Common Display

Common Display Problems

If you have lost video, consider the last thing you did to the computer. Often it's a connection issue. Someone might have disconnected the monitor cable and reconnected it, making video unavailable. If this is the casde, typically one of two things has happened:

A connector pin is bent. Use a pair of needle nose pliers to carefully straighten it and all should be well.
In connecting the cable to the video card, the card has been moved in the slot holding it. Power down the tower, open the computer case and make sure the video card is snugly in place.

Common Monitor Problems

Intermittent changes in color, brightness, size, or position - bad connections inside monitor or in VGA connector or cable.
Ghosts, shadows, or streaks in picture adjacent to vertical edges - faulty cables, connector, video card problems.
Magnetization of CRT causing color blotches or other color or distortion problems - faulty degauss circuitry or location near sources of strong
magnetic fields or electromagnetic interference.
Monitor not syncing on one or more video scan ranges - monitor may be incompatible with scan rates, fault in monitor electronics.
Focus or brightness problems - adjustments needed for focus or background brightness or defective components.
Dead monitor due to power supply problems.