Screen Doesn't Display

[TimKell]

I have a PC - Windows XP Pro SP3 - Pentium 4 3 GHz CPU - 2.5 GB RAM with the following issue:
Every once in a while, the screen will go dark, like it has been turned off or the PC has gone into power save, but I can't get anything to display on it after this happens - I have to restart the computer. This happens at random intervals - I could go days without it happening, then have it happen 3x in 1 day. I thought the hard drive was going, so I changed that, but it still happened, so I don't think it's the hard drive. It could happen when I'm working on something, or while I'm away from the computer. Also, if I'm listening to music when it happens, the music will continue for a few seconds, then start to skip. The odd thing is that if I log off of the computer, the issue (so far) will not happen.
Any ideas what I could test out on this or what the issue might be?

[sid0972]

The issue might be with your power supply, as it may just be enough to handle the components

this must've been happening when voltage fluctuates, or when power (to the whole house) is low

[ApPy10]

Check out for the display drivers of your video card. It may be that the video card drivers may have been corrupted or might have some issues. Reinstall the drivers for the same or update them.

[Maq.H]

It might also the cause of new graphics card driver or you may have installed updates recently. It seems when it comes to graphics card drivers. Attempts to relocate them, it may be just that. Also go through these post, hope they can help you:-
Pc booting up but getting Blank screen
Windows XP, Blank Screen with Cursor Freezed while Welcome Screen should Appear.!!

[TimKell]

Thanks for the replies. I have changed the power supply, but the issue is still occuring. I have not changed or added any new graphics cards to this computer.

[sid0972]

have u checked ur hard drive for errors?

go to command prompt, and type this

chkdsk /f :d(drive letter)
do it for all drives, and restart

[TimKell]

I haven't checked really recently, but I have run the check disk scan since this issue has started - check disk didn't find anything.

[Team Leader]

IT can be an issue with the physical connectivity of the system. I would recommend you to power off your system and then verify all the physical connections to your system. Check that the monitor cable is properly connected. Also you may try using another monitor to verify if the issue is due to the monitor.

[TimKell]

OK, I'll try those suggesstions. FYI - I did update as many of the drivers as I could from Dell's website, as well as run the Extended Hardware Diagnostics tool - which found no issues.

[TimKell]

What I have done so far is to attach a 2nd monitor to my computer. I did this on Friday, 4/9, and the issue occurred only 1 or 2 times in a 7 hour period, which is amazing. However, the person that I borrowed the monitor from came back in today (4/12), so I had to give it up (work environment). No issue happened for about 5 hours or so, but around 12:30 or so, EST, it start happening again, only now, my computer will reboot itself, instead of freezing up. Tomorrow I'm going to try to find another monitor to work with to see what happens when it's 2 monitors vs. new monitor vs. old monitor. I found it odd that attaching a 2nd monitor would keep this issue from happening.

[TimKell]

I spent all of yesterday (4/13) working with 2 monitors hooked up to my PC with no issue at all. I started out this moring with the 2nd monitor, and within an hour, the issue popped up again. I went back to 2 monitors, and nothing has happened all day. What could be causing the issue where if only 1 monitor is plugged in, an error occurs, but when 2 are plugged in, everything is ok?