Caution: Most of the steps will require that you open and work inside your computer. While working inside a computer, make sure you're aware of the potential danger of ESD. Update your drivers. First and foremost, it is important for you have the most recent drivers for your video card.

If the screen is going blank and the computer has to be restarted to get a picture back, then it could mean that either the monitor's driver or the card's driver has bugs in it and needs to be updated to a newer version. If the video card was bad then there would be no picture at all, even after the computer is restarted. And there would be a POST beep during startup to indicate that the video card is failing (usually 1 long beep and 2 short beeps). Or it might be that the monitor itself is not properly connected to the video card at the back of the computer. That could also cause the screen to go blank. Because by GENE8 - 7/25/09 9:56 AM In reply to: Why by msgale If the screen is going blank and the computer has to be restarted to get a picture back, then it could mean that either the monitor's driver or the card's driver has bugs in it and needs to be updated to a newer version. If the video card was bad then there would be no picture at all, even after the computer is restarted.

And there would be a POST beep during startup to indicate that the video card is failing (usually 1 long beep and 2 short beeps). Best mac lipsticks for light skin. Or it might be that the monitor itself is not properly connected to the video card at the back of the computer. That could also cause the screen to go blank. My G Force 8800 Ultra took a week to finally go completely. I was getting green and blue horizontal lines across my screen.

And couldn't play any games unless it would freeze and require a restart. At the end (waiting for my new 9800 GTX to come) the VGA took over and I couldn't bring up my video card any more. At that time I looked in my Device Manager and it had the yellow question mark next to my Video Card slot, so that cemented my assumption that it was my video card. Probably yours too. Video cards are cheap is you buy last years models.

(9000 series G Force 3000 series ATI $60-$100). Games for mac snow leopard.

Thinkstock Q: My old laptop's screen backlight has blown out. How do I connect another laptop to recover the photos and e-mails from this 'dark' computer? A: You don't need another laptop, you need another monitor. And by 'another monitor,' I really mean an HDTV. Almost any flat-screen model should have two ports a laptop can easily connect to: a trapezoid-shaped analog VGA input and a flatter digital HDMI input. Almost all older Windows laptops include VGA outputs, while newer ones offer HDMI in addition to or in place of VGA. Most Mac laptops come with one of several sorts of digital-video connectors that require an adapter to connect to VGA or HDMI: DVI and its micro- and mini variants, or Mini DisplayPort and the visually identical Thunderbolt.

Any recent laptop should automatically detect the screen at the other end of the VGA or HDMI cable. Then you'll need to switch the TV to the appropriate input with its remote; with any luck, your desktop will appear on the larger screen. Older PCs may need some coaxing.

In these cases, you usually tell it to switch to an external display by pressing whatever function key features a little icon of a monitor. For example, Dell laptops need you to hit Fn and F8 at the same time, but HP models require Fn and F4. Wait at least five seconds before cursing at the computer like every other presenter who's tried to connect a laptop to somebody else's projector. I've yet to see a Mac not detect an external display. But if you only see a blank area of your desktop, without any open windows or a menu bar, try hitting the Command and F1 keys to switch OS X back to mirroring the built-in screen.