Computer help please, new windows 10 comp/monitor issue (1 Viewer)

[12thMan]

So I'm about to lose my shit over here, is there any one out there that can help me with an issue I'm having with a new pile of shit computer?
I have a small business and use a desktop in my office for desktop type things, namely QuickBooks and web browsing for the business. The other day I look at the comp (an older hp running Windows 7) and its giving me a message about the boot files not being able to be read, I do some internet digging and try a few things to no avail, my hard drive is not being recognized, fuck... I don't have time to screw with it right now, if I get it back to life at some point awesome, if not it sucks but I think I have everything backed up to the point I could dig through paperwork and get everything back to normal. (And yes, daily back ups will now be happening for QB, I'm such an idiot)

I ran out to best buy and bought a tower, hp again running Windows 10(fucking gross), and hooked it up last night. I have a two monitor set up that the old comp was running via a VGA cable to one monitor and a DVI cable for the other one. The new comp has a VGA port and an hdmi port, I have to move my big ass desk to get to the wires so I decided to just hook up the monitor with the VGA cable and use one for right now to dig out of this hole being down a computer has put me in.

Everything was fine at first, but shortly after going through the set up process the monitor starts flashing on and off, sometimes getting a little message that says "out of range" before blinking back on. When it does blink back on sometimes the " zoom" is all messed up and everything on the screen is way too big, then sometimes is normal. Ctrlaltdel to get me to the task manager will bring up the blue screen and it flashes once or twice then is fine until I go back to the desktop.

Wtf is going on? I took a few videos to show what it's doing, let me know if you want to see them and I'll throw them on YouTube and embed here.

Thanks in advance for any help, I just lit my punching bag up for a minute and am now taking a drive around the lake to get my head right, it's been a horrible last few months, last few years in all honesty, and I'm losing my shit over something as stupid as a fucking computer...

 

[MegaTon44]

Take a few deep breaths. Relax a little.

After that, if you still feel the rage, grab a bat, turn on "Still" by the Geto Boys and smash that motherfucker Office Space style.

Bonus points if you record yourself and then post it in slow motion

Extra bonus points if you ditch the bat and start punching the destroyed computer

 

[bentax1978]

Take a few deep breaths. Relax a little.

This is good advice, though not always easy to follow.

Source: Someone who may or may not have put his steel toe boot through a very large and expensive Xerox machine at work.

 

[Forty4]

Source: Someone who may or may not have put his steel toe boot through a very large and expensive Xerox machine at work.

You may or may not have to expand upon this story.

 

[JTBass]

Try connecting the other monitor that has the dvi cable to see if your issue goes away.

 

[CdnBeerLover]

Sounds like the resolution of the monitor isn't matching what the pc thinks it is. Is the video cable attached securely to both the pc and the monitor (nothing loose, etc)?

An alternative is to attach the other monitor. You may have to buy a dvi to hdmi adapter.

My usual first step us booting in safe mode, but I don't recall how to do that from memory. Will check when I get home from work.

 

[JFCJ]

Do you have Samsung monitors?

 

[CdnBeerLover]

I found the following: http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c00061509, particularly the section marked "Startup screens display, but the message opens before the Windows desktop opens". If I had to guess, it's not detecting the make/model for the monitor correctly, and is choosing a setting that is incompatible. Many monitors come with drivers (or at least they used to) that allow Windows to detect it properly. If there are Win10 drivers for your monitor, or if there are specific settings (refresh rate, etc) that you can set, then that might resolve it. But you have to have a stable screen first.

Unfortunately, Microsoft has made it a bit more difficult to boot in Safe mode in Windows 10, which would be handy
https://support.microsoft.com/en-ca/help/12376/windows-10-start-your-pc-in-safe-mode
http://www.digitalcitizen.life/4-ways-boot-safe-mode-windows-10

If you can get into the startup settings and choose the "Enable low resolution video" option, that would allow you to function enough to install any drivers or properly set up the video settings for your monitor. Alternatively, hooking up the other monitor might work. As mentioned, if it's DVI, you will need an adapter to allow it to connect to the HDMI port (probably female DVI, male HDMI).

E.g. http://www.bestbuy.com/site/rocketfish-dvi-to-hdmi-adapter-silver-gold/9205745.p?skuId=9205745 (Holy crap, Best Buy is expensive...)
Amazon.com version

 

[JFCJ]

Samsung's answer to my wife's problems with Windows 10 using dual Samsung monitors: Go back to Windows 7. Samsung and Microsoft are in a pissing match. We just bought two new Dell monitors; and will put the the Samsung's in back in play when drivers are updated.

 

[nitzilla]

Yep, @CdnBeerLover is right, the system is trying to push a higher resolution to the monitor than it can support. That's the "out of range" message you're seeing.
As for a fix, are both screens the same make/model? If not, try the other screen via the VGA port. And yes, getting into the BIOS/UEFI interface has gotten annoyingly hard through Win 10....... You have to be able to boot into the system in order to reboot into the BIOS. It's M$ trying to protect you from yourself....

Another option/suggestion: Do you have an LCD TV that would be "easy" to move over to the PC or vice versa, and then plug that TV into the HDMI connection? You could then try to find monitor drivers or at least see the system and try poking around the settings....

Good luck!
nitzilla

 

[brains613]

@12thMan

Just a note - Your data on your old machine is almost certainly not lost. Just a problem with the operating system, so it won't boot. You can put the old hard drive in your new machine as a secondary drive, then copy all your data to the new drive. It's pretty easy to do.