Please help diagnose my problem

Computer Help and Discussions Hardware
1

So over the last few days I've run into a troublesome problem with my desktop, and was hoping I could your opinions as to what the problem may be.

I had the computer on and everything was working fine, until I came back in the room and the monitor appeared to be in sleep mode (thinking this was normal). Now I can't get a picture to come back on the monitor at all. I never even see a BIOS screen, the monitor displays absolutely nothing. Here is what I have done to test, along with the results:

- Rebooted multiple times ---> monitor still appears to not connect with PC

- Tried booting into live OS from CD ---> monitor still appears to not connect with PC

- Booted and had speakers up to listen for sound of Windows starting ---> heard no sounds and still no display

- Connected monitor to VGA out port on my laptop ---> monitor worked fine

I've come to the point that I verified that the monitor is fully functional, so that can't be the problem. What worries me now is something internal is wrong with the desktop. Could it be a graphics card problem? Or something else since I don't even hear the Windows startup sounds when booting?

2

Graphics card or drivers. May be worth checking that the graphics card is sitting in its slot correctly.

3

You've tried your monitor in your laptop, and that appears to be working ok. This might sound daft, but do you have access to another monitor to try in your desktop?

I ask because you seem to be in a catch 22 situation.

On my desktop, I have start > all programs > pc help and tools > compaq application recovery, which enables me to reinstall any of the factory shipped software individually, which includes reinstallation of all and any drivers.

If you have the facility to reinstall your graphics drivers, assuming that this may be the problem, you need to see what you're doing. ;)

Sods law says that because one monitor is not working, another one might.

How old is your desktop? because if it's still under warranty, take it back to your dealer to fix.

Lets hope one of the other guys might come up with something different to try.