computer will not shut down & monitor settings display won't go aw

[Guest]

My uncle's computer will not shut down and it only displays the monitor
settings screen- which will not respond to any of the monitor buttons being
pushed. I have the system here, well the monitor and computer at least. I
hooked the monitor up to my computer and it worked just fine so we can rule
out the monitor being the problem. Before I even plugged my uncle's computer
in to a power source, I hooked the monitor up to it and it showed the same
weird display. Well not weird- it's the display that you call up to adjust
the monitor settings- but it was still unresponsive. I Plugged the computer
in and it started right up- I could hear the fan running anyway- but that's
all. I can't use the key board or mouse- it just shows that settings display
all the time. I can open the cd tray so I tried putting the system restore cd
in, but it wouldn't load. Any ideas?

 

[LittleMoo]

The graphics card your uncle's computer could be bad. If it's an actual card
(and not an onboard graphics chip) then you can take it out of your uncle's
computer and put it in yours and see if you get the same results on your
computer as on your uncle's. If you do then you need to replace the graphics
card.

If it's an onboard graphics chip then this will be harder do diagnose. If
you have an older graphics card laying around you can put it in your uncle's
computer, plug in the monitor to it and see if the monitor works when you
boot it up. If it does then continue using the old graphics card. Or you
could buy a new one. Or you could buy a new motherboard that has an onboard
graphics chip on it.

FYI: when a monitor is powered up but doesn't have any input from the
computer it will display the monitor settings on the screen. When you shut a
computer down the monitor notices that there is no longer an input signal
and automatically goes into a low power state (usually observed by the
orange light on a monitor).

-Dan

 

[Guest]

Thank you so much!!!

The graphics card your uncle's computer could be bad. If it's an actual card
(and not an onboard graphics chip) then you can take it out of your uncle's
computer and put it in yours and see if you get the same results on your
computer as on your uncle's. If you do then you need to replace the graphics
card.

If it's an onboard graphics chip then this will be harder do diagnose. If
you have an older graphics card laying around you can put it in your uncle's
computer, plug in the monitor to it and see if the monitor works when you
boot it up. If it does then continue using the old graphics card. Or you
could buy a new one. Or you could buy a new motherboard that has an onboard
graphics chip on it.

FYI: when a monitor is powered up but doesn't have any input from the
computer it will display the monitor settings on the screen. When you shut a
computer down the monitor notices that there is no longer an input signal
and automatically goes into a low power state (usually observed by the
orange light on a monitor).

-Dan

 

[Guest]

Would the graphics card being bad keep the computer from shutting down?

 

[LittleMoo]

I guess I'm not really understanding your situation here. I thought that the
problem was that nothing but the monitor settings box displayed on the
screen while trying to boot up the computer (though I tried to take the shut
down problem into account when I posted previously - but it didn't make any
sense that the monitor wouldn't turn on when you turned the computer on but
that you were saying that it wouldn't shut down).

If you're considering seeing the monitor settings box displayed on the
screen as the computer not being shut down then this would be wrong. The
monitor is seperate from the computer (even though it is connected to the
tower).

Can you actually get the computer to boot into windows and see the desktop
on the monitor? Then shut down the computer properly? Then what? Is the
computer still running after you attempt a shutdown (i.e. fans running -
light green on tower)? Or is it actually shut down, but you just see the
monitor settings box on the screen? If this is the case then it's just a
case of the monitor probably not realizing that the computer shut down -
which could be a problem with the graphics card, or with the monitor.

If the tower powers down then you have nothing to worry about (you can check
this by trying to eject the CD tray - if it doesn't eject then the tower is
powered down).

If this is the case and you're worried about the monitor being on then you
can either press the power button on the front of it to get rid of the
monitor settings box, or you can use the power switch on the back of the
monitor which completely powers down the monitor. After this I would still
check the graphics card (by trying another one in the offending computer).
Although if you do try another graphics card and have previously used the
power button on the back of the monitor to turn it off then you will need to
turn the power button on again.

One thought just occured to me... if the monitor displays the settings box
when you try to start up the offending computer (assuming that it is a bad
graphics card) then the graphics card would have sent at least a partial
signal to the monitor which would make the monitor think that the computer
is being turned on (which it actually is) but then when the graphics card
fails to continue working there isn't anymore data being transferred to the
monitor so the monitor never realizes when the computer shuts down (which
would leave the settings box displayed).

-Dan

 

[Guest]

Wow- I can't tell if there's an answer to my problems in there or not! (hope
hope) The computer won't shut down- fan running lights, etc- have to unplug
it to shut it all off. I never see a desktop or anything else but the monitor
display settings. And yes the cd tray ejects, but nothing is responsive to
the restore disk or the windows xp disk.
Thanks for you help!! ~Linda

 

[LittleMoo]

Ok this makes sense now. It appears that the computer is booting up into
Windows, it just that the monitor never actually fully turns on. This would
make sense if the graphics card was bad.

Now I know what the shut down problem is all about. If Windows is fully
starting up you have no way to shut it down as you can't see the desktop to
get to the start bar.

This is good to know. You can verify if the whole motherboard is bad now or
if it's just a problem with the graphics card.

Try this:
Power the whole computer up.
Wait about 10-15 minutes to make sure that Windows is loaded up.
Press the Ctrl-Alt-Del key combination.
Press the Alt key.
Press the U key.
Press the U key again.

Explanation: This is a manual process to shut down Windows. The Ctrl-Alt-Del
key combination brings up the Task Manager. The Alt key enables you to use
the menu key shortcuts (example - like pressing the Alt key and then F to
get into the File menu in almost any application). The first U key goes into
the Shut Down menu, and the second one selects the Shut Down option from the
list (this would act in the same way a clicking the Turn Off button in the
Shut Down menu on the Start bar on XP). The next time you shut down your
computer you can try it this way so you have experienced how to do it.

From here wait I would say about a maximum of about 10-15 minutes again to
see if it will shut down. If it does then your graphics card/chip is bad on
the motherboard - and you need to get a new graphics card for it. If it
doesn't then your motherboard might be bad (but it still could be your
graphics card - if your graphics card is bad then the BIOS might throw an
error preventing XP from booting). I would still verify this with another
graphics card from another computer (yours, one of your friends, etc - cause
if you buy one and open the package you won't be able to return it in the
event that the whole motherboard is bad).

-Dan