Help I Can’t See

Q: We are dumbstruck! My son put his computer together last year. He downloads and
plays a lot of games on it. Well, a month ago, I came home and the monitor
wouldn't work. We had no idea what the problem was.
My daughter took the computer to her ex who fixed it. Actually, he said he just jiggled
the video card and it worked again. He said that there was a loose screw in the tower.
This happened again. Again, he came to the rescue and made some comments about my
son.
He jiggled something but didn't want to give the time of day as to what he actually did.
He's a college grad with an engineering degree. Does that make a difference???
Well, it's happened again. He doesn't want to be bothered. He told my daughter to tell
her brother to just go and get a $40 video card! Todd did. Guess what! It still doesn't
work!
Any ideas?
P. Salsedo
A: There are very few things as useless as a computer with a monitor that does not work. I can relate to your sons’ plight as I made similar mishaps when I constructed my first computer. The first thing that I would do would be to definitively locate the source of the problem. To this end, I would connect the monitor to a computer that is not having any problems. If there is no picture then I would know that the monitor is the problem, and that it needs to be replaced. I would also connect the questionable computer to the monitor from another computer that I know that works. If the screen blanks out then I would know that problem is in the computer and not the monitor. If both checkout ok then when I reconnected them together I would ensure the monitor cable is firmly attached.
If the problem seems to emanate from the computer and not the monitor then I would take a look at the video card. Often the problem is the video card is not seated properly. This happens frequently with the first computers that people construct. They often are afraid of using too much force and breaking something so they go to the other extreme and don’t use enough force. When you said that your daughters ex jiggled it, he probably pushed the video card firmly into the slot. When the problem persists after this then it can have several causes. The card could be loose in the slot, and easily knocked ajar by accidentally bumping the computer. Thus the need to constantly reseating or jiggling the card. If the card is loose because the connectors on the video card are worn, then a new card may be the answer. Things take a more serious turn if there is a connection problem that originates from the video card slot or the motherboard. At this point you would need to consider taking the motherboard to be repaired or replaced.