Hi gurus,
hopefully you can help me with this. A few months ago, my monitor died, so I grabbed one of the old ones out of the garage and hooked it up. Prob solved, I thought. Now today, my monitor died, so I got the last of the oldies out of the garage and it didn't come on either. we tried, but couldn't shutdown so I changed it while the pc was running. Then my wife hit reset and we're in business. So, did the computer not pick up the monitor as it didn't look for it until the reset button was hit? That's my theory. what do you guys think?

Also, are the deaths of these monitors unrelated, or is there a possible underlying cause? Possible bad video card? As it is, it looks like I have to get another monitor just to have on hand.

suggestions????????

here is my take... the monitors are older CRT types, they have a limited lifespan - about 3-5 years, depending on electrical quality.

Normally, the high voltage will die before the signal processing, so I would be shocked if a video card did this. If the card was that bad, I would expect errors.

It is not too hard to believe that the computer required a reboot, but only if the monitor has a different resolution or refresh rate.

Depending on the age, perhaps something new may not be a bad idea.

Thanks.
As it would happen, the monitors in question were both over 10yrs old. I got a new monitor from wally-worldand it seems to be working OK. I even got the extended warranty.
Thanks again for your help!

yea... a 10 year old CRT is a ticking time bomb, and does little or nothing to improve ones vision.