Topic: Blank screen

[Adept]

Sorry, I must have misunderstood, but I thought that's what DB had already just done.  

I must have misunderstood you too Simon :-[ I thought you meant to hook the PC up to the laptop What did you mean then?

[Sandra]

Dont confuse Simon just for fun Adept  

Simon I think he hooked up the PC monitor to the laptop and that the monitor then works fine.
Its the display settings on the PC that are wrong for some reason, probably the update for the nvidia he downloaded that has altered the refresh rate.

I dont think a different monitor would help Dogsbody, unless maybe if it was a very old one that worked at a lower refresh rate, or a newer one that worked at a higher refresh rate, as it isnt a monitor problem but the display settings that are wrong  

[Simon]

I must have misunderstood you too Simon :-[ I thought you meant to hook the PC up to the laptop What did you mean then?

That's what I did mean!  When DB said "...just for interest I hooked the laptop up to it and the screen is working perfectly", that's what I thought he meant, which is why I then thought he might be able to use the laptop as a monitor for his PC.  Obviously not!   :-[

[Dogsbody]

Tis I who confused you all (and myself I might add) I connected the laptop to the monitor to see if the monitor was still working, it was/is and displayed the laptops desktop.

I obviously still cannot see anything and the CRT was just a thought. I cannot remember how old it is but i may give it a try, as Safe Mode is still out of my reach.

DB

[Adept]

Right, let me see if I have this right.

When the laptop uses a monitor rather than the built-in LCD the desktop appears OK. If the LCD is used dark and light blue stripes appear. Is that right?

If so all we need to do is a System Restore back to just before the driver update. Or am I being thick again?

[Simon]

No, I don't think that's it, Sean.    

The laptop hasn't got a problem.  It's DBs main PC which has the problem, but now I understand, he connected the laptop to the monitor on his main PC, to establish that the main PC monitor was working.

Now, I thought it might work the other way round, and that he could have connected the main PC to the laptop, to view the desktop of the main PC on the laptop screen (with me?), thus enabling him to make the necessary adjustments, then connect the PC back into the PC Monitor.  This, I assume from what has been said, is not possible.

[Adept]

Ah thought I had read your answer correctly Simon! :bald:

SOOOO, to recap on the recap. The PC not the laptop has screen problems after loading DirectX and Nvdia Detonator drivers and won't allow DB to boot into Safe Mode.

Is that right so far?

[Simon]

I think so, yes.  But can someone explain why it's not possible to view his PC desktop on his laptop screen?  A simple answer would suffice!  

[Sandra]

Thats how I understand it Adept but there again I try and read the posts properly instead of making assumptions  

I think that the download somehow altered the refresh rate and that is why he cant see anything on the monitor, but I would have thought it should be visible, with difficulty, but enough to be able to set it up correctly  

[Sandra]

Laptops often have an option for attaching a monitor to them but not for connecting a pc through it to display on the laptops screen Simon  

[Dogsbody]

Yeah you've all got it right now can,t connect the PC to laptop and still cannot see anything on the PC monitor except the lines. Thanks to all for the help you are giving me.

[Adept]

One way of forcing the PC into Safe Mode should be to switch it off half way through the boot process i.e. when it is on the Windows XP startup screen.

Once in Safe Mode, System Restore can be used to roll the PC back to before the driver update

[Dogsbody]

Adept so I presume you mean a full blown switch off and not just a soft re-boot???

DB

[Sandra]

Either should do it DB  

[Dogsbody]

Hi all it looks like it is working its running through a restore at the moment, I'll just get on with the hoovering and get back to you if it works ok.

DB