TROUBLESHOOTING MONITOR PROBLEMS

POSSIBLE CAUSES:

1. Loose or poorly connected monitor cable.
2. The monitor or monitor cable may be damaged.
3. Environmental factors in the area of the monitor may be causing distortion.
4. The monitor may be clicking or flashing as it synchronizes with the video on the system.
5. A screen saver or power saver may be temporarily blanking the screen.

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These are general troubleshooting steps that may resolve or more accurately diagnose monitor problems.

MONITOR CONNECTIONS:

The first things to do when troubleshooting is to make sure that the monitor is powered on and connected correctly to the video. If the video is blurry, fuzzy, etc. as soon as you power up the system, the problem may be with the monitor cable connection. Power down the system and unplug the monitor cable from the system. Look at the end of the cable and check for any bent or pushed in pins. Reattach the cable to the computer and power up the system. Always insure that the monitor is plugged into a functioning outlet. Anytime you feel the monitor may damaged, try connecting to another system to see if it functions.

SCREEN SAVERS AND POWER SAVERS:

Screen savers and power savers can emulate monitor problems. If the screen appears to blank out or freeze at regular intervals of time, disable all screen savers in Windows and DOS. If your system board and video card support power management standards and the power management features are enabled, try disabling the features to see if the problem persists.

ENVIRONMENTAL DISTORTION:

Electrical interference from other devices such as televisions, radios, microwave ovens, etc. can cause your monitor screen to "jump" or "shake." Interference can also make the display appear blurry or fuzzy. If the system is close to a fluorescent light, turn the light off or move the light away from the monitor to see if the video clears up. If there is a fan near the system, turn the fan off or move it away from the monitor. If the system is plugged into a surge protector, unplug the system and reconnect it to the wall outlet to see if the video improves. Try degaussing the monitor or adjusting the pin cushioning of your monitor. If possible, move the system to another location to see if the distortion clears up. Try turning the monitor 90 degrees in either direction from where it is.

MONITOR MAKES "CLICKING" NOISE OR "FLASHES" SOMETIMES:

If the monitor only "clicks" or "flashes" when entering windows or specific programs, the monitor is simply synchronizing itself with the video that you have chosen. There is nothing wrong with the monitor.

RESOLVING MONITOR PROBLEMS:

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MONITOR CONFIGURATION:

Insure that the monitor has been correctly configured with the onboard video or video card. If the monitor does not power on or the light on the front of the system appears amber only, the video may not be communicating with the monitor. If possible, try the monitor on another system to see if the problem is with the monitor or with the computer system.

POWER TO THE MONITOR:

Always insure that the monitor is plugged into a working outlet and turned on before attempting to troubleshoot the problem. On the front of the monitor there is a green LED light that should appear if the monitor is receiving power. If you have an Energy Star compatible monitor the light appears as a yellow or amber color. The Energy Star compliant monitors will not display the green light until they receive the video signal from the system. If the power light does not come on, try plugging the monitor directly into a working outlet and bypass any surge protector. If the power light still does not come on, try unplugging the cable that attaches the monitor to the computer system to see if the power light appears. Make sure that the power cable does not appear twisted or have bent connections. If your monitor has a removable power cable, swap the power cable with the one for the computer system. Once the green light on the monitor comes on, check the knobs or buttons on the monitor to insure that the brightness or contrast is not turned down completely.

SCREEN SAVERS AND POWER SAVERS:

If you notice that about the same amount of time passes between when the screen blanks out and a screen save should appear, try disabling the screen saver. If you are using a Windows screen saver, from the Program Manager double click on the Main group. In the Main group, double click on the Control Panel then double click on the Desktop icon. On the left hand side of the screen is a box that says Screen Saver. There will be a rectangular box that has a down arrow with an underline. Click on the down arrow and scroll through the list to select none. Once this is complete, click on the OK button and return to Windows. If you are running a screen saver such as After Dark or Screen Craze, contact the manufacturer or vendor to help you disable that screen saver.

Screen blanking can often be caused by a power saver features being initialized in the CMOS, AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files. If you look at the monitor LED light when the screen blanks and the power light is an amber or yellow color, the power saver features are enabled. If this appears to be causing problems with applications that you are running, you may want to disable these features.

If you booted clean and the power saver still blanked the monitor, the CMOS on your system has power saver features built in. To check your CMOS for this setting:

1. As soon as your computer begins to re-start You should see a message "Hit DEL if you want to enter setup"., begin pressing the <DEL> key until you enter the CMOS setup.
2. In CMOS use the arrow key to highlight Power management Setup and press <ENTER>.
3. Be sure that the power management option is dissabled as shown below. You can modify the settings by highlighting them with the arrow key and using the <PAGE UP> or <PAGE DOWN> keys.

1. Press <ESCAPE>
2. Highlight Save settings and exit and press <ENTER>.
3. Allow your computer to restart and enter Windows 95 normally.