HP Computer Won't Display Anything on Monitor

Question

Any suggestions on what is wrong and how I may troubleshoot it is welcome.

I'm having trouble with my HP Pavilion Slimline. When I turn it on and connect it to my monitor, my monitor just goes to sleep.

The lights turn on on the computer and I can hear the fans turning.

I would use another cable or port other than the VGA, except that's the ONLY video port this computer has. I've checked time and time again.

Please help. I don't mind wiping the entire computer disk. But I'm not experienced enough to swap out the motherboard because of the design of the layout -- it's buried under a lot of cables and fans.

I connected it to ethernet and pinged all machines on the network, then turned it off and pinged all again. The output was exactly the same, there wasn't an ip that showed up in one but didn't show up in the other.

Any help is welcome, and I'll provide additional information if needed.

[edit start]

So, in summary:

1. I have tested both cable and monitor, and both cable and monitor work on another computer.
2. This means that the issue is with the computer itself. (The computer is most likely running windows 7)
3. There are NO OTHER PORTS on the computer besides VGA
4. THIS MEANS that even if it's a driver problem, I CAN'T EVEN UPDATE because no monitor works, and there's NO OTHER PORT.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[edit end]

[edit two]

I have ALSO tried using another working monitor. Still nothing.

[end of edit two]

Answer 1

One thing you might want to check is the graphics resolution setting on the graphics output from your computer to your monitor. In having this problem once before, my solution was to connect a different monitor to the computer (one that displayed output from that computer) and check the graphics settings. In this case, the settings were reset to the lowest resolution, and the original monitor (the one that showed nothing) was reconnected to the computer. Output was then visible, as it should be. Consequently, the resolution could be changed and output observed. In Windows, when the resolution is changed, if not Applied, the setting will revert after a few moments with a query regarding changing the settings or keeping the current settings. You probably know all of this already. But the point is this: Your current system may have graphics resolution settings that are set outside of the range that can be accommodated by your monitor. Check those settings, and see if changing to a lower resolution output will fix the problem. There may be nothing wrong with your system, at all.