HI sdouce4


You mention that your Recovery Disks don't work -- does that mean that you have attempted a Recovery using those Disks since your problem with the monitor appeared? That could complicate things a little, since such recoveries tend to overwrite areas of the hard drive.

If you haven't tried the Recovery Disks yet, or if you started to, but the recovery was aborted by either you or some error message, then you might still be able to troubleshoot & repair things from the PCs current state.
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2 Quick-Fix tries:

Quick-Fix #1
1) Boot your computer into Safe Mode.
2) Right-click on a blank area of your desktop, and select "Properties"
3) In the "Settings" tab, select "Advanced"
4) Look for a "Monitor" tab (the Advanced Settings can vary depending on what graphics card is in your computer)
5) In the Monitor tab, look for a selection area for refresh-rate -- make sure it is a rate supported by your monitor.

(you can do the same for the 'resolution' setting)

Quick-Fix #2
1) Boot your computer into Safe Mode.
2) Use System Restore, selecting a restore point from before your display problem. You can find System Restore by navigating: Start - All Programs - Accessories - System Tools - System Restore. (You can also simply type "System Restore" in the 'Start Search' box on the Vista Start Menu, and press Enter).

Also:
Check in your Event Viewer logs & see if you can find errors that coincide with your display trouble. EventViewer is in the Administrative Tools in Control Panel (it too, can be started by typing Event Viewer in the 'Start Search" box on the Vista Start Menu, and pressing Enter).
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My first quess is that your monitor settings were so far off the screen went blank because it doesn't support the refresh rate or resolution.

A second guess would be a driver problem.

(Oh -- and one question -- is your computer an Hp laptop?)

Best of luck
. . . Gary

 

late edit --

Sorry, I was typing before my first cup of coffee -- don't bother with the first Quick Fix try -- the regular display driver isn't available in Safe Mode, and the Safe Mode display settings don't persist into regular mode.

My Folgers is starting to clear the fog . . .
. . . Gary

 

Thanks so much for the info Gary!
I did try the recovery disks, but it was aborted (i think because the disk was chipped). Anyway, option 2 you said to use system recovery...something must be wrong with that too because it is telling me my system restore is off and it wont allow me to turn it back on.
Also, i looked at the drivers and noticed that the video driver was not there...so i went to the sony site and uploaded it my computer and it wouldn't accept the driver.

I recently added Vista Enterprise to the computer and was told today that the computer could only handle Vista Home Edition and that it would only be time before Enterprise would wear down my drivers untill they wouldn't be working anymore. So, this whole mess seems to be because i downloaded the wrong version of vista.

The laptop is a Sony, but its an older model (2005).

I went ahead and bought some new recovery disks from Sony's site...I am sure that will work.
Thank you so much for the help though! -Stephanie

 

Hi again Stephanie


Yes, if the CD/DVD drive is OK, a new set of Recovery Disks should restore everything to the factory-original state (just like it was when it came home from the store). If there is any data you need to save, copy it off the drive before you run the recovery.

I'm not sure why Enterprise wouldn't run, if Home Premium did. Drivers either work or they don't -- there isn't any "wearing down" (although the mental image is rather charming). It sounds to me like the Sony tech you spoke to might have been a beginner. If software was involved at all, I'd expect that it would be a problem only if the Enterprise version was 64bit, and a 64bit driver didn't exist for your video card. But no matter -- if the Enterprise Vista you purchased was on a DVD, and you obviously weren't able to use it's key or activate it, you can likely offer it for sale & recoup your investment.

If you'd wanted to try the Enterprise version for its full disk-imaging backup support, a third-party alternative would be Acronis True Image or Norton Ghost.

Best of luck!
. . . Gary