Monitor hijacked?

[webfusion]

I am suspicious that someone has managed to infiltrate my computer with a hijacker of some sort, with the ability to cut off my monitor --- I'll be working and suddenly, the monitor will cut out, Black (like it's been shut-off) for like a second.

It only goes out for a moment, and returns to display immediately --- but does anyone know of some outside trojan or hijacker that manifests itself this way? It seems to be issuing some instructions to the video card to stop working for an instant. Very troublesome, and it will be even more so if the hack somehow gets my video card to stop working completely.

Just curious...

[teddygrahams]

Did it start yesterday ?

[webfusion]

Yes.

[StaticEngine]

Your monitor is probably bad.

Mine used to flicker suddenly and for no good reason. Then it died.

[Chocolate Chip]

I have the same type of problem with my monitor. It will go blank sometimes (black screen). It's the cable that goes to the graphics card, the connection from that cable to the back of the monitor isn't solid. Even the slightest motion can set it off. When it goes blank I give the monitor cable a little jiggle and the picture comes back.

I myself have never heard of any type of virus, trojan, etc. that was capable of affecting a computer monitor.

May also be your graphics/video card starting to overheat. If enough dust accumulates inside the computer, that layer of dust on the video card acts as insulation. It will retain unnecessary heat. Try blowing out the inside of the computer with compressed air.

IMO your monitor is going down for the count.

[jimlintott]

Try reseating your graphics card.

[webfusion]

Curious to know why teddygrahams asked if it started yesterday? (meaning Jan 30th) -- what was special about that day?

My cursor is now moving by itself, too! It seems like a ghost has a hand on the mouse....

[Beanbag]

Are you on a network, or a stand-alone machine? I've had the "wandering mouse" and "ghost operator" problems at work. Seems one of the RFID tag readers had a hard-coded IP address, while everyone else was on DHCP. When they activated that reader, it hijacked whoever was using that address and the results got REAL funky.

The advice I'd give are as follows:
1: open the computer, remove the video card, vacuum it clean (and the rest of the machine if it looks dusty) and reseat the card.

2: Check the cable leading to the monitor for kinks or possible breaks. Reseat the video connector and tighten the thumbscrews securely.

3: Make sure you're not confusing the screen/power save functions with a real problem (yeah, I know, but I had to explain that to one of the ladies at work: her monitor just went black after several minutes of non-use).

4: Check to see that the power cord is plugged in securely AT BOTH ENDS. I've fixed more than a few hardware problems caused by the cord being plugged in at the wall, but just barely hanging at the equipment end.

5: Go out and buy yourself one of the flatscreen LCD monitors to replace the old one, and enjoy the extra desk space.

Regards;
Beanbag

[Rat]

Originally posted by webfusion
Curious to know why teddygrahams asked if it started yesterday? (meaning Jan 30th) -- what was special about that day?
He must have known it was my birthday, obviously.

[Smike]

Originally posted by Rat
He must have known it was my birthday, obviously.

.....and on your birthday, you celebrate by launching viruses that turn off people's monitors?

[Rat]

Damn. Gave myself away a little there, didn't I?

I mean, No. Of course not.

Cheers,
Rat.

[thrombus29]

Sounds like the Videodrome carrier wave.

Death to Videodrome
Long Live The New Flesh.

[webfusion]

OK, this morning, the mysterious 'blackout' monitor caught fire. Literally. Something inside went 'poof' and smoke came out of it ----

So, off to the nearest BestBuy store I went, returning with a new LCD flat panel display. Ahhhhhhh, very nice.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

[Beanbag]

You didn't pour a beer down it, did you?

Awfully convenient for it to just haul off and die outright. I love it when they do that.

Regards;
Beanbag

[jimlintott]

Once the magic smoke is released it's a goner.
You'll never get the smoke back in.

[webfusion]

Awfully convenient for it to just haul off and die outright. I love it when they do that.

And when I arrived that day to the BestBuy store, wouldn't ya know they had a 17" LCD on sale for $149.
(instead of $299)
Sweet. :)