Black Screen

[Helen]

My computer started doing this thing where my screen goes black. It used to
be that I could turn the monitor off and on a couple of time and then the
screen would stay on. Now when I do that the screen goes black a second
later.

I am thinking about using my recover disk and see if that will work.

Any ideas?

 

[Malke]

My computer started doing this thing where my screen goes black. It used
to be that I could turn the monitor off and on a couple of time and then
the
screen would stay on. Now when I do that the screen goes black a second
later.

I am thinking about using my recover disk and see if that will work.

Any ideas?

It sounds like hardware failure. Using your recovery disk is a software
solution and will not help at all with bad hardware.

First, connect the computer to a different monitor. If that all works well,
then you know the original monitor is failing and needs to be replaced.

If the problem continues with a different monitor, your video card may be
bad. Uninstall it and swap it out for a known-working one.

Other hardware components could be faulty. There's no way for me to know
because you don't describe what happens with the computer when the screen
"goes black". Does the computer shut off? Or does it sound like the
computer is still running?

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Hardware_Tshoot

Standard disclaimer: I can't see and test your computer myself, so these are
just suggestions based on many years of being a professional computer tech;
suggestions based on what you've written. You should not take my
suggestions as a definitive diagnosis. Testing hardware failures often
involves swapping out suspected parts with known-good parts. If you can't
do the testing yourself and/or are uncomfortable opening your computer,
take the machine to a professional computer repair shop (not your local
equivalent of BigComputerStore/GeekSquad). If possible, have all your data
backed up before you take the machine into a shop.

Malke

 

[Helen]

It sounds like hardware failure. Using your recovery disk is a software
solution and will not help at all with bad hardware.

First, connect the computer to a different monitor. If that all works well,
then you know the original monitor is failing and needs to be replaced.

If the problem continues with a different monitor, your video card may be
bad. Uninstall it and swap it out for a known-working one.

Other hardware components could be faulty. There's no way for me to know
because you don't describe what happens with the computer when the screen
"goes black". Does the computer shut off? Or does it sound like the
computer is still running?

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Hardware_Tshoot

Standard disclaimer: I can't see and test your computer myself, so these are
just suggestions based on many years of being a professional computer tech;
suggestions based on what you've written. You should not take my
suggestions as a definitive diagnosis. Testing hardware failures often
involves swapping out suspected parts with known-good parts. If you can't
do the testing yourself and/or are uncomfortable opening your computer,
take the machine to a professional computer repair shop (not your local
equivalent of BigComputerStore/GeekSquad). If possible, have all your data
backed up before you take the machine into a shop.

Malke

Yes, I hooked it up to another monitor and the computer is working just
fine. The monitor, when it goes black, the computer is still operating fine.
I turn the monitor off/on and I can see for a moment.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Paul]

Yes, I hooked it up to another monitor and the computer is working just
fine. The monitor, when it goes black, the computer is still operating fine.
I turn the monitor off/on and I can see for a moment.

Thanks for your help!

If the monitor is an LCD type, the symptoms mean the inverter in the back
of the monitor, is not working right. It generates power for a couple seconds,
and then shuts off.

This is an example of an inverter, and the CCFL light bulb it drives. The CCFL
is a cold cathode fluorescent lamp, and is a long hollow glass tube with
electrodes on each end. A typical CCFL uses about 3W of electricity. Large
format LCD displays can use a large number of these, in order to get uniform
lighting.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...ver.jpg/800px-2007-09-02_CCFL_lamp_driver.jpg

Paul