A common problem with computer, specially desktop computers is hearing the computer boot up bot not seeing anything on the screen.

It’s easy to think the computer is still working when you don’t hear anything on the screen but you can still hear it ticking over, but that is usually not the case. Just because the computer has electricity running through it, still doesn’t mean its working.

There can be many reasons your desktop or laptop screen does not display and they aren’t always actually related to the screen. Below I will discuss some problems affecting your computer when there is no display.

I am going to exclude broken monitor. An easy way to establish if your monitor is working or not is to plug it into another computer you a certain is working.

Motherboard Failure

Motherboards are the number one reason your computer wont post or boot up. The misconception associated with people thinking the display is the problem when it is actually the motherboard, is when your mainboard fails, a lot of the time your computer will still make a bunch of noises as the electricity runs to the rest of the components of the computer.

Computers parts likes fans, and hard drives will still spin around even when some motherboards fail. They wont be operating like a computer, but will still be moving and tricking people into thinking everything is working but the screen.

Graphics Card in Desktops

Some motherboards in desktop computers have built in graphics, but a lot of a dedicated cards which slot into the motherboard.

Like any other device in your computer they can fail and sometimes need to be replaced. Power surges, dust or fan failure are common problems which hinder the performances of graphics cards and make them overheat, resulting in failure.

Most laptops have built in graphics but heat can also affect their performance and make them fail as well. Unlike your desktop computer, laptop graphics card are not as easily accessible or built into the motherboard, meaning when its time to replace them sometimes you are replacing the whole board.

No Screen or Flickering in Laptop

If you have no screen on your laptop but can hear it starting up, so,sometimes is can be the cable that connects your LCD screen to the motherboard has come loose.

Laptops get picked up, thrown about, and put in school bags etc, which means they are always moving. The more it moves the more possibilities of something going wrong with it, and coming loose.

This can quickly be fixed and is probably one of the cheapest problems you can have to repair associated with your screen no working properly.

Updates and Upgrades

Lots of things can go wrong when we do a operating system update or upgrade and it’s not uncommon for things to not work properly afterwards.

Your operating system will appear to do the right thing by upgrading the software for your graphics cards and motherboard, but afterwards it might not start at all.

It is very important to always backup anything important information before making any changes to your computer. It is often possible to reverse an upgrade, but sometimes it cant be done.