Sony MDR-XB700 
RRP: $249.00
RRP: $249.00
Sat, 16/05/2009 - 16:43
Trying to revive an old PC - Monitor won't play ball
Trying to revive an old PC - Monitor won't play ball
Hi guys & girls -
New to this forum; looking for some help with a rebuild on a geriatric PC (a 2003 Optima with an old clunky CRT monitor). I cleaned it up - replaced the hard drive - plugged it in & switched on. The tower lights up OK, but the monitor simply flashes up momentarily, then goes into "standby" (orange light) mode. Any clues as to why? The guys at the computer shop lent me an old monitor identical to my old one (new LCD unit on order), but the result was the same. They also tested my power cable, and pronounced it OK. Be grateful for any help.
Cheers,
Cliff
18%
9%
Anything appearing on the screen during boot up?
Hi,
Is there anything appearing on the screen during boot up? Can you see the POST messages and the operating system load screen? If so, then it might be a case of the resolution and refresh settings not being compatible with the CRT. If this is the case, you'll have to go into Safe mode to change the resolution settings to something very low -- eg: 800x600.
If you are not seeing anything on the screen during boot up, then it could be a cable problem. If the VGA cable isn't directly attached to the CRT, try another cable. Also, physically check the pins of the existing cable to make sure they are all straight and making proper contact (i.e make sure no pins have been pushed in).
Does it have onboard graphics, or a dedicated graphics card, or both? If it has both, is it plugged into the right port?
Apart from that, try re-seating the graphcis card (unless the graphics are on-board).
Hope this helps
Ghost
Could be one of many things,
Could be one of many things, process of elimination dude ... check ram, if more than one stick filter down, check ide cables (2003 comp = most likely IDE HDD, unless you're gates), check for dust on mb ... been sittin away a while, dust and moisture = big pc killers
Elimination will get you there...
When I have a problem like that I normally unplug as much as possible.
That means hard disks, DVD and CD-ROM drives. Any add-on cards you may have.
If you can temporarily use another power supply, it's worth checking out as well.