My computer screen was blanking out after a couple of seconds this morning. Any techies out there have any idea what was happening?

Did you reboot after this occurred?

That’s the first thing my geek husband would ask

Next, did you check to see if the monitor cable is secure?

Start saving your pennies, there is a chance that you graphics cards days are numbered. if this is the problem, the next thing you will see is that your monitor does not turn on when you turn the computer on and will need to reboot several times to get it to kick in.

EDIT:

alternatively, you could have just had your power saving settings set to turn the monitor off after 5 minutes.

right click the desktop, properties, screensaver settings. power management and energy saving. thats where you should look.

it will say if you have set any such option for your screen or hard drive.

Yes, we rebooted several times and unplugged and replugged the cable in, no luck. It must have had something to do with the picture or something. Which I’ve had up for months…..I guess I’m asking if we’re at the beginning of a more serious problem or something…..
@poisonedantidote Waaaa. How much is a graphics card??

@Val123 I sent this Q over to my husband…he’ll let you know in a bit what the trouble could be

Is your avatar a moon? or is that the smile of a Cheshire cat?

a graphics card can cost anywhere between 30 dollars and 600 dollars depending how good it is. if you play a lot of high quality graphics games, then chances are you have a good one and it could cost quite a bit.

this is all just speculation though, i would need to inspect it in person to be sure.

@SpatzieLover Thanks! It’s the moon! It’s a picture I took, actually. It was an accident. Then I colored it. You can blow it up to see it big. Right click on it / View Image / in the IRL bar at the top just take out the _thumbnail at the end of the command, and it should show big sized. It’s pretty cool, actually! For an accident!

@poisonedantidote Shoot. Wonder if I could get one at a garage sale.

@Val123 That’s a gorgeous PIC! Thanks for sharing!

well, i would not recommend that you go out and buy a graphics card just yet. it would probably be wise if you just take your pc tower to a computer shop for a checkup.

i would also advise against buying a second hand one if you do need to buy one.

@poisonedantidote and @spatzieLover Thanks!

no problem.

by the way, having a picture on your desktop would not be the cause of this. the only problem you can get from having a picture on your screen for a long time with no screensaver is that it burns the image in to the screen, leaving a kind of ghost image over everything you do. and even then that does not really happen with the newer more modern monitors.

without knowing more, my guess would be that the problem is one of the following things:

- the graphics card is going to die soon.
– the cable to your monitor has been bent a lot and is now losing connection at times.
– the power saving settings where set to turn the monitor off.

did you hear any beeping sounds when you turned the computer on? if so how many. if you look up your bios brand and find its beep code online, the beeps could tell you what the problem is.

you should hear some beeps when you turn the computer on, they are just to tell you everything is ok, its if you hear no beeps, or constant beeps, or an irregular beep pattern that you should be concerned.

@poisonedantidote OK, you’re talking way over my head now, with “bios brands” and “beep codes”! But I DO know what a beep is, and I’ll be sure to check it out (we almost always have the volume turned off on the computer, unless we’re watching a video or something.) I’ll check it. Thanks

First thing. Do you have an old-style CRT (tube) monitor or a newer LCD or flat panel monitor?

Second, either way, I assume your monitor power light is green when it’s on and displaying an image and amber or orange when your computer is off (the monitor is pseudo-off, using a few watts). Is that the case?

Third, when the monitor ‘blacks out’ is the monitor power status light amber or does it stay green? If it stays green, then your computer/graphics card is sending an actual signal, it’s just sending black for some reason. If it goes amber/orange, that means the computer is NOT sending any signal, as if it was off. Either case, it could be for a variety of reasons.

Would you mind sharing the make/model of your PC?

Michael

@Val ^^^^Hello, this is my husband^^^^

@mdreinders Flat panel. Got it in 2005.
Yes, it goes amber after it goes to standby. In this case, tho, the monitor light stays green after it blacks out
It’s a….IDK! I’ll just start sending words and numbers. It says’ Microsoft above the 10 key, the back of the CPU says Powergistics. SN 051027015785. The monitor says Avidav.
This is the second time graphics card was mentioned….would that apply to the picture I had on the desktop? I mean, would getting rid of that have freed up just enough memory to work now?
@SpatzieLover‘s Mdreinders is your husband? Well howdy Mr. Deer! Um, you’re a reindeer. Doesn’t that present some problems with fine motor skills when you’re working on a computer?

@Val123 Reinders is pronounced “Rye n durs” And, once a year we make fun of our own last name and call our family the “reindeers” for x-mas. ;D

so what IS your last name? Will you guys want a carrot this Christmas eve?

It is Reinders ONE e between the d & r…It’s dutch/german

@SpatzieLover Ah! I’m sorta that! My Mom’s maiden name was Stroomer. Her parents immigrated from Holland. My first married name was Vogler. My husband’s family was from Holland as well, but if you ever pointed out that “Vogler” was a German name, watch out. Oh, did I mention they came through occupied Holland? What a horror.

Thanks for the information update. The best I can say about the make/model info you sent is that it’s not well-known, or off brand (it’s not Dell, HP, Apple, etc.). Not a problem, just trying to formulate a hypothesis here.

There shouldn’t be any problem with what picture you have displayed on your desktop.

I also assume you’re using Windows XP. Do you know for sure? Maybe using Vista?

Also, I was going to ask, do you have any ability of trying another monitor hooked up to the computer?

Aside from this, I can’t think of a lot of efficient methods to track down your issue but going to a local PC shop, and seeing if they can ‘quickly’ diagnose what the problem is.

Another thing you can try is booting Windows into Safe Mode. I’ll assume you are using Windows XP. View this website for simple instructions on how to boot into Safe Mode -> http://tinyurl.com/6ky2s

Thanks.

Michael

Yes, it’s XP….No, I don’t have another monitor.
I’ll go book mark that link. Thank you.
As an aside,we usually turn our computer completely off at night. I’ve heard that might not always be the best thing to do. Would stand by be a better option, or does it really matter?