Please Help Moron with No Signal!

[Cheval]

This is my first post and you'll soon see I probably don't deserve to own a computer! My Dell 3000's (I know, I know) monitor went berserk a month ago......quivering pages, black outs, jiggling and zig-zags. The guys at Firedog checked it out, thinking I needed a new video card, but said it ran perfectly with no probs at all. They used their own monitor, not mine. They suggested a new VGA cable, which I bought, and still no joy. I sent the tower and my monitor to another IT guy to check out and he ran my equipment with no problems. Brought it home and still wouldn't work. Phone company guys also installed new DSL modem abut the computer still wouldn't run. Finally I spoke to Dell's customer service tech who said my monitor was dead. Now we were getting somewhere and I bought a new monitor, but when I set it up I got "no signal" on the screen. I've been reassured all along that I've correctly set up the computer but it tries to re-boot constantly with no connection and if it does eventually connect, it stops at BIOS and shuts down.

What could the problem be??? It runs fine everywhere except in my house! I'm sure I can't fix the problem myself but would like to be able to tell a tech what to look for. I'm spending $$$ like a loony trying to fix it with no success...PLEASE HELP! MANY THANKS!

[Chaky]

"No signal" could mean 3 things:
- cable not plugged (or loose)
- PC won't start
- refresh rate not supported by your monitor. That would happen only if you manage to boot into OS. Not before that.

Chances are it is second of the above. (first and third usually give you different messages)

My guess is that the TRANSIT is to blame. VGA cards can easily get unplugged (or partially) regardless of the screw that holds it. (IF your VGA isn't integrated with the mobo).
That would make it act as it acts with you: at home it is not working, you drive it somewhere to get it fixed and the card shakes and regains connection, you get there and it works, you go back, card shakes and looses connection... you get the picture. What you need to do is open up the case yourself and unplug and plug back in the VGA.

[fren]

Try to plug the tower and monitor directly to the wall outlet, and change their power cord if necessary. Be careful to compare the output voltage of the wall outlet to your tower and monitor before plugging them.

If the pci video card that's causing the problem, use the onboard video. Connect your monitor to the other vga port found at the back of your computer. Enable the onboard video controller in the bios. See what will happen.

[Cheval]

Thanks for really good suggestions! It makes sense that something could jiggle loose in transit, and I'll check out the connections again. I've tried several different electrical wall outlets, and different combos of plugging the tower & monitor into surge strip or wall, but no go. I don't think anything is truly fried and dead since it works great anywhere other than my house. I'll follow your suggestions and hope I can locate the problem.

I'll let you all know the outcome so it might help someone else!

Thanks!

[Chaky]

Check the memory stick too, while you're at it.