Troubleshooting Basics (2nd Edition)

*Today's post is written as part of a series by Dion Staton, the school librarian at North Jefferson Middle School. 

The computer is completely dead?

Check all the connections, the cables between the CPU and the monitor and all the electrical cables.  Check the wall socket or surge strip to see if they are bad (sometimes a surge strip will have good and bad outlets).  If you have a green light on your monitor but not on your CPU, then there is a problem with your CPU.  If there is a green light on your CPU and not your monitor, then you have a problem with your monitor and your CPU may be fine.  If you have another monitor that you know is good, the quickest way to test is to put another monitor on the machine and see if you get an image on the screen.  If you have a light on both the monitor and the CPU, check the pins of the data cable between the monitor and the CPU.  A single bent pin can cause an image problem.

The usual problem is that the power cord or other cord has been pulled or bumped loose from the connector. Just because it looks like it is plugged in does not mean that it is, many times unplugging and re-plugging the cord will fix the issue.