Sunday, September 24, 2006

Computer Trouble -- any suggestions?

The bad news is that I'm still having sporadic monitor trouble, so Genea-Musings may go dark for a day or two as I deal with it.

My two year old Dell monitor goes dark sporadically, and then flashes every second, and I can't turn it off except by unplugging it. It seems to do the flashing after the computer has been "asleep" - over several hours time.

One computer guru of mine said to check all the connections, which I did.

My only workable fix so far has been to unplug the monitor and then plug it back in - sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Arggh.

If it is the monitor, then buying a new one is the easy solution. I still fear that it is really the video card in the computer which is sporadic, which would mean a bigger, and longer to solve, problem. I've backed up all my useful data recently, so I can be up and running shortly if I have to buy a new computer.

I am so dependent on everything working - a computer failure will really disrupt my genealogy life. I guess I'd better print out my overheads for my presentation next Saturday - just thought of that!

If you have any suggestions for me, I'd love to hear them. If my system goes dark for a longer period, I can still read the comments at my work computer.

The really good news here is that my Padres have won 4 straight and are in first place in the NL West, with 7 games to go. Not genealogy, but ... part of my busy life! We went to the games on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday - all pitcher's battles.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

If you are running windows then you could try disabling "power save" mode for the screen. That should keep a constant live feed to the screen and if it still goes dead after that then it probably is the monitor itself.

Jimmy

Anonymous said...

My guess would be the monitor. They tend to do those kinds of things when they go bad. The fact that you can't turn it off except by unplugging makes me pretty sure it isn't the video card.

Shane

Randy Seaver said...

Guys,

Thanks for the suggestions.

I went and bought a new 19-inch Viewsonic monitor today...haven't installed it yet though.

Randy

Anonymous said...

I'd like to like the Padres but when I heard Randy Jones hawking tobacco products after a broadcast I couldn't handle it. Of course Ted Leitner alone can be plenty aggravating.