Computers & Networking

[BeerBelly]

I have a problem and am not sure if I need a new video card or not. When I restart or start my 5 year old HP Media Center desktop, it will startup fine and go through the bios screen and the Windows OS screen but right before it jumps to my desktop the monitor goes to sleep and nothing I can do will bring it out. All this happened when I messed with the display settings (can't remember what I did but I reset to default and this still happens). I used to be able to bring it out by shaking my mouse or punching keys but this last time it wouldn't come out of it. The vid card in there now is the one I got from sending the comp in for service through my extended warranty with HP, which is why I believe it is the vid card. Does this sound familiar to anyone? Do I need a new vid card. I need my comp back (and love my old comp) and ready and waiting to purchase a vid card online. Help!!!!!

BeerBelly

[Jacob-BBY Community Web Planner]

Hello BeerBelly,

Welcome to the forums!  It sounds as if the video card is working properly.  If it is displaying BIOS and the Windows start sequence then, in theory, it is working.  Only when Windows starts loading the user configured settings does the display go away.  So, I am thinking that you have set your display adapter to something that your monitor cannot support.  You need to boot your computer into Enable VGA Mode so you can set your display settings back to something your monitor can support.

This is how you boot into Enable VGA Mode:

1. Start your computer.
2. Just before the BIOS logo/screen goes away hit F8 several times.  This needs to be pressed before windows begins booting.
3. The Windows Advanced Options menu should appear.
4. Select Enable VGA Mode and press enter. This option starts Windows in 640 x 480 mode by using the current video driver. This mode is useful if the display is configured for a setting that the monitor cannot display.
5. Once Windows boots up, set you resolution and display settings to something your monitor can support.
6. Once the settings have been applied, restart your computer normally.

Hope this helps.  Thanks for posting!