My Blackberry 7290 has been a loyal soldier for the last 5 years and I just love its sturdy and no frills specs. This morning, however, the screen completely died and refuses to come back on. I can still use the phone, i.e., receive calls. But since I can't see anything on the screen, I can't make calls, SMS, access other contacts, data, nothing.

Is there a way to fix the screen somehow?

I liked the 7290 also but it may be time to upgrade. If that is not something you want to do, you might try for a replacement screen sold at many sites. One issue is if the screen is not the problem and it is something with the main board your wasting money. I found screens for $ 7.50 to $ 75.00. Depending on cost it really may be cheaper to buy a new BB. Some retailers will give you a new one for a contract. Ask your current carrier if they have any deals. Tell them if not you may have to change carriers. The story may change. Amazon offered a Bold for free with a 2 year contract.

Thank you so much. I am pretty sure that it is a problem only with the screen because the phone continues to do what it is basically supposed to do. I have now removed the SIM card and put it into a standby instrument, but so long as it was still in the BB, my phone was receiving calls and I was able to click the trackwheel and answer calls. Ditto with the alarm, which rang dutifully in the morning. I actually do want to upgrade and buy the Torch. My problem is that I have 5 years worth of phone numbers, email ids, addresses, fax numbers, and sundry details in the memos that I am desperate to recover somehow. If the data could just be extracted somehow, with or without the screen coming back to life, I would be home and dry.

Many thanks again.

You can extract all data using your PC or Mac with BlackBerry Desktop Manager.

Thank you. Will try this.

Okayyyy. I got Blackberry Desktop Software on my PC and managed to extract data from my wounded 7290. The problem is that all the backed up data is sitting in a .ipd file. How do read a .ipd file in a normal Windows environment before I download it into a new Blackberry?

Thanks in advance for any help offered on this. My new year's really started on a glum note!