HP DV7 laptop screen goes black

[Kateness]

I have a HP DV7 laptop and after playing games for awhile the screen goes black and the backlight is still on along with the keys. I always have to do a hard reset with the start button to get this to go away. Currently my battery is crap so I have to have it plugged into the charger for it to stay on. Any help would be appreciated. (Im not very computer savvy, so be easy)

-Kate.

 

[C12Friedman]

Welcome to Tom's Hardware Forums,
I apologize for the lateness of this response. I'm going to direct you to a rabbit hole here, one you may not feel too comfortable entering (laptop disassembly). Here's what I suspect is going on... (eerie music plays) I suspect your graphics card is overheating which is causing the blackout. You will need to do some disassembly to get to the heatsink but fortunately there are quite a few videos available that show how (like this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAmBtQztEQw ). You want to (at a minimum) clean the heatsink out. Unfortunately that cannot be done effectively without disassembly since once dust bunnies have formed, compressed air will do little to remove them (okay, it won't do anything to remove them). If you find you need to remove the heatsink at all, a fresh application of thermal compound would be needed. IMO, none of it is too difficult and it gets easier with practice.
Alternatively, you could take it to a local computer shop to have it cleaned and refreshed (I have no idea how much they may charge)

The really bad here is that unless addressed soon, it will fail completely and replacement is not easy nor cheap

 

[Kateness]

Okay, Im gong to give it a go! Thanks for responding, every bit of information is appreciated. I'll update in time if this works!

 

[C12Friedman]

Okay, Im gong to give it a go! Thanks for responding, every bit of information is appreciated. I'll update in time if this works!

Very good. I have one piece of advice: Do not force anything, if something doesn't come apart or go together fairly easily, assume you have missed a screw or connection. Always assume it is your mistake and the laptop is not stubborn (although it may be). If you run into any issues, don't hesitate to step away from it and ask questions here (or you can PM me)