Hello.

I have a Dell Inspiron 5100 Notebook with Windows XP Service Pack 2, and it has a little problem.

All of a sudden after 5 years of use, my laptop's backlight keeps going out at random times, from every 30 seconds, to every 10 minutes. I do not KNOW what is causing the problem, but it only HAPPENS when the AC Adapter is unplugged. When i plug the AC Adapter in, it continues to go out. I know it is the backlight because when it GOES out, i can still see the desktop and all the icons if i shine a flashlight onto the screen, but it is extremely hard to see. I have to close and open the laptop for the screen to come back on. I have ran diagnostics test and everything passed, but the backlight still goes off during the test as if the computer is working normally.

Sometimes when i move the screen around, the backlight stays on longer before it goes out, but once it goes out, it continues to go off every 30 seconds afterwards. I can confirm it is not a overheating problem. I can confirm the backlight is working fine because it continues to come on everytime i close and open the laptop.

My question is, could this be a software or hardware problem? Could the LCD Screen on my laptop be going out?

*I have tried safe mode and the backlight still goes out.

*I have tried system restore.

*I have tried squeezing the bottom of the screen minimally and it helps KEEP the backlight on longer, but still goes out.mabye a wire is loose were the lcd connects or somethingCan anything else be wrong with my computer? The backlight can't be bad because it doesn't go out at all with the AC Adapter unplugged and the brightness set all the way up.When the blacklight goes out, can you still see anything on the screen if you tilt it slightly or put another light towards it?Yes i can still see everything on the screen but not with eyes alone, i need to use a flashlight or sunlight to be able to see.That either means your Screen Inverter is damaged, or isn't getting ENOUGH power from the battery.....
There isn't much we can do about that from here, I'm afraid.