Member Avatar for mandoran

I have seen some similar problems here on the boards, but didn't see anything quite the same or a solution.

A formerly trouble-free clone running XP Media started up this morning with its monitor giving a no signal message. The monitor has been tested on a laptop, and is functioning normally.

Rebooting the machine various times has failed to avoid the problem, but it has kicked in at different times. I have once managed to log in, and have the signal cut out as the machine was struggling to find the user desktop settings. Sometimes it starts with no video and no 'no signal' message, sometimes the 'no signal' appears just after the bootup sequence but before the first Windows screen appears. Most often the machine manages to reach the login screen, and then the signal cuts out.

It is impossible to tell if machine is stalling - it continues to run at least after the video failure.

I have no other video card to test.

I have no knowledge of any downloads or installations to the machine in the past 24 hours, and will check this. There have been no hardware modifications or additions to it.

Hope that someone here can help!

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

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and have already shown this can sit on the boundary between software and hardware. The quickest, least-invasive way to narrow the cause is a small, ordered set of checks that separate an OS/driver problem from a failing card or power issue.

  • Verify whether the PC is still responsive when the picture disappears (press Num/Caps Lock and watch the keyboard LED). LED activity while the screen is blank points at video-only failure; no response points at a larger system hang.
  • Record exactly when video is lost: before BIOS/POST, during POST, after POST but before the desktop initializes, or only once the desktop/graphical mode starts. That timing strongly narrows root causes.
  • Swap the video cable and the output port (DVI/VGA/HDMI) and, if possible, try a different monitor or TV on the PC. A working monitor on the laptop does not rule out a bad cable, port, or EDID handshake from the PC.
  • Boot from a removable OS (Live USB/CD). Consistent display there points to the installed OS or its drivers; the same failure under an alternate OS points to hardware.
  • Power down, unplug, and reseat the video card and memory. Visually inspect card and motherboard for bulging or leaking capacitors, and confirm the GPU fan spins at boot.
  • Reduce to a minimal configuration (one RAM stick, no extras, onboard video if available). If the problem vanishes, add components back one at a time to find the culprit.
  • If the card looks healthy but fails under load, check or swap the power supply (insufficient/unstable 12V rails commonly cause intermittent signal loss).

If video dies before POST the fault is almost certainly hardware. If the loss coincides with switching to accelerated/desktop mode it can be driver-related or a GPU failing under load. Take ESD precautions and always disconnect mains power before touching components.

Member Avatar for trscga

I had a similar problem this weekend. The problem was a windows update. I did a system restore from safe mode to undo the update and everything is working correctly again. This happened for 2 different monitors connected to this computer. I have not checked yet if the graphics card (MSI) needs to be updated or not yet.

Member Avatar for mandoran

Thanks very much, this is reassuring. It took very many reboots before I even managed to get into safe mode, but when I did, I managed to get the same result, but was still unconvinced that this was not a hardware issue. But now I feel more secure that I can blame Microsoft again, and will check for updated drivers as well. Thanks again!

Member Avatar for mandoran

Hmmm. The problem has returned, exactly as described before. So far a system restore has not helped, so again I wonder what kind of a hardware problem this could be?

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