Hey, this is for an old system but my wife has an old dell laptop, it's an Inspiron 1000.  We were having the problem that it would shut off or stop working if the screen was moved at all.  It had sat for months.  Even had a guy going to buy it for nearly 300 bucks, but I didn't have the heart to sell it to him while it was in that condition.  Called a local computer store because though I'm nearly certified to work on Macs, including laptops, I was not sure, thought it was something very serious.  
 
If you have this problem, it's a very simple fix.  Flip your laptop upside down, there should be 2 screws that are underneath the hinges, if they are loose or missing, replace them or tighten them.  EASY FIX!!!!!!  Hard to believe but this solved the entire problem with our laptop, I can now bring the screen all the way back or forward, no lockup.  Works great!!!!  If you have this problem, try this!