My monitors won’t turn on

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I shut down my PC last night like I normally do. I went to turn it on and neither monitor came on. They were still in standby mode, though my PC was lit up. The last things that I did before turning off my Desktop was to perform a temp GUI cleaner, disc cleanup and defragmented (Trim) my drives. Could a startup file have been deleted by mistake? I am using my laptop for the time being.

Any suggestions?

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?Have you tried turning the monitors on manually (with the switch/button)??

Zig

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They are in standby mode. Someone suggested that I disconnect power then reconnect power. In doing so, both monitors came on, however briefly. I am beginning to wonder if I have a bad video card.

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Try booting into safe mode.  If successful and you’re monitors stay on check the windows power settings for turning monitors off.

Quick AI safe mode summerizer:

To boot Windows 10 into safe mode, there are several methods available. One way is to press and hold the Shift key and click Start – Power – Restart. Then, click Troubleshoot – Advanced options – Startup Settings – Restart after entering into Win-RE. Another way is to press F4, F5, or F6 key to boot into safe mode in Windows 10. Additionally, the Advanced Boot Options screen can be accessed by turning on the computer and pressing the F8 key before Windows starts. Safe mode starts Windows in a limited state, where only the bare essentials are started.

 

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I would if I knew how. Secondly, don’t I need the monitors to work to do so?

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See above additions to my first reply.  They may help.  It’s a long shot, but eliminates some possible things.  If the monitors stay on in safe mode, it would then likely be a windows setting outside of safe mode.

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I have a tower, if that makes any difference. I tried pressing shift, f4, f5, f6 and lastly f8, but got nothing. I do get a blue screen on each monitor when disconnecting and reconnecting them to power.

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I would try disconnecting one of the monitors from the computer, and see if the other one will then display the video adapter’s output. If still no response, swap and see if the other monitor will work on its own. If still no video, chances are the video adapter has died and needs replacement.

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When you power on your computer, one of your 2 monitors should display the “POST” (Power On Self Test) splash screen. It’s not visible very long and the main boot process starts after that.

Do you see this splash screen?

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Neither monitor will display a splash screen. They will turn blue for a brief moment after unpowering them and repowering them only.

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I’d suggest removing the graphics card and re-seating it in the motherboard.  Sometimes a long term build up of dust and possible corrosion can cause issues.  If that doesn’t work, I’d say the card is likely dead.

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Update: I took my tower into a local repair shop. The gentleman swapped out the graphics card and swapped RAM. It still would not POST. He then said it could possibly be the processor or motherboard. Am I better served in getting a replacement motherboard and processor, or getting a new computer all together. Yes, I know a new PC would have Win 11. I already have Win 11 on this laptop. In either case, what do you recommend?

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If your boot drive is not an SSD, it may be a good time to start fresh with a new computer.  But, do you need a desktop when you have a laptop, a laptop can be connected to at least one monitor sometimes 2 for a larger view when at home.

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Desktops you can upgrade easier.

Laptops are more portable.

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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Rush2112 wrote:

Am I better served in getting a replacement motherboard and processor, or getting a new computer

If you know the CPU, RAM and the power supply are OK then a new mobo would be cheapest. Otherwise you may be throwing good money after bad.
Maybe a second hand mobo to test? (Don’t forget some new thermal paste for the CPU.)

cheers, Paul

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I thought about what everybody has said. Energy Saver: I use my desktop for when I pay bills online and need to print various things. Yes I know I have a laptop and I already have a second monitor attached to it. However, I have 2 monitors that I have for a desktop PC that would be useless. I could sell them, but I doubt I’d get much for them.

Paul: You are correct. At this point I haven’t heard back from the gentleman diagnosing my tower. I believe that I will start over from scratch with the current tower that I have. I do not know if the CPU or motherboard are no longer operational. I’d like a fresh start and rebuild a new PC using my current HD’s, providing they still work too.

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I got my computer back yesterday. Basically the gentleman had swapped video card, RAM and the CPU. After doing that it still wouldn’t post. So he put the old ones back in and applied more thermal paste on the CPU and it would post. So far, so good. I have had it running most of yesterday and most of today. There have been no issues thus far. Though the jury is still out if it’s “cured.”

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Rush2112 wrote:

applied more thermal paste on the CPU and it would post.

That would do it!

Thermal paste does degrade with age and, as it does, your CPU will gradually run hotter and hotter as the paste can no longer effectively transmit the heat to heat sink that keeps the CPU cool.

If it’s degraded enough, the CPU can heat up so quickly that it won’t even be able to post before it hits it’s “thermal limit” and shuts itself down.

I’d suggest you install temp monitoring S/W like Core Temp (it’s very simply to use and it’s free) to keep track of the CPU temps to ensure they’re within normal limits.

BTW, another thing that can cause a sudden CPU thermal overload is if the fan on the heat sink isn’t running (or is running too slowly), but I “assume” you and the repair tech checked that?

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