Rick, the problem here was a shorted inverter transformer--not that simple to resolve--I'd already done a restoration, replacing two of the 4 driver transistors. The design for the these things basically sucks.
At any rate, I ordered both a 2 and a 4 CCFL "universal" inverter for basically shipping costs (<$5). I had to depopulate the inverter board on the HP monitor to make some room--you can't simply toss the board, as it has the 5V, 3.3V and 1.8V power supply regulation on it. The universal boards come with sticky foam pads already attached, so I basically stuck the 2 lamp unit (it fit best) to the depopulated inverter board and ran leads to the board (including the CFL lead sockets), +12 ground, "on" and "dim". Even though there are 4 CCFL lamps, the 2-lamp version delivers adquate brightness.
Was it worth the effort? Probably not, since old LCD monitors can be had easily for next to nothing. But it's a nice 17" rectangular model, not one of those stupid wide-screen ones, so it's useful for me.
{b]A caution[/b] If you do buy one of these, often, a connector is suppled for the low-voltage terminals. Do not assume anything about the wire colors used! I discovered on mine that +12 was black and "gound" was red! (measure twice, solder once!)
