Why is my CRT monitor blinking?

[McQualude]

Recently my monitor started blinking, the screen goes black for about 1 second sporadically. It happens in Windows and I booted the Ultimate Startup Disk and it blinked then also, so it must be hardware.

Dell Dimension 4550 w/ M782 17" CRT monitor, about 2.5+ years old
512MB RAM
5900XT 128MB
8X NEC 2500 DVD burner recent upgrade from original DVD drive
32X cd burner
firewire card
onboard sound & LAN

My old Viewsonic monitor developed the same problem after it was about 1 year old (different system).

Is the monitor going bad?

 

[LiLithTecH]

When the problem occurs, do you hear a loud snap before the
screen goes blank?

 

[McQualude]

No. There is no sound associated with it at all.

My Viewsonic had this problem for quite a while and never got worse, but it is annoying, especially when gaming.

My monitor started 'blinking' after a hard drive change. The old drive went bad, the new drive was coincidently bad and the monitor started blinking around that time. I upgraded the video card after the blinking started, but it had no effect. I now have a 3rd hard drive going bad, 2 years old, same brand/model as the first drive that went bad.

A person on a newsgroup with the same problem, noticed the the blinking frequently occurs in tandem with right clicking large files, I had noticed this also and although I can't imagine a connection, it doesn't seem to be coincidence.

I just tested... I right clicked 15 multimedia (MPG,WMV,AVI) files from 2-175MB, the monitor blinked in conjunction with my right click, 15 out 15 times. It did not blink when I right clicked on JPEG files. I repeated the test, again it blinked 15 out of 15 times, BUT, the third time I tested, it did not blink, so I switched folders and it did not blink.

I'm stumped.

Ideas... I'm wondering if all these events, the hard drive failures, the blinking and the occasional slowdowns are all symptomatic of a single cause, possibly an insufficient or failing power supply, variations in the house line voltage or a failing motherboard. I Know the original 250W PS is marginal, especially since I added the 5900XT, but the problems started before the card upgrade.

 

[McQualude]

I definitely have an underpowered PS, I got an error message telling me so, but I don't know if that would cause the blinking.

Anyone? Questions? Comments? Smart Remarks?

 

[MedicBob]

IT might be a video card problem. Reseat the card, ensure the cable is plugged in and secure. A bigger PS might fix it, but I am not sure.

 

[McQualude]

I switched cards to no effect.

Someone suggested that the monitor is going bad, but I have never seen a monitor fail that way.

 

[LiLithTecH]

Have you ever checked the outlets that you have your
devices plugged into?

If you are having problems with Drives and Monitors failing,
there is a good possiblity they are getting to much power
(more than a 120v\surge).

 

[tm37]

Originally posted by: MedicBob
IT might be a video card problem. Reseat the card, ensure the cable is plugged in and secure. A bigger PS might fix it, but I am not sure.

When It shuts down does the Power light turn off or go yellow?

 

[McQualude]

It would probably be worthwhile to install a UPS to prevent surges/brownouts. I'm sure the computer is more sensitive to that.

I don't know about the power light, I'll check next time I shut down.

 

[tm37]

When the computer monitor flashes off the pight will either be off or yellow.

Off would lead me to beleive that you monitor is faulty.
yellow would lead me to believe you have a Video or PS issue.

 

[McQualude]

The light stays green when it blinks.

 

[CeilingHoles]

Originally posted by: McQualude
Recently my monitor started blinking, the screen goes black for about 1 second sporadically. It happens in Windows and I booted the Ultimate Startup Disk and it blinked then also, so it must be hardware.

Dell Dimension 4550 w/ M782 17" CRT monitor, about 2.5+ years old
512MB RAM
5900XT 128MB
8X NEC 2500 DVD burner recent upgrade from original DVD drive
32X cd burner
firewire card
onboard sound & LAN

My old Viewsonic monitor developed the same problem after it was about 1 year old (different system).

Is the monitor going bad?

It might be possessed!!:Q

Seriously, try a different power supply if you have one lying around..

 

[McQualude]

I ordered an Antec True380 yesterday. I'm also going to buy a Belkin Home Office UPS.

A few minutes ago I had a scare, I thought the monitor was a gonner... it blinked and stayed black for 2-3 seconds.