Okay. You guys are great. Clearly the collective wisdom is not to throw money at the problem - but figure the problem out. Owbist - in my thread on not connecting my husband's vista laptop to our network, I tried quietly, methodically to troubleshoot the issues - to no avail. I found lots of similar frustrations on google - but no solutions that worked - and I think I tried them all - at least to the best of my ability. thanks for those great, easy-to-follow instructions to transfer to an external hard drive. He'll want to do that anyway - even if he keeps this computer. This computer guy is pricey - but where I am in DC they seem to fall in the $125-140/hour range - and they can usually fix a problem. Others that charge $40-75 - that the uninformed think are good - but their know-how is less than what I find here. I tried a few of those locally recommended guys - and they accomplished the simple tasks but also made mistakes I had to hire the more expensive guy to fix. My main complaint with him is that he's wedded to his biases - he hates Vista - so his recommendation is usually to avoid or ditch it. Our struggles with Vista seem to often be how often we're blocked from things or performing simple tasks have all sort of obstacles - for "safety's" sake. Thanks to everyone for pointing out that Windows 7 is just a revamped Vista. I got my first issue of Smart Computing and they were tauting it and described some features I thought I'd love. DA - if W8 is in process, is there any indication of what it will be like? Probably worth waiting for - or at least waiting to hear more about how Windows 7 is panning out. So I'll keep plugging away on my other thread to get him connected. If I don't succeed by Tuesday, the computer guy will come and fix it. I guess we'll stop there. Thanks. Lynn.

Yes, that is a good video for resolving such an issue....with one major exception. When a person is going to work on a computer, they would be wise to turn the computer off before doing anything to the computer. If it is a desktop, turn it off and then unplug from the wall outlet before making a repair. If it is a laptop, turn it off and remove the battery. When repairs are completed on the desktop, plug back into the wall outlet and then turn the computer on. When repairs are completed on the laptop, re-install the battery and then turn the computer back on. For some people this may seem like elementary information, but for others this information is not known. I would say that if that young man in the video works on his computer enough times with the power on, he will probably experience ESD (ElectroStatic Discharge) and will be headed to the store to purchase a new motherboard.

Thanks for all the input. I did try hooking a monitor to the laptop to eliminate the possibility that it was just the screen or the cable that connects--it showed nothing. I agree that the repair may not be cost effective--but wanted to try everything I could before purchasing another PC. Also just tried Zep16's advise to keep hitting the F8 key, but just as he suspected--the menu never appeared. Although laptops are difficult to troubleshoot because replacement parts aren't readily available. We do have 2 of these laptops exactly alike and I wondered if it would be advisable to switch out the hard drives, etc... to see if I could pin point the problem. Since my knowledge is limited, I wasn't sure if taking the hard drive from the working machine was a good idea. Thanks again--All input appreciated.

goes into sleep mode ... is normal for a laptop when you close the screen ... hitting any key or a mouse wiggle usually wakes it.. pushing the power button is also a normal way to wake it. Sounds like it doesn't wake properly.. some program maybe interferes .. a snafu. Right click you little battery/ac power icon in the system tray, click on power options maybe... look around. Not your laptop maybe just change it to hibernate when lid is closed.