troubleshooting hardware

Computer hardware troubleshooting is a lot easier than software troubleshooting. Either your mouse, monitor or keyboard works or it doesn't. Here's a list of tips, questions and advice to fix your computer hardware problems.
Monitor Questions and Tips

Computer hardware troubleshooting for monitors is complicated by the fact that there are so many different monitor manufacturers.

The hardware questions below are basic and common to most monitors. If you have a monitor issue that isn't addressed here, a good place to check for answers is at the monitor manufacturer's website.

Where do I adjust my monitor settings?

Monitor adjustments are located in the Display properties of Windows. To get there:

* Right click on your Windows desktop and left click Properties.
* Click on Settings and then Advanced button.
* Alternatively, some of the newer monitors install a configuration manager. It would have it's own tab on the Advanced properties window (For example, NVIDIA is common monitor configuration manager).

My monitor display looks strange.

This is one of those computer hardware troubleshooting questions that is best answer in person. However, there are some basics you can check:

If your monitor has black around the edges or the image displayed looks weird, you may have the wrong resolution chosen for that monitor. For instance if you have a wide screen monitor and choose a square resolution like 1024x768, it won't display correctly.

In addition, the wrong monitor driver might have gotten installed. Go to the monitor manufacturer's website to download the correct driver and install it.

My computer screen is sideways!

Some computer monitors can be rotated, so there are video cards which support that rotation. For example, web designers and artists use rotating wide screen monitors to look at long pages.

To turn ON this feature, you probably pressed CTRL + ALT + Left Arrow.

To turn if OFF, simply press CTRL + ALT + Up Arrow instead.

Monitor says "No signal or No signal input".

Usually this means your monitor is turned on, but your computer is not. If your computer is on, and you get this error, it means the cable from the computer to the monitor is loose or unplugged.

How do I change the resolution of my screen?

1. Right click on the Windows desktop (where there is no icon).
2. Click on Properties from the menu that appears.
3. Click on the Settings tab.
4. Slide the resolution bar to where you want it to be. An 800x600 will look larger than a 1024x768 resolution.
5. Click Apply. Windows will give you a dialog box asking if you want to keep the new resolution. Click Yes.