Computer boots but my monitor doesn't respond

Ive spent a good while searching for anyone having the same problem, while some are similar mine is different in that, when I get up in the morning and boot up my computer my monitor acts like my computer is off as it does when I shut down the computer but leave the monitor on, the power light flashes and thats it. I know my computer is booting because I hear the windows song and one of the pop up things I have once I am to my desktop. I have no choice but to hard shut down my computer but when I boot it the 2nd time the monitor works just fine, its been doing this for the past 3 days, anyone know whats going on here?

What is this computer? Make and model?

It is a very old custom build.
Intel Core 2 duo 2.66 ghz
3 gigs of ram
9600 GT card
windows XP 32 pro
cant remember my motherboard and cant find the box.

The problem is getting worse though now multiple times boots dont bring it up but if I sit and wait long enough it comes up after a few minutes.

Could be a hard drive or power supply issue. Do you see any swollen or leaking capacitors around the CPU. They may look like this:
https://www.google.com/search?q=bad...DYX4yAGCjIDwDg&ved=0CGgQsAQ&biw=1920&bih=1113