I'll try to keep this as brief as possible.

My parents' computer has been having issues, so I decided to check into it a bit. Most of the time, when I turn it on, the monitor fails to turn on. But when I turn the computer on, then off, then on again, then the monitor turns on just fine. Also, the computer freezes up routinely, for no real reason. The video card is not the problem. Everything else is pretty new, except the monitor, which is pretty old. Could that be causing the problems? Also, would the lack of sufficient power cause these problems? It's a 250w power supply. What could be the cause of these problems? Any help would be appreciated...thanks.

 

PSU problems would result with random restarts, not lockups.....buy a new monitor or find a friends to see if yours is the problem.

 

Monitor may have gone into sleep or hibernation mode...check your setings

 

Well, the computer is on a power strip that my folks turn off everytime they shut down the computer. Would that still cause the monitor to go into sleep mode? Also, could the monitor cause the computer to keep freezing?

I'm thinking about hooking my monitor up to the computer...I'll see how that goes. Thanks for the replies.

 

I know you said it's not the video card, I assume because the card is pretty new...

But, I had a *new* video card that caused my computer to lock up after 5-20 minutes without fail. Also, check to make sure the card is fully seated in the slot.

 

Thanks for the input...the card is fully seated, and was one I used in my computer for a little while before upgrading.

 

First off. When asking for help, never say "I know it's not xxxxx." You obvisiouly didn't solve the problem yet or provide proof that you and prove that it's not that, so you don't really know.

2nd, no a monitor cannot lock up a computer. A monitor just displays an image, it's a really simple device.

3rd, don't use the power strip to power off. Use the button on the computer and the monitor seperatly. I won't go into great detail.... just don't use that anymore.

4th. Get another monitor. I don't care how you do it, get another one. See if that fixes the problem of the monitor not turning on right. Sometimes you just don't know untill you try.

5th. The video card COULD be causing it to not display properly when first turning on the computer... and could also be the cause of the lock ups. Try a diffrent video card.

Troubleshooting is 50% knowing what order things go in, 40% elimination and 10% luck. Follow that and you can solve almost anything.

 

So true.

 

Don't turn off the power strip. there is no need for that. And if u use ur power strip to turn off ur comp then that is a BAD thing. Another thing about turning on/off is that its worst than leaving a comp on 24/7. If the placemant of the PC allows try to minimize the turning it on/off.

If it locks up than the problem is not with the monitor, but the monitor could still be a seperate problem. I would try a different vga card

 

My computers uptime right now is 44 days 12 hours 35 minutes. There is nothign wrong with your computer being on, and if your a power saving nazi, it actually takes more power to power up your computer ONCE then it does to run it for 48 hours.

Secondly, turning the power strip on/off while the PC is off dosnt damage anything, its highly recomended in fact, whenever you upgrade/change out a component.

Lastly, as for the problem itself, I would reccomend firstly trying different power outlets. Secondly, before you go and actually buy a new monitor, make sure your power wattage is below the 250w max [250w wil definitally not handle a P4, an hard drive, multiple IDE/CD Drives etc and a decent video card.]

As the other guy said, troubleshoot. I doubt its your monitor to be honest with you. As he said too, monitors are very simple, with crt, its just a VGA cable connected to your monitor which shoots the signal into an electron gun focued at you.

Im guessing your monitor will barely power on, or have orange light instead of yellow. Check your power, check the cables.