Absolute Beginners Guide to Upgrading and Fixing Your PC

Let's get right to it and start troubleshooting a variety of video-related problems.

Problem: Your Monitor Is Dead The Power Light Isn't On

Check the monitor's power cable. Is the power cable plugged into a power source? Is the power source turned on? Is the monitor turned on?

If the cables are okay and the monitor is turned on and has power, you have a problem with your monitor, probably a blown fuse or a bad power supply. See your local repair center don't try to fix it yourself.

Problem: Your Monitor Doesn't Display But the Power Light Is On

If the power light for the monitor is on, all the power cables are okay. The cable from the monitor to the system unit, however, might have a bad connection. You should also check your video card to make sure that it is installed and set up properly. In addition, check your monitor's contrast and brightness controls to make sure that they're turned up enough to display a picture.

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If you still don't have a picture, try connecting another monitor to your system. If that monitor displays properly, you have some sort of hardware problem with your monitor. If the second monitor doesn't work either, the problem is probably with your video card. Try installing a new card or having your existing setup examined by a professional.

Problem: Your Monitor Doesn't Display The System Unit Issues a Series of Beeps

Your PC uses beeps to communicate with you when something is wrong with the video setup. Check the settings on your video card to make sure that they're correct for your system. Also check any switches on the motherboard to make sure that they're set up correctly for your type of video card. (You should consult your system's instruction manual for details on this procedure.) Check to make sure that your video card is seated properly in its slot; you may even want to try inserting the card in another slot. If none of these suggestions works, try a new video card, or have your system examined by a professional.

In a pre-Windows 98, system, if you have two video cards installed at the same time, they can sometimes interfere with each other and cause neither to work properly. Try removing one of the cards; if this results in the remaining card working, you need to reconfigure one or both of the cards to better work together. (With Windows 98 and later you can install two video cards to run multiple monitors simultaneously.)

Problem: Your Monitor Works, but Displays an Error Message Before Windows Loads

If you see an error message, you at least know that video signals are getting to your monitor. Look for these common messages:

Bad or missing FILENAME

In this message, the FILENAME refers to your video card's device driver file. Make sure that the driver has been copied to your hard disk and selected properly within Windows.

NUMBERxx

This type of message (such as 24xx) indicates that you have a defective video card or a problem on the motherboard, or that you are trying to display in a mode that your system can't display. Check all the switch settings on your card and motherboard, and if the problem persists, see a repair technician.

Problem: Your Monitor Works, but Displays a Screen Full of Garbage

If the display isn't displaying properly, you most likely have a loose connection or a bad cable between your video card and your monitor. Check all your connections and cables, as well as your video card installation. Make it a rule to be certain that all the parts of your system are hooked up and set up properly.

It's also possible that the configuration of the video card itself is wrong. Check the instructions for your video card to see if there are any switches that need to be set; when in doubt, configure your card for the lowest possible (default) resolution, which all monitors can display.

If your display looks fine on initial startup but goes to garbage when Windows launches, your monitor is working fine but you have a Windows-related problem, such as one of the following:

• You've selected a resolution that your monitor can't display.

• You're using the wrong video display driver.

• You're using an outdated video driver.

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At this point, your challenge is to get into Windows and make the appropriate changes which you can do from Windows Safe mode. When Windows loads in Safe mode, you can open the Display Properties dialog box (from the Control Panel) and update or change the resolution of the current video driver. You can also use the Device Manager to delete the current driver and the Add Hardware Wizard to install a new one.

Problem: Windows Displays at a Lower Resolution Than Normal

Chances are that, for some reason, Windows started in Safe mode. (You can verify this by looking at the corners of your screen; the words "Safe Mode" should be displayed in all four corners.) Safe mode uses a minimal driver configuration including a generic VGA driver for your video display, which explains the lower resolution.

Try rebooting your PC to see if it restarts in normal mode. If it still boots into Safe mode, you'll need to figure out what kind of problem is causing this behavior.

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Problem: Your New Video Card Doesn't Display at Its Maximum Resolution or Color Depth

You installed a video card that is supposedly capable of 1920x1080 resolution with 32-bit color, but the only options in the Display Properties dialog box are for 640x480 and 800x600 at 256 colors. What gives?

The most likely cause of this problem is that you somehow installed the wrong video driver. Use the Device Manager to either update or uninstall the video driver, and then use the Add Hardware Wizard to reinstall the driver(taking care to select the right one this time). Alternately, reinstall the driver via your video card's installation utility.

Problem: Your Screen Display Flickers

Some high resolution displays use what is called interlaced display technology. An interlaced display lets you run higher resolutions on lower-cost hardware, but sometimes results in a very annoying screen flicker. Your options are to buy a video card/monitor combination that can run in noninterlaced mode, or to select a lower video resolution.

Problem: Your CRT Monitor Doesn't Display It Makes a High-Pitched Whine

This whine indicates that your CRT-type monitor, for some reason, is operating at the wrong frequency. Turn it off immediately this problem could seriously damage your monitor! Now check the settings on your video card. Chances are that it's set to a higher resolution than your monitor is capable of displaying. If this isn't the problem, your video card itself could be defective. If your video card is okay, your monitor might be defective.

Problem: Your CRT Monitor Pops and Crackles and Starts to Smell

Like the rest of a computer system, monitors can get dusty. When dust builds up inside the monitor, it can generate static charges.

It's also possible that the power supply inside the monitor has become defective. If the monitor demonstrates these symptoms, turn it off immediately and take it to a repair center. The technicians can either clean your monitor or replace the power supply if necessary.

Problem: Your Dual-Monitor Display Doesn't Work Properly

Configuring your system to run two monitors, as explained in Chapter 9, "The Big Picture: Upgrading Video Cards and Monitors," can expose you to a variety of potential problems. Naturally, any type of problem you can experience with one monitor can also be experienced on your second monitor. In addition, you can run into the following problems:

• You have trouble moving windows from one monitor to another. Chances are you have the primary and secondary monitors switched; you'll need to open the Display Properties dialog box and reconfigure the order of the monitors.

• You have trouble getting your second monitor to work. Make sure you've enabled the second monitor in the Display Properties dialog box. (Select the Settings tab, select the secondary monitor icon, and then select Extend My Windows Desktop Onto This Computer.)

• If your second monitor still doesn't work, you might have the display adapters connected to the wrong slots inside your system unit. Your primary adapter has to be a PCI adapter, installed in your computer's first PCI slot. You can't install an AGP adapter as your primary adapter; the AGP adapter has to function as the secondary adapter.

• Another cause of a blank second monitor is if you have Adobe Type Manager installed on your system. This program is incompatible with dual monitor support, and will cause your second monitor not to work. Uninstall the program and see if that fixes things.

• An MS-DOS program won't run full-screen on your second monitor. You can't do this; you have to run full-screen MS-DOS programs on your primary monitor only.