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Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:

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Originally posted by BRENDA:
When I set up the VGA and turned on the monitor a menu came up showing HMDI and VGA. The VGA was highlighted blue but my hand decided to shake and I hit the left side of the mouse enlarging it. So, I am now trying to get it back to the right size and see if it does work with my computer.

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You're going to want to set it to HDMI on the monitor, Brenda. That may seem counterintuitive to you because you just bought a VGA adapter, but the monitor is only concerned which input you've put in the monitor itself.

You've put the VGA adapter into the computer video output, but then you plugged the HDMI cable into that adapter and the HDMI cable is going into an HDMI input on your monitor. (There may be more than one HDMI input on that monitor, so you will have to make sure it's pointing to the right one if there is).



And actually, you've just given me some good news here. If for some reason there's something wrong with that adapter and we can't get it working that way, it sounds like you have a VGA input on your monitor. So if you still have a straight up VGA to VGA cable from your old setup, you can just use that instead of the HDMI with the VGA adapter. Just plug in the VGA to the back of your computer, and put the other end of the cable into the VGA input on your new monitor and you should be good.

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He was refeering to refurbished for both the monitor and computer at $700 Canadian.

I can get a refurbished laptop at a local place. Would have to check prices.

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That's really expensive, Brenda. Maybe computer prices in Canada are different, but I think they're taking you for a ride there and that's kind of pissing me off. New monitors are really cheap now, and a refurbished computer that would more than suit your needs are going for anywhere from $100 to $200 USD and shouldn't cost you more than about $275 CAD max. Honestly, if you were able to buy it online, you wouldn't have paid much more than $350 CAD max for a refurbished desktop and a brand new monitor combined.

This is bringing back memories of my grandma telling me she paid a plumber $260 to fix her water heater and all they did was install a new $8 universal thermocouple, or when my other grandma told me that a plumber charged her over $400 to install a new kitchen sink faucet.

I don't want you being taken advantage of anymore, so let's not buy any more parts or computers for now and see if we can get you fixed with what you already have on hand.





******IMPORTANT******

I have a few questions I need you to answer for me. One of them I've asked a few times now, so I want to emphasize it here...

1. When you start your computer, do you still hear the drive and fans fire up, and do you get any LED lights on the front showing you that it is powering on. I'm asking this because I think your computer is still fine, but I want to make sure that it is actually powering on.

2. You said you were using the mouse when you said this:

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When I set up the VGA and turned on the monitor a menu came up showing HMDI and VGA. The VGA was highlighted blue but my hand decided to shake and I hit the left side of the mouse enlarging it. So, I am now trying to get it back to the right size and see if it does work with my computer.

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I'm a little confused here. If the computer isn't working, I don't understand how you're using the mouse or what you're looking at on your screen. The mouse shouldn't be able to control the monitor's setup menu. So it sounds to me like you're not looking at the monitor's setup menu and you've possibly got Windows coming up on your monitor now but there is an issue with the size of everything?

If this is the case, that means that your computer is working, it's sending the signal to the monitor and the HDMI cable/VGA adapter is working and your monitor is looking at the right input. We just need to go into Windows settings and make sure you're using the correct display size if things are too large or small.


3. Before we started, were you just using a VGA to VGA between your computer and monitor? (Blue connectors on each end of the cable).

I'm asking this because I think we may have made things more difficult than they needed to be by adding that HDMI cable to the mix. I didn't realize until just recently how old your computer was and how it only had the VGA out and it didn't have any HDMI outputs. If the answer is yes, remove the adapter and the HDMI cable, and find your old VGA to VGA cable and connect that to your PC and monitor and then power everything up and see if everything is the right size.

You may not have to change any screen resolution settings at all with the VGA to VGA and everything might just work right when and if you do this. It's possible that the screen size is wrong and needs to be changed only because you're using that VGA adapter and the HDMI cable into the monitor and it's confusing the monitor/computer.





If all else fails...

If you are seeing your Windows screen but the size is wrong, here are step-by-step instructions with pictures to change the screen resolution:

https://www.wikihow.com/Change-the-Screen-Resolution-on-a-PC


*I can't remember which version of Windows you have, but that above link gives instructions for Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 7/8, Windows Vista and Windows XP (in that order from top to bottom).

They're all pretty much the same, but they can look a little different between versions, so it's good that they have all of them. There's pretty much zero chance you have an even older version of Windows than any of those, even though we know your computer is pretty old now.

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Be Nice. Don't be a dick.

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Originally posted by BRENDA:
I've been looking on line for refurbished desktop computer by itself. If I can just get something simple without all of this gaming crap. That I don't need. And I was in a big computer store who only want to make a buck.

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I will have a look again and I do appreciate all your help.

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Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:

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Originally posted by BRENDA:
I've been looking on line for refurbished desktop computer by itself. If I can just get something simple without all of this gaming crap. That I don't need. And I was in a big computer store who only want to make a buck.

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Those links I sent you the other day through WOOT/Amazon are good deals on used (refurbished) desktops and laptops. Short of meeting a stranger in a one-on-one sale, I don't think you'll find better deals on those.

But I don't really think that you need to buy another computer right now and I'd rather try getting yours working for you again first. You may want to consider buying a used laptop after we get you straightened out though, just so you can still get online from home if something like this happens again.

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I'll have to look at the back of the monitor again. But I am pretty sure there is only one HDMI port on it.

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Okay. You have both an HDMI and a VGA input on your monitor then. We're going to abandon the HDMI and VGA adapter for now since you said below that you used to use a Blue-to-Blue VGA to VGA connector before. (see below)

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I want it fixed. I don't want to replace or by anything else.

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Right. Me too. I honestly think you've got everything you need and it's all working from what you've told me. We just have to get your stuff working together the right way is all.

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When the computer is on I hear the fans and the LED lights come on. The computer was working fine until the monitor gave up.

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Okay. Like I said I think your computer is fine. We just need to get the monitor to recognize it.

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My hand was on the mouse out of force of habit. I figure to screw it up this much either my hand shook or just my finer moved or the other thing that is possible is I had a small seizure and moved something and when I came back it was all wrong.

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I understand about the hand shaking. What I'm a little confused about is the fact you were using the mouse at all.

When you used the mouse, did you see a mouse pointer on the screen? I just want to know what you were looking at. Your mouse wouldn't work in the monitor's setup screen, so if you actually saw a mouse pointer moving on the screen here, your computer was booted up and sending a signal to the correct input on the monitor.

I'm trying to determine if this is the case and the resolution was possibly out-of-whack because of the HDMI with the VGA adapter. If that's the case, the display settings resolution needs to be changed using the ehow link I sent you. But before we do that...


******** THE IMPORTANT BIT *********

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Yes, I was using VGA to VGA with the blue connectors.

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I want you to pull out the HDMI cable from the monitor, and pull out the VGA adapter and HDMI cable out of your PC and put it to the side.

Then I want you to get your old Blue-to-Blue VGA-to-VGA cable and plug that into your monitor and your computer, then fire up the computer and turn your monitor on.

This might get you up and running just by doing this and we may not need to do anything else.

If not, I want you to write down exactly what you're seeing at this point to the best of your ability so when you're back at the library tomorrow you can give me some good details and I can try to figure out what we need to do from there.

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I will have a look again and I do appreciate all your help.

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No problem, Brenda.


I bet you're really happy you at least backed up your book to that USB stick now though, huh?



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Be Nice. Don't be a dick.

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Sounds like good news, BRENDA! YAY!

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"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal."- Henry Kissinger

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