I Just Need Help
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- Dec 30, 2024
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I have a new Dell XPS 8960 with an I9 processor, 64GB of RAM and 2TB of HD space on one SSD, running with Win11 Pro. I also have an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070Ti video card.
This is a personal use PC (located at home) that I sometimes use for business. I am not a gamer. It is more than most need at home or even for business but, at age 67, this is the last computer I will buy before I am dead and gone. I would rather go by natural causes but, if I buy another computer, my wife will be the one to kill me. So, I had to buy enough hardware to get me through until the end. LOL
I actually got this PC in January of 2024 but, because of my work, could not get it set up until July of 2024. Everything was working smoothly until 11/30/24 or 12/01/24. I have two Dell 27" monitors. All of a sudden, they both went blank but the computer was still operating. I could tell this because of the various alert sounds I was getting from Outlook and my feeds. So, I knew the PC was still on and working. The only warning I got before it happened was the message that the PC was going into Stand-by Mode. That usually means it was going to sleep.
However, that should not have been possible since I knew my power settings were set for it to never go into sleep mode. I do use a screen saver but it is from the Windows screen saver feature and it is nothing fancy. It just has two words that do a toggle back and forth. When a PC is in sleep mode, just hitting the space bar or moving the mouse should bring the screen to life. But that did not happen. So, I waited and waited and waited. Space bar. Mouse. Space bar. Mouse. Nothing happened. The PC power light was still on and so were the monitor power lights.
So, eventually, I had to do a hard shut-down. Then, when I re-booted, I got the blue Recovery screen that said Windows did not load correctly. My options were to either restart the PC or go through a series of steps that were above my paygrade to determine why Windows did not load correctly. I suspect those of you in the know have seen this before and are familiar with the options.
So, I was going to restore to a previous time but there were no restore points prior to 11/30/24 and the first restore point was on 12/3/24. Again, this first happened on Saturday, 11/30/24, or Sunday, 12/01/24. So, restoring to a prior time was not going to be possible or even help.
This has happened multiple times since that weekend. Only once have I been able to get the screens to reappear after pushing the space bar or moving the mouse. I even tried changing my refresh rate from 60 to 120 but that did not help either. Incidentally, the monitors are connected directly to the video card via two display port cables.
At this point, I am assuming the problem is the video card but I really have no way of knowing. My PC works fine, otherwise and is very quiet. Oh, by the way, when the screens go blank, the fan comes on for anywhere from ten to thirty seconds and then goes off by itself.
I do have a two-year service plan with Dell (with a year left) but going through all the phone options and speaking to a service rep who may not know about what he/she is speaking is not very appealing. I have tried to give as much information as possible about my setup and the problem but, if I have left out anything, it is certainly not intentional.
If anyone has any additional questions to better assess the situation or, if you know what the problem is already, please let me know. I am happy to share whatever you need in order to get to the bottom of the problem. Thanks so much in advance for everyone’s time and help. I look forward to hearing from some of you soon.
Best regards,
Jim
This is a personal use PC (located at home) that I sometimes use for business. I am not a gamer. It is more than most need at home or even for business but, at age 67, this is the last computer I will buy before I am dead and gone. I would rather go by natural causes but, if I buy another computer, my wife will be the one to kill me. So, I had to buy enough hardware to get me through until the end. LOL
I actually got this PC in January of 2024 but, because of my work, could not get it set up until July of 2024. Everything was working smoothly until 11/30/24 or 12/01/24. I have two Dell 27" monitors. All of a sudden, they both went blank but the computer was still operating. I could tell this because of the various alert sounds I was getting from Outlook and my feeds. So, I knew the PC was still on and working. The only warning I got before it happened was the message that the PC was going into Stand-by Mode. That usually means it was going to sleep.
However, that should not have been possible since I knew my power settings were set for it to never go into sleep mode. I do use a screen saver but it is from the Windows screen saver feature and it is nothing fancy. It just has two words that do a toggle back and forth. When a PC is in sleep mode, just hitting the space bar or moving the mouse should bring the screen to life. But that did not happen. So, I waited and waited and waited. Space bar. Mouse. Space bar. Mouse. Nothing happened. The PC power light was still on and so were the monitor power lights.
So, eventually, I had to do a hard shut-down. Then, when I re-booted, I got the blue Recovery screen that said Windows did not load correctly. My options were to either restart the PC or go through a series of steps that were above my paygrade to determine why Windows did not load correctly. I suspect those of you in the know have seen this before and are familiar with the options.
So, I was going to restore to a previous time but there were no restore points prior to 11/30/24 and the first restore point was on 12/3/24. Again, this first happened on Saturday, 11/30/24, or Sunday, 12/01/24. So, restoring to a prior time was not going to be possible or even help.
This has happened multiple times since that weekend. Only once have I been able to get the screens to reappear after pushing the space bar or moving the mouse. I even tried changing my refresh rate from 60 to 120 but that did not help either. Incidentally, the monitors are connected directly to the video card via two display port cables.
At this point, I am assuming the problem is the video card but I really have no way of knowing. My PC works fine, otherwise and is very quiet. Oh, by the way, when the screens go blank, the fan comes on for anywhere from ten to thirty seconds and then goes off by itself.
I do have a two-year service plan with Dell (with a year left) but going through all the phone options and speaking to a service rep who may not know about what he/she is speaking is not very appealing. I have tried to give as much information as possible about my setup and the problem but, if I have left out anything, it is certainly not intentional.
If anyone has any additional questions to better assess the situation or, if you know what the problem is already, please let me know. I am happy to share whatever you need in order to get to the bottom of the problem. Thanks so much in advance for everyone’s time and help. I look forward to hearing from some of you soon.
Best regards,
Jim
