Is Your Dell Monitor Not Working? Here is How To Fix It
Amongst being one of the biggest distributors of PC parts and manufactured PCs, Dell also makes monitors for workplaces and workstations. While they may not have the fancy bells and whistles of many gaming or media monitors, they have plenty of cost-effective monitors that are used in many offices today. If you’re using a Dell monitor, and it’s not behaving the way that it should, it could be a graphics card issue. This guide will walk you through what you need to know about how to diagnose and test.
Test if your Video Cables Work With Your Dell Monitor
Seems like a simple solution, but you need to try it – just to make sure! Plenty of people with pet owners find that their pets will chew cables, sometimes resulting in a device not working. Test your VGA, DVI, Display Port, or HDMI cables with other devices just to double check. If they work with other devices, but not your monitor, the cable isn’t the problem. Don’t have a spare device or cable to test? You can get cables from local retailers like Target, Best Buy, or other computer stores for around $30 or less.
Test if the Dell Monitor is Properly Powered
If your cables seem to work with other devices, but your Dell monitor is still giving you problems, try diagnosing the power. It’s easy to overlook! Most monitors have an indicator light. Is the light on? Is it blinking? What color is it?
- Do you have a power strip that the monitor is plugged in to?
- Is power supplied to the other devices plugged into the strip?
- Is there a standby light when the monitor is plugged in? Does toggling the power make anything happen?
- Do you have any other devices you can plug in? Does the monitor work when they are plugged in instead?
If it appears that the power is working on every other device but the monitor still isn’t working, it could be the power cable for your Dell monitor. See if replacing the Dell Power Cable fixes the issue. You can call or contact Dell to get a replacement power cable. If a replacement power cable doesn’t fix it, it could be a graphics card error, or it could be a faulty display.
Test Another Display
While it might be harder to test, if you have another display to hook up to your computer, you can test to see if it’s the monitor or the graphics card. A TV is usually a good thing to try, if you can take your computer to a TV or move a TV to your computer. If you have a laptop, it’s pretty simple, but desktops can be more annoying.
Dell Display Won’t Work? Could Be a Graphics Card Problem
If you have multiple output ports on your graphics card, try a different port to see if the port is broken or if the graphics card is having an issue. Whether you’re on AMD or Nvidia, sometimes your outputs can fail. If you have a failed port, try to contact your manufacturer to get a refurbished card.
Sometimes, a faulty or out-of-date driver can cause graphics issues as well. If you’re on a desktop and you have an integrated graphics output, try plugging into that output and updating your video card’s drivers. If you’re on a laptop, try using your native screen and updating your graphics drivers as well as your chipset drivers.
