Video Driver Error, Blank Screen

[SCSue]

Very new to this, so bear with me. (Also, could you please move this elsewhere if it's in the wrong forum?)

Running on XP, SP2

I got an error message several days ago, saying that my video drivers were not working properly. My screen reverted to about 16 colors, and I restarted my computer. At first, the screen remained blank when I restarted. I tried 3 more times, and then the monitor started to work again.

I figured the error was a fluke and that it had fixed itself. Not so.

Today, I was online and everything froze up, but did not go into 16 color mode or give me an error. So, I restarted, thinking that it was a program issue.

It wasn't. The same thing happened like the time I tried to restart after getting the driver error message. Only this time, nothing has come back on the monitor, and every time I try to restart the computer, the fan whirs very loudly (not normal). After about 30 seconds, the fan quiets down, but there is still nothing on the monitor. 100 % blank, black, nothing-ness. I have tried this more than 6 times, waiting 30 seconds to a minute between restarts.

I think I might have to reinstall some drivers, but I'm not sure how to do that if I don't have anything on my screen. (Using a different computer right now)

Is there any way for me to fix this myself without taking it to a shop?

[NealM]

HI SCSue - Welcome to CTH

Not wishing to insult you but. . . . . . . . Have you tried a different monitor ? ?

If that doesn't work, try starting up in "Safe Mode" (tap F8 as your machine is rebooting). See if you can get your monitor to work that way.

If you can, then you should be able to connect to the internet, go to the Windows Update Site and see if it advises the installation of updated video drivers. Choose "Custom" rather than "Express" as this will ensure it shows you all available updates; rather than just the high priority ones.

[SCSue]

I did try a different monitor, but it only worked for 2 restart cycles and then did the same thing as the old one.

It decided to start working again, (!) and I reinstalled the drivers. All is well.

Thanks. Hopefully it'll work reliably now.