Periodically our monitor won't recover after Win XP's power settings shut it down. The most likely cause is that my son has wandered off leaving a game running, but it has happened on rare occasions when there isn't a game open, and occasionally if more than one window is open, one window will go black and we have to close that app with task manager. While not the only cause, leaving Pong for Win 95/98 running is guaranteed to cause the problem.
We have tried rebooting with cntl-alt-delete, disconnecting monitor from power, monitor from computer, disconnecting everything from computer, disconnecting power from computer, and all combinations of these that we can think of. I have also tried rebooting from a DOS floppy. Also, the monitor's on screen menu won't come up, either. In all cases, the ***** light on the monitor indicates that it is getting a signal. The only thing I can think of that I haven't tried is beating on the monitor with a fist, foot, or large sledge hammer.
The only way to get around this that I have found is to turn off the computer and change monitors; after a day or two when the "new" monitor won't recover, the "old" one is OK again. I should add that if we connect the "dead" monitor to a different computer, it sometimes fires right up and sometimes doesn't until it has "rested" for at least a day.
One of these monitors is 3 years old and the other is 5; both are reputable brands. The computer is a Dell Dimension P-4 with an ATI Rage 128 with 16 Meg running Win XP Pro.
Since this is so sporadic and isn't remedied by rebooting, I assume it isn't the video card. However, since both monitors do the same thing, and do it only sporadically, I assume it isn't a dying monitor.
I'm getting tired of changing monitors, and hesitate to get a new monitor since I don't know that that will prevent the problem. Locking up the Pong CD would cause my son to revolt and besides, it isn't the only cause.
Does anyone have any idea what is going on or know of a magic fix for whatever it is?
Many thanks!
We have tried rebooting with cntl-alt-delete, disconnecting monitor from power, monitor from computer, disconnecting everything from computer, disconnecting power from computer, and all combinations of these that we can think of. I have also tried rebooting from a DOS floppy. Also, the monitor's on screen menu won't come up, either. In all cases, the ***** light on the monitor indicates that it is getting a signal. The only thing I can think of that I haven't tried is beating on the monitor with a fist, foot, or large sledge hammer.
The only way to get around this that I have found is to turn off the computer and change monitors; after a day or two when the "new" monitor won't recover, the "old" one is OK again. I should add that if we connect the "dead" monitor to a different computer, it sometimes fires right up and sometimes doesn't until it has "rested" for at least a day.
One of these monitors is 3 years old and the other is 5; both are reputable brands. The computer is a Dell Dimension P-4 with an ATI Rage 128 with 16 Meg running Win XP Pro.
Since this is so sporadic and isn't remedied by rebooting, I assume it isn't the video card. However, since both monitors do the same thing, and do it only sporadically, I assume it isn't a dying monitor.
I'm getting tired of changing monitors, and hesitate to get a new monitor since I don't know that that will prevent the problem. Locking up the Pong CD would cause my son to revolt and besides, it isn't the only cause.
Does anyone have any idea what is going on or know of a magic fix for whatever it is?
Many thanks!
