My Dell XPS m170 notebook having a problem with the monitor

I have a Dell XPS m170 notebook and I am having a problem with the monitor. I was playing some games last night and all of a sudden it went black but it was still on it did not turn completely off. The computer itself was also still on because I could hear the game sound. It did this twice last night and I let it set for around 20-30 mins and then it would work again. I figured it was due to overheating, but today I was just surfing the web and the laptop had been on for about 5 hours and then it did the same thing again. Now I have not gotten the screen to work. It has a glow but it is just black. I hooked up a normal monitor to it and it worked fine. I ran the diagnostics test and it found no problems but I do not know if that checks the LCD when I have it hooked up to another monitor. Any information would help.

Turn on the notebook and wait until the LCD screen goes black. Take a closer look at the screen. Can you see a very faint image on the screen? It will be a regular desktop with icons on it, but very very dim. Can you? If yes, than most likely you have a faulty screen inverter. I think replacing the inverter board might fix your problem. Here’s Dell XPS M170 notebook service manual, it has disassembly instructions. The inverter board is located inside the display assembly. You’ll see it below the LCD screen as soon as you remove the display bezel.