Jon
2010-12-04 19:33:14 UTC
I built a computer for my parents some years back (03-04), it is a standard desktop with an AMD athlon chip and a integrated nVidia graphics processor.
I picked the computer up from their house today, where it was apparently working without any problem, to borrow it for a couple hours because I needed an XP machine.
When I got it to my house, I plugged it in to my new LCD monitor (my parents usually use it with a CRT), and the computer showed the bios, system check, etc, and the windows xp loading screen.. but when it was time for windows to actually be displayed, the screen went black, and the monitor went into standby. I tried it on another LCD monitor here, same results. So I eventually booted into VGA Mode (which is like safe mode), and that would display fine. I figured it was something to do with the computer usually being used to displaying 1024x768 and now I was hooking it up to a widescreen. sooo.. when I get the computer back to their house, I plug it into their CRT monitor, and the same thing is happening. It only displays correctly in VGA/Safe mode. If i try to adjust the display settings while in VGA mode to say 1024x768, the screen goes black.
So it doesn't sound like this is a monitor issue... does this mean the integrated nVidia graphics chip is dead? which means the motherboard is pretty much worthless since it is AGP and not PCI-Express...
Did me moving the computer break something? Did something come loose? I can't think of any connections that would involve the graphics chip...