Power & Blue tint

Good Morning,

Last night my monitor got a blue tint over everything. I looked here and got some advice, and things to try. I degaussed, I checked the pins, I did NOT open the monitor case. I tried to reboot through Windows (start...shutdown...restart) and Windows never came back up. The big fan in front of the case started, and I saw lights flickering near the cd-rom drive, but the "power indicator light) didn't come on and Windows never came up. I opened the case, cleaned it as much as possible, and looked at it. This is about all I know to do

I don't see how the 2 problems are connected, if at all. Of course, I would rather try and fix this myself than go to Geek Squad or buy a new computer.

Since I am at work at the moment, I cannot tell you the specs of the computer. It is a Gateway desktop I bought at BestBuy about 18 months ago. I remember it has Nvidia GeForce 6100 card in it that came preinstalled. The monitor is one of the 50 lb freebies they threw in when I bought the computer.

Thanks in advance for any direction y'all can give me.

 

1. Never open a monitor case; you can end up killing yourself from the stored up energy.
2. When you say the power indicator light never came on, do you mean the monitor power indicator?
3. It could be that windows did indeed boot up but because your monitor is dead, all you see is a black screen and think windows is not booting up.

At this point, it could either be your monitor died or your video card died. If the power light on the monitor did not come on, it means it isn't getting power. Make sure all the connections are tight (monitor to computer and power cord from monitor to outlet or surge protector).
Do you have any one with a lightweight monitor that would come to your house and attach the monitor to your computer? If so, then you know the video card is okay and the monitor died.
If you still get no picture, then it's probably the video card. Again the choices are see if anyone has a spare lying around that you can use to test or just buy another video card.

 

I re-read my original post and I wasn't clear. The monitor power indicator light comes on fine, it is the bright blue power indicator on the front of the computer that doesn't come on. When the computer is running, there is a blue light under/in the power button that comes on. There is no rocker switch (that I see) in back of the computer.

Unfortunately, I don't have anyone I would feel comfortable asking to lug a monitor over to the house. But at this stage, with the computer having seeming power issues, it wouldn't help.

Thanks for your reply, and thanks in advance for anymore forthcoming

 

Sounds to me like a dead power supply.... I think the blue haze came from messed up voltage or wattage coming thru the power supply into the PC and when you shut it down, it died permanently.

 

Boy, I am really finding out how much I hate feeling like a newb....

By power supply, are we talking about the chord that goes from outlet in wall to the computer? Or where that chord plugs into the back of the computer?

And you think that the blue tint on the monitor might also be caused by this?

Can the power supply be replaced even though I didn't "build" this computer? If so, is this something I could conceivably do myself?

Thanks again, and in advance...

 

Also, the fan does come on when I power up the system, does this have any bearing?

 

Does this mean that you've made sure that the monitor cable is firmly attached and screwed in?

CRTs are prone to getting a red, green, or blue tint when the connection is poor.

Highly recommend you check everything here again... you've checked that the pins aren't bent, but are any missing, or loose?

I'm willing to bet money the problem is in the cable, and I'm not a gambler. Can you try another monitor to determine whether it is the monitor or the computer?
I don't see anything here to conclude that there is a power problem. (Not to say it isn't possible, but I think plodr has the right idea - divide and conquer, right now we don't know which part of the system the problem lies in)

 

I checked the pins, and there were none missing, and all appeared to be straight.

Unfortunately, since I can't get the computer to power up, I can't check another monitor on my system.

I read somewhere else that since the fan comes on when I power up the PC, the problem is probably in the "mobo", which I assume to mean the mother board.

Since I am getting confused, I am going to re-lay out the problems:

1. Wednesday, 5 PM, monitor has a blue tint, computer working as normal.

2. Wednesday, 6 PM, I degausse, check other monitor settings, check the monitor cable, pins all straight and all present, monitor chord firmly connected to the PC.

3. Wednesday, 6:30 PM, I try and restart computer through Windows (since rebooting just might fix anything ), and the PC does not power up. The monitor power indicator light is on, but no start up screens or anything. Screen stays black. Power indicator light on PC does NOT come back on. I can hear fan running again, and I see lights flickering in the front in the cd-rom drive.

4. Wednesday, 6:45 PM, I disconnect everything, take PC to the kitchen table, clean out a lot of dust, check that all the chords are connected, and they seem to be. Put case back on, reconnect everything to back of computer, try and boot the PC, and same thing happens. Fan turns on, lights flicker in cd-rom drive, light does not come on in/under the power button in front of the PC. Monitor power indicator is blinking, but screen stays black.

5. Wednesday, 7 PM, Contemplate hitting computer with hammer, and do quick mental budgeting for new computer

6. Thursday, 8:41 AM, join Major Geek, post problem, and obsessively check for responses.

Once again, I really appreciate y'all taking the time to think about this, share advice...

 

Why not? If the monitor is dead, you'll get EXACTLY the symptoms you are describing here:

This tells me that your system is indeed powering up. However, it may look like it's not powering up if the monitor doesn't come on.

Worst case scenario, is that it can't hurt to connect a known good monitor. If you get the same symptoms, then you know it is an issue with the computer, and NOT the monitor, which narrows down the problem quite a bit.

If it DOES come up with a new monitor, then we can conclude that the problem with with the old monitor.

Your symptoms are absolutely SCREAMING monitor problem, imo.

 

I will grab a monitor from work, and see if it comes up with it. I guess the fact that the power indicator on the PC isn't illuminating and I don't here anything but the front fan is throwing me off.

Thanks again, and I will post results tonight if it works, or Monday if it doesn't.

 

Ohhhh, fudge...

Just realized I had read post #3 backwards - now understand why you were so insistent that trying another monitor won't help.

My sincerest apologies, Vikingk1ng... this may not be the best course of action after all. *chews on hat*

The good news is, that your symptoms still do describe a video problem.
If possible, the first, easiest thing would be to reseat your video card (if where your monitor connects is NOT a part of the motherboard, if it is, that's a bit worse).

 

Well, I hate to admit this, since it seems like a personal failure, but I went and bought a new computer & monitor.

I did open the case of my old computer again, reseated my video card. The monitor connection is part of the mother board. For giggles I hooked up the new monitor to the old computer, and no changes there.

Anyway, I will wait til I have the money/time to look at the old computer, and if I can get it fixed, maybe have a new hobby in upgrading etc.

Thanks again for all your time. I am sure I will be back with more problems soon