Windows 7 laptop screen stays blank after unplugging external monitor

Question

I have an HP ProBook 4730s with ATI video card (don't know the exact type atm). At work I use an external monitor. But when I booted my PC today the screen stayed bank during the entire boot process up until the Win7 login screen. No BIOS, no HP boot screen, nothing.

The screen is lit, and it flickered from on to off a few times during startup. It stayed blank the entire time however.

I can login to Windows and I hear the startup sounds etc. It seems like I can execute programs using Win-R, but I cannot get my screen to display anything. Fn-F4 doesn't word, Win-P doesn't work, rebooting doesn't work..

Any ideas on how I can get my screen back? I don't have an extra monitor at home so I cannot see if that still works.

Answer 1

I fixed it when, after smashing the keyboard with great vengeance and FUUUURious anger, I accidentally turned on the Screen Narrator. This allowed me to open the device manager (Win-Break) and deinstall my embedded video card driver. After a reboot my screen was back!

Pro tip: After pressing Ctrl-Alt-Delete on Windows 7, pressing the Down key 6 times and hitting Enter opens up the Accessibility Window.