Fix monitor distortion
Q Would you please tell me how to overcome a serious problem that occurs occasionally with my 15in (Plug and Play) Acer Aspire 56s monitor. Sometimes the distortion is insignificant, but if I switch the computer off and on again, it may become very serious. I use a 2D/3D built-in graphics card on the motherboard (ATI 3D XPression with 3D RAGE II chip and 2MB EDO RAM) and an add-on 3Dfx graphic card (Legend 3Dfx with 4MB EDO RAM). I have DirectX 5 installed. û Mai Liet Quoc Nam A This takes me back to the hassles of my old 386 computer. Whenever the monitor heated up, it could not change video modes unless you turned it off and on again. It would start off well in the morning, and only after using it for some time did this problem occur. It would be at its worst during summer and almost non-existent in winter. When electronic devices get too warm their electronic properties change. This can produce a problem that is characterised by the computer working well when you first turn it on, but developing a problem after a period of continual use. The problem is also more likely to occur on hot days. To correct this, check that the equipment has adequate ventilation. The computer case should not be pushed up against a wall or have any other objects directly behind it which might obstruct the fan. Open the case with the computer running. Most computers have a fan on the CPU, so make sure that this is working. On computers that have had a motherboard upgrade, the CPU could be positioned where there is inadequate ventilation because the board layout may have changed. Note that some (older) computers will have a heatsink on the CPU rather than a fan. This is perfectly adequate as long as there is sufficient ventilation. For equipment such as printers and, of course, your monitor, make sure that there are several inches of space around the device. Place a hand on your monitor; it should feel warm, but not hot. Unless it is a very hot day, or you live in a warm part of the country, you should never experience the problems you describe. My old monitor used to get inappropriately hot. The problem with your monitor also seems to be related to changes in video modes. This is because during system startup the monitor first displays in standard VGA mode and then has to switch to the mode you normally use in Windows. You can probably test this by changing video modes without restarting your computer (in Windows 95, right-click the desktop and choose PropertiesûSettings). You can also test whether the problem lies with your computer or with your monitor by running your computer for most of the day with the monitor turned off. Then turn on the monitor and do a restart and see if the distortion recurs. You could also try the monitor on another computer. It is a good idea to do this before taking it back to the supplier as it will make it easier to convince them that the problem lies with the monitor. û Roy Chambers
Category: hardware
Issue: May 1998