My Computer Tower’s lights are coming on, but not my Computer Monitor: What is the problem?

There are usually only two things that can be at fault with this error: the Computer Monitor itself; or the Graphics Card on your Computer (the piece of hardware that controls the visuals on your Computer Monitor).

The easiest thing to test is the Computer Monitor.

Basically, take the Computer Monitor, unplug the Computer Monitor’s cable from your Computer Tower, and then plug that same cable into either someone else’s Computer Tower, another Computer Tower you have in your house, or into the Graphics Port on a Laptop (which looks something like this – ). Turn on the Computer (or the Laptop), and if the Computer Monitor comes on when it is plugged into a different Computer/Laptop, then it’s not your Computer Monitor that’s at fault – it will be the Graphics Card on your Computer itself. If the Computer Monitor doesn’t come on when it’s plugged into another device, then I’m afraid it’s your Computer Monitor that is broken, and you will need to get a replacement.

Another thing, regarding the Computer Monitor, that it could be, is the Computer Monitor’s cable that connects it to a Computer Tower or Laptop. Obviously, the simplest way to check the cable is to either attach it to another Computer Monitor and Computer Tower/Laptop, or to try a different cable with the Computer Monitor that isn’t working. If the cable works on another Computer Monitor, then there’s nothing wrong with the cable, and therefore if a different cable works with the supposed broken Computer Monitor, then it’s the original cable that is broken. As a result, depending on whether the Computer Monitor is actually working when it is attached to a difference device, then we now need to check the Graphics Card.

Many Computer’s nowadays come with Graphic Card’s that are physically built onto the Motherboard of the Computer. These are usually referred to as On-Board Graphics or Integrated Graphics. There are two ways to check whether you have On-Board Graphics or not – one is to check your Computer’s documentation, be it either in the Computer’s Manual, or by searching for the make and model of your Computer on the Computer Manufacturer’s website (obviously on a working Computer or Laptop). For example, if I search on Dell’s Website for the Dell Inspiron 570, it brings up this webpage, and on this webpage it tells me that my Dell Inspiron 570 has Integrated ATI Radeon HD4200 Graphics.

The second (and probably easiest) way to check whether you have On-Board or Integrated Graphics is to turn you Computer Tower round and look at the back. If you see anything that looks like the following picture: – Then you have an On-Board/Integrated Graphics card.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, December 20th, 2009 at 01:00 and is filed under Tutorials. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.