The monitor is blank and there is nothing on the screen
First try hitting the spacebar and see if the computer wakes up. It may have entered a power saving mode that is normal.
If the computer display does not come back, look at the power button on the monitor, (the part that looks like a TV screen) is the power on steady green? If it is not, try pushing the power button.
If the picture still does not come back, look at the computer case (the box with the CD-rom and floppy disk in it). You will likely see a power button and some status lights. One light usually indicates whether or not the computer is powered up. Usually you will also have lights for hard drive and network activity. Are any of the lights on? If they are not, push the power button.
If pushing the power button does not seem to power up the computer, check the power cords and surge strips. Make sure that the power cords are not loose and that the surge strip has not been turned off or been overloaded and tripped the circuit breaker (a small button that says press to reset/test). Also make sure that the surge strip is plugged into the wall.
If you are not getting power to anything on the surge strip, check the wall outlet. Try a different socket. If you get no power from the wall outlet, contact maintenance (x7262) to have them check the outlet. If the outlet has power but the surge strip does not, the strip maybe turned off, or overloaded and the breaker tripped. If you cannot get power to the surge strip call maintenance and request a replacement.
If the power lights are lit on both the monitor and computer case but you are still not getting any picture on the monitor, or you are getting a check signal cable warning on the monitor, or a flashing yellow power light on the monitor check to make sure the cable that connects the monitor to the computer as it is likely loose or disconnected.
If you are getting an error “signal out of range†on the monitor or the display appears to be scrambled it is likely due to a recent change in the monitor resolution. You will not be able to fix this yourself, call the helpdesk at 7243.
You see a computer screen that is solid blue with columns of numbers and letters (the notorious Blue Screen of Death).
The only way to recover from this error is to reboot the computer.
Push and hold the power button on the computer case until the computer shuts down (sometimes it takes 5-10 seconds). Release the button and wait 15 seconds.
Then push the power button again to turn the computer back on.
The computer should boot normally and should come back to the login screen with no further problems.
If the computer comes back to the Blue Screen of Death please record the error message
(I.E. beginning dump of physical memory IDQ less than or Equal to *)
We do not need the columns of numbers but the first few lines of text will tell us the reason the computer crashed and helps to speed up fixing the problem.
Seeing a blue screen of death on your computer does not always indicate a major problem with your computer. This can be caused by many factors like power spikes or memory errors, which can be fixed just by rebooting the computer.
But if the computer does not recover after a reboot, call the computer helpdesk and give them the error you are getting and we will be able to fix the problem.
