If the time/date have slipped backwards several years, the CMOS battery ($1.50 for a 3v coin battery) needs replacing. If the bootable CD produces a perfectly good-looking screen:ġ) Enter bios setup on the next reboot, and make sure the Bios settings look OK. You can test it by attaching it to another PC.Ĥ) If you have access to another monitor you can borrow, test things with a different monitor.ĥ) If you have access to a compatible spare video card, test things with that card installed (Take anti-static precautions inside the case! Have the power off and unplugged when working inside a PC).
Try plugging it into a different power outlet as a test.Ģ) Make sure the monitor itself hasn't failed in some manner. If the bootable CD doesn't produce anything on your screen:ġ) Make sure that good power is getting through to your monitor. If the screen is still black when booted from your optical drive - the problem is likely a hardware failure or misconfiguration. See if things boot Ok with a bootable CD or DVD of some sort (doesn't matter much what kind: Linux-based Knoppix, UBCD, Ubuntu Live CD.
