I had pressed pause on Netflix to go get a drink and when I came back my screen was black. So I shut everything down and checked to make sure all the cables were plugged in, they were. After waiting a few minutes I turned everything back on and then pressed the ON button on the tower, the screen is still black! The computer itself is on, including the speakers and keyboard. Though the mouse light flickers quite a bit. I have repeated this three times. Any advice? My thinking is that if the computer is still working then maybe the problem is the monitor?
Is it a laptop? In that case I'm afraid you might be in trouble as my friend had the exact same thing happen (including pausing netflix to get a drink and returning to a black screen) and they were unable to fix it. They claimed it was the GPU, but I have my doubts as a PC with a faulty GPU will usually fail the component check at boot and not start properly. EDIT: I'm retarded. It says "tower" right fucking there. Anyways, it could be the GPU, but I doubt it for above reasons. I'd try it with another monitor first if available. If another monitor is not available to try it on, I'd recommend switching out the cable before getting a new monitor. Alternatively, try the monitor with another piece of hardware if that's available but a backup monitor isn't.
Sorry I'm completely computer-illiterate. Which cable and what is GPU? What other piece of hardware? Again sorry, I'm an idiot when it comes to these things. No other monitor to try.
Something similar happened to me, and it seemed to be the monitor, as everything else functioned normally. Never did confirm what it was, but it may have just been a short somewhere in the monitor or gradual wear and tear. The solution was to get another monitor. Somebody I knew, until they could get a new monitor, went into their settings and lengthened the screensaver time. Basically, they made it so it wouldn't come on for a long time, and this seemed to stop their issue. Unless you have somebody who can look at it, and maybe mess around with your monitor, you'll have to decide what to do.
How can someone mess around with the monitor if the screen is black? Unless you're referring to the buttons on the bottom of the monitor? I have noticed over the past year sometimes my screen fades out and says "auto config" so maybe the screen has burnt out, so to speak.
When I say 'mess around', it's meant to cover a wide range of things, like checking the wiring, the buttons, plugging it up to another monitor or switching the wiring, or just observing it really. Obviously, if the screen is black, until that is remedied, you're limited on what you can do. Do you know anyone who has some knowledge on/about computers, that could possibly take a look at it?
No I don't. But I've come to the conclusion that everything is plugged in and works (except for the screen) so that must be the problem. I've had the monitor since 2008 so I'm guessing it's seen better days. How much do monitors cost?
Had the same problem a few weeks ago actually! What the problem might be is that the cable connecting your monitor and tower has broken (that's what my problem was anyways) I don't know what kind of cable your computer has (whether HDMI,VGA,DVI or a mix-match like mine) but consider buying a new one before buying a completely new monitor also, my monitor is also roughly 8 years old and still works just fine, so i dont think it's that!
There should be 2 cables hooked into your monitor. One that goes to your power strip and one that goes to your tower. If your monitor does not turn on at all, it might be your power cable, otherwise it might be the other cable.
I would try a different display. Fun fact: most flat panel TVs are also computer monitors. Most computers will use VGA or DVI for the display. For VGA, just use the cable you currently use for your monitor. A VGA cable will have 3 rows of 5 pins (one or two pins may be missing by design, that's fine) while DVI will have a connector with a lot of pins in a rectangular block. DVI is electrically compatible with the HDMI connections you will find on a TV. You can get an inexpensive adapter at a computer store.
can you attach a picture of what the cable looks like? is it 3 cables red white or yellow? if you can attach a picture that'd be helpful!
Those extra cables look like a power brick and a network cable. As far as what to try, I'd try whatever method your monitor is currently using. There should be one cable connecting The monitor to The computer. Often the body of the connector for this will be color coded either blue or white. If it's blue, you're likely dealing with VGA and can likely plug it directly in to The TV. If it's white, you're probably dealing with DVI, where you'll probably need The adapter. The yellow, red, and white cable is probably not going to be much help.
So... This morning as I was eating breakfast, I remembered something VERY important: I had a monitor tucked away in my closet. A friend gave it to me months ago but I've just been too lazy to switch it with my current one. I plugged the new one in, turned on the tower and the screen came on!! I am so freaking happy! I was dreading having to potentially buy a new one. I feel so stupid for forgetting about the spare one. It's actually pretty huge (which is great for video streaming) and top of the line too. Thanks for all your helpful advice, everyone
Either the cables are broken or the problem might be that a capacitor blew in the monitor and unless you are well aquainted with circuits and welding I wouldn't advise you to open it up and fix it. It is a really cheap fix if you know what to do, but unless you do, it might just be better to let someone who knows how to fix it do it for you or if that is not possible, recycle it. There are actually really great guides on how to do troubleshooting when something breaks on your computer. If you ever have problems with something again you can just type it in to google search and I'm sure there will be guides or forum posts about the problem you are having.
