I have a dell xps 8100 desktop that i bought back in 2010. Its an i5 quad core desktop. I haven’t used it for some time and took it out few days ago to use it again. It didn’t have any issues at first. However recently i was using it and connect it always to my 2007 dell fp monitor.
There was a driver error message in the bottom but then said its been recovered. I seen this quite a bit happen with my laptop and desktop. Next thing you know, my chrome web pages, lot of the words/letters/pictures are distorted. Im sure you guys know what i mean by this? I had this issue happen many times but each time i either would restart computer or maybe close all the chrome windows then open okay and no issue.
Closing chrome and reopening didn’t work. Same distortions. I then restarted the desktop by start and restart when i did this, i don’t see anything showing up on my monitor. I then decide to reset again by holding power button and resetting… i know this is not good idea as oppose to click start and reset but i can’t do that due to nothing showing on the screen. Same issue, computer restarts but nothing on monitor. I then wondered could it been my monitor that was the issue… it isn’t b/c i connected laptop to it and connected a vga cable to it and monitor works.
How do i fix this issue with my desktop since nothing shows up on my monitor when i click the power button. The power button works and it starts up, but nothing shows on the screen. I’m pretty sure this had to do with the problem earlier with the driver and the distorted letter/picture etc.
How do i fix this if theres nothing show up?
It sounds to me like there is a problem with the graphics card. If you are using a discrete graphics card, you could try removing it and using the onboard one (you may have to adjust the bios settings) to see if that works.
The monitor is probably not the problem from what you described, but it easier to replace if it is the problem.
Do you have another computer to plug the monitor into?
Does the monitor receive a signal when you boot the computer?
Does the bios splash screen show up or do you never see anything ever?
Does the monitor’s on screen display work (press the Menu button to bring it up)?
If the monitor is not receiving a signal, it should go into standby mode (orange light) after a few minutes.
- Yes i plugged my laptop to the monitor and monitor works so that means its not the monitor issue.
- You mean when connecting monitor to desktop? Nothing shows up at all.
- When i power on desktop, nothing shows up. So windows no nothing. So you want me to press f12 or f8 or whichever that button is to see if something will show up on the monitor?
- I’m not sure what u mean with this. U mean does the button light up? Yes but its orange and not green. Its green when connected to laptop and it works. Does that make sense?
I believe this has to do with graphics like as the issue right before this happened with the distortions of everything on the monitor. So what can i do now?
OK, it sounds like the graphics card isn’t working. If you feel comfortable doing so, you can try opening up the computer and re-seating (remove and re-insert) it to make sure it is seated properly. Otherwise, you will need to buy a new graphics card/computer.
If you don’t feel comfortable opening up your computer, I would recommend taking it to a computer repair shop.
If your screen is working, it should give you the “no signal” indicator if it gets no signal, and a display if it does. A screen will not just stay black when turned on, unless the screen has failed…
Test the screen… be sure your test of the screen is accurate, test the laptop drives the TV or something ,an then test the laptop driving this screen…
maybe the cable isn’t plugged into your computer properly. maybe the cable is getting damaged. maybe you can change from analog (3 row 15 pin connector ) to digital (DVI or HDMI … oh look up pictures for DVI and HDMI sockets… DVI cannot carry sound, HDMI can carry sound… some DVI outlets can carry analog, some do not.)
Easiest way to determine if its your monitor or video card: Is the power light on your monitor **blue **or amber? If it’s amber it means it is NOT receiving any signal via its video cable. If its blue then it is (if it isn’t lit at all it means the monitor has no AC power to it or isn’t turned on). Giving all the above info I’d say that your video card has died. According to this site these are your PC’s specs, so it does have/require a separate video card (there’s no on-board video port listed on the back). Unless you’re a gamer you can replace it with almost any inexpensive (compatible) card without much trouble. Unscrew one screw and the card just pulls out & the new one slides in (it may also have a power connector going to it, just unplug/replug). Even if you want to replace it with the same (or similar) model card it’s still that easy. Windows will ‘churn’ once or twice maybe but it will set itself up ok.
According to that site your PC came with an “ATI HD up to 1 GB graphics double data rate, version 5 (GDDR5)”.