Monitor stopped working

[xxhieixx]

Okay, last night me and my hubby decided to rearrange the room and I just now hooked up the PC and the monitor light stays orange for about 5 minutes and then my desktop background will show up with 3 icons. There's no task bar and the icons that show up I never had installed before. I have no idea why its doing this when it was working perfectly fine yesterday before we moved the room. I don't know if its the plugs (we've had power outages all day because this is a really old apartment and we don't know what we can have on all together and what we can't) or not. So can anyone help me with this?

EDIT: Well I got the mouse to work so I right clicked and went to properties and nothing loaded. I also tried putting in the XP disc and nothing loaded. I created a new folder and went to "open with..." and clicked on the XP disc but still got nothing. I saw all of my files when I went to open with so I know they're all still there. Also, when I turn on the monitor I don't see the XP logo and can't access safety mode or anything, the light just stays orange and then turns green and loads my desktop background along with three icons.

EDIT 2: Well its not the monitor, I switched monitors and it still won't work so it must be the hard drive. Anyone have any suggestions on what it could be? The graphics card looked fine to me when I looked at it so I have no idea what it is.

 

[BlameCanada]

Your correct it`s not the monitor Or the Video card.

It sounds like either the move or the power cuts have put errors on the Hard Drive.

First thing to try is run Checkdisk -

In normal mode,if you can,or from the Recovery console.See HERE for normal mode and HERE for the Console.

You have to go into the BIOS first and set the CD as first in the boot order.Press Del or F1 at start up.See HERE

That may not help,but it`s what I`d do first.

 

[xxhieixx]

Well since the windows logo won't show up will I able to just hit R or the delete key in order to bring this up? The only thing I've gotten to work is when I right clicked on a folder and hit "open with..." and after I selected a program that didn't even work.

 

[BlameCanada]

Ok then,you have to do it from the Recovery Console on the XP CD .

Restart computer,press del key or F1 key repeatedly to get into the BIOS.
See BIOS link above.

Next, see Console link above.

EDIT :I`m off to bed.Good luck.:unch:

 

[xxhieixx]

I tried hitting the F1 key and the monitor remained black and wouldn't load the desktop. So I restarted and tried the delete key and the desktop loaded, so I think mine's the F1 key but the screen still remains black and I can't see anything. I'm going to try again and just hit enter after awhile and see if that does anything

 

[xxhieixx]

Well I kept hitting the F1 key and then the desktop loaded lol. So I have no idea whats going on, I can't seem to get anything up. It just all remains black until my desktop loads

 

[Po`Girl]

There are a full list of BIOS keys here - http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/bios_manufacturer.htm

There are some unlikely ones in there

If you want the start up menu (system restore etc) tap F8 a few seconds into boot.

 

[xxhieixx]

Thanks, I have a Dell Dimension so it might be F2 lol. I'll have to try it tomorrow since my hubby is going to bed and I don't want to bother him by going in and out of the rooms lol. But the bios will definitely show up even though the setup thing isn't showing up right?

 

[Po`Girl]

Normally,if the monitor is working,and the cables are connected,the BIOS screen should appear,when you hit del,F1 or 2 or whatever.

 

[xxhieixx]

My hubby decided to stay up longer so I had some more time to figure this out. Anyway, I looked through my manual and found out that it is F2. However, nothing will come up and I hit it for about 3 minutes. When I turn the hard drive off after I do this it goes off as soon as I touch the power button so I think its up its just not showing me it. I'm not really sure how to bring this up now, unless I could try waiting a few minutes to see if it loads (like with my desktop). So any suggestions?

 

[Po`Girl]

Do you have onboard video or a a PCI/AGP card ?

Maybe you plugged cable in wrong one,or something.

I don`t know why a BIOS wouldn`t appear if the OS shows up.

Maybe you might have to start a new thread called "BIOS screen not showing up"

 

[xxhieixx]

I do have one, I'll try plugging it in there (although I think I messed it up screwing it in). And I'll try making a new thread, thanks for the help ^^