Windows starts loading then screen goes black. 1)Box appears Self Test -G 2)Check PC and signal cable 3)Monitor working. 4) Then I start in safe mode it opens. Now what do I do ? Chioces Yes to work in safe mode. Or No to restore system to a previous state? I am using Windows Xp Pro sp3 Thanks for any help! Jeff

Connect the "bad" monitor to the VGA-out port on a notebook/laptop computer, to see if it works normally when connected. If not, then the monitor is "dead".
If it works fine, check the "screen-resolution" of the computer's video-card, to see if the values exceed the capability of the monitor.

James,
It sounds like the refresh rate is set to high. Since you do not mention what OS is installed I have listed information on how to change in Windows,XP.
Start the computer and press the F8 key. Choose Safe Mode. Once the system gets into Windows follow the steps below and then restart the computer. If this does not resolve your issue email me at my email address below and include your OS information.

How to Change the Screen Refresh Rate of Your Monitor

1. Click Start, click Control Panel, click Appearance and Themes, and then click Display.
   
   Alternatively, right-click the desktop, and then click Properties.
2. Click the Settings tab, and then click Advanced.
3. Click the Monitor tab, and then click the screen refresh rate that you want to use.

NOTE:

• The default refresh rate setting is 60 Hertz (HZ); however, your monitor may support a higher setting. Check your manufacturer's documentation for information about the settings that your monitor supports.
• If you use a higher refresh rate, you can reduce the rate that your screen flickers; however, if you specify a refresh rate that is too high for your monitor, your screen may become unusable and your hardware may be damaged.
• Changes to the refresh rate affect all users that log on to the computer.

Or your system is giving off a beep code in which case the beeps come in a 3 beep sequence. Below is the beep codes and what each represents.Beep Codes

Troubleshooting steps and more information about the OptiPlex 320 beep codes Beep Codes Code Cause 1-1-2 Microprocessor register failure 1-1-3 NVRAM 1-1-4 ROM BIOS checksum failure 1-2-1 Programmable interval timer 1-2-2 DMA initialization failure 1-2-3 DMA page register read/write failure 1-3-1 through 2-4-4 DIMMs not being properly identified or used 3-1-1 Slave DMA register failure 3-1-2 Master DMA register failure 3-1-3 Master interrupt mask register failure 3-1-4 Slave interrupt mask register failure 3-2-2 Interrupt vector loading failure 3-2-4 Keyboard Controller Test failure 3-3-1 NVRAM power loss 3-3-2 NVRAM configuration 3-3-4 Video Memory Test failure 3-4-1 Screen initialization failure 3-4-2 Screen retrace failure 3-4-3 Search for video ROM failure 4-2-1 No time tick 4-2-2 Shutdown failure 4-2-3 Gate A20 failure 4-2-4 Unexpected interrupt in protected mode 4-3-1 Memory failure above address 0FFFFh 4-3-3 Timer-chip counter 2 failure 4-3-4 Time-of-day clock stopped 4-4-1 Serial or parallel port test failure 4-4-2 Failure to decompress code to shadowed memory 4-4-3 Math coprocessor test failure 4-4-4 Cache test failure
Thank You,
Dell-Jesse L
Dell Social Media and Communities
email [email protected]

You can try these Trouble Shooting steps:
Monitor Self Test:
1. Physically test the monitor autonomously from the computer.2. Switch both the monitor and the computer off, and then disconnect the VGA cable le from the computer.3. Turn the monitor on, pressing the power button for about three seconds. The self-test screen will come up .4. If the image is clear, bright, and shows red, green, and blue, the monitor is working properly. Video issues may be due to the video resolution in the computer, and not the monitor.5. If the image is not apparent and intense or the colors are not accurate, then the trouble is with the monitor or some of the (OSD) settings. In this case, test your particular monitor's information for OSD.

Safe Mode:1. Restart your computer. 2. Before the windows logo you should gently tap the F8 key repeatedly until you are presented with a Windows XP Advanced Options menu. 3. Select the option for Safe Mode using the arrow keys. 4. Then press enter on your keyboard to boot into Safe Mode. 5. Do whatever tasks you require and when you are done reboot to boot back into normal mode.

Video Card:1. Unplug all of the cables.2. Unscrew the tower.3. Remove the video card from the PCI slot.4. Use an eraser to erase the coper pins on the video card. It will remove the dirt from the pins.5. Insert the video card in the PCI slot.6. Screw back the tower.7. Plug back the cables.8. Turn on the pc. It should be working after these steps.

Thank you for choosing www.fixya.com.If you have any other issues under the sun, just post your questions here and we will provide you the answer.

You might need to change the screen refresh rate. Go do Control Panel> Display> Setting> Advance, choose 60 Hz. In order to make your Monitor able to display, restart the PC, press F8 on the keyboard frequently upon splashing ( 1 or 2 seconds after PC restarts). Select enable VGA mode by pressing up arrow of the keyboard> press enter. The display should look bigger, then you can start adjusting the screen refresh rate to 60 Hz

This sounds like a video card driver issue or the card it self. Make sure all cables are plugged in snug. Once done try to boot in to safe mode by restarting the computer and while it is starting keep on tapping key F8 and choose safe mode. If this works it is driver issue. If nothing happens it is the card it self. Might have to take it to a authorized repair shop. Hope this helps.

Use the self test feature.. follow the steps..

1. Turn off both your computer and the monitor.
2. Unplug the video cable from the back of the computer.
3. Turn on the monitor.
If the monitor is functioning properly, you will see a box in the illustration below.
This box appears during normal operation if the video cable becomes disconnected or
damaged.
4. Turn off your monitor and reconnect the video cable; then turn on both your computer and the
monitor.
If your monitor screen remains blank after using the previous procedure, check your video
controller and computer system; your monitor is functioning properly.

Warning

The Power supply inside the monitor can be hazardous and donot open the monitor while power on.

Donot work with the monitor when it is open and the power supply is on.

If there is something wrong with the input signal, a message appears on the screen or the
screen goes blank although the power indicator LED is still on. The message may indicate
that the monitor is out of scan range or that you need to check the signal cable.

First you'll have to power off the system.
Please power on the system and as soon as you see the Dell logo please tap the F2 button 3 - 4 times.
The computer will go to the system setup. Check if the screen goes blank here.
If the screen stays on then try this.
1. Please power off the system.
2. Please power on the system and as soon as you see the Dell logo please tap the F8 button 3 - 4 times. You'll reach the Windows Advanced Boot Options Menu on the screen.
3.Select Safe mode with Networking.
4. Select Administrator at the log in screen.
5. Warning dialog box with the message Windows is running in safe mode. appears. Click the Yes button.
6. The desktop appears with the words Safe Mode appearing in all four corners.
7. Uninstall the video drivers and restart the computer.
8. Resintall the video drivers.

Rate if useful.

1) UNPLUG THE LAPTOP
2) REMOVE THE BATTERY
3) HOLD DOWN THE POWER BUTTON FOR ABOUT 30 SECONDS TO 2 MINUTES
4) THEN PUT THE BATTERY BACK IN or DON'T
5) START IT UP... After that when the system starts you can do the system restore START--ALL PROGRAMS--ACCESSORIES--SYSTEM TOOLS--SYSTEM RESTORE.Hope that will do. Otherwise you can re-install windows if you have a Windows CD.That will definitely solve the problem.There might be problems with VGA Resolution [if you have used the laptop with some other monitor or TV] or driver. For installing Windows Do Google Search.

Your monitor provides a self-test feature that allows you to check whether your monitor is functioning properly. If your monitor and computer are properly connected but the monitor screen remains dark, run the monitor self-test by performing the following steps:

1. Turn off both your computer and monitor.
2. Unplug the video cable from the back of the computer. To ensure proper Self-Test operation, remove both Digital (white connector) and the Analog(blue connector) cables from the back of computer.
3. Turn on the monitor.

   The floating 'Dell Self-test Feature Check' dialog box should appear on-screen on a black background if the monitor cannot sense a video signal and is working correctly. While in self-test mode, the power LED remains green. Also, depending upon the selected input, one of the dialogs shown below will continuously scroll through the screen.
   

   1. This box also appears during normal system operation if the video cable becomes disconnected or damaged.

   2. Turn off your monitor and reconnect the video cable, then turn on both your computer and the monitor.

   If your monitor screen remains blank after you use the previous procedure, check your video controller and computer system; your monitor is functioning properly.
   

When your computer is starting up, hit F8 and you'll see the safe mode, safe mode with networking, etc. screen...You should see a choice that says "enable vga mode". Select that and windows will start and the os will select a screen resolution for you. After that, everything will work fine...I hope.


Good Luck!

Anonymous