paper and stickers from it as well as the processor. Then I put it in the oven and turned the heat up to 375 degrees. Once it got to 375 I let it bake for 5 minutes and then turned the heat off and then I let it cool for 30 minutes.

Then I put everything back together and the laptop fired up with the screen working again.

Thanks for all the responses.