external screen won't receive signal

Hi,
There may be different reasons for this
 May be your external screen not working properly.
 May be problem with the cable or interconnecting device.
 Or even problem with the port of you laptop.

Try to check these and conclude.

I would tend to agree with anupvs. What i have experianced in the past is that one or more of the pins in the connector gets bent, and then the monitor won't work. I'd also check the pins, and try connecting the monitor to another machine that you know works using the same cable to see if you get a different result.

Go to start->all programs->accessories->connect to a projector

then choose duplicate.

thanks so much for the responses! I'll go back and try but I"m skeptical - cuz this problem seemed to have started with my old monitor - which suddenly wouldn't work - and this is now a completely new monitor!! right out of the box - with new cable and everything. I tried duplicating the display, splitting the screen, extending the desktop - all that stuff. no luck.
could it be a problem with the port of the laptop if the laptop is recognizing the screen?? it's connecting - just for some reason just not SENDING any signal...
so so strange

just plugged it in to my old laptop - works fine. the computer in just not trasmitting a signal for some reason... help!!!!

i found something online about reseting bios? I'm not a computer guy so I have no idea... anyone?? working off the laptop screen is so annoying! please reassure me that there's a way to fix this :)
thanks so so much!!!!

tried a whole bunch of system restores - keep getting errors. not letting me do a proper system restore!! aaahhhh!!!
also, since one of the tech people I called had me change it to projector only, now, even after I try resetting it to duplicate or extend - it still completely blanks out when I plug in a vga cable.
tried reinstalling video card. nothin doin
I really really really really really don't want to do a whole system recovery over this.
hope that someone has a suggestion :)
thanks so much

Please check whether the monitor is compatible with your win7 pro 64 bit?

or try to download the monitor drivers for win7 pro 64 bit...

ok - will try that now... thanks!

ok done! i can't imagine that it's not compatible cuz it says on the screen itself "windows 7 compatible" -- but i went into the properties of the screen and did update driver and installed the one from the cd. it now calls it by its proper name - but no luck on getting it to work!!! it's just not sending a signal!!! the computer recognizes the monitor, and is behaving as if it's there - when I plug it in - the screen resolution window shows the second monitor and calls it by the right name... it's not not sending a signal.
there must be a way to fix this. please help!! :)
thanks so much

i think you are at the end, try to decrese the monitor's resolution to the lowest from display properties of the second monitor. Then disconnect and connect it.

I changed the second monitor to lowest possible - 800x600 then unplugged and replugged it -- still nothing. the power light is orange instead of green - no signal being sent from the laptop

i am so thankful for your help with this!

It seems like a hardware issue on the laptop vga port. Have it looked at, at a service center

If its a new monitor and works on another PC , there is nothing wrong with it.

Yes.. why don't you just check your port of your laptop ... through a service center or by connecting another working monitor.

I'll try checking another monitor and see. just explain what you mean... you're saying the actual physical plug is somehow perhaps broken? why would the computer recognize the screen as being plugged in if that was the case? could it be that it works part way?
I'll go and check it now...
thanks so much

just realized something - I don't think this was clear in my orriginal question: what happened was that I was using an external screen - and it blew. just one day decided to stop working - verified that it doesn't work on a different computer either.
so I bought a new screen -- and it's not working with the laptop in question.
could it be that when the first screen blew - it somehow damaged the port with it??? have you ever heard of that?
would that suggest to you that it's an issue of having the port changed?
also, pardon my ignorance - does that mean just the plug or is there more in the guts of the laptop that would need to be replaced?
I'm hoping and assuming that none of this would affect other parts of the laptop right?
gulp.
thanks so much!

just tested it on another screen. no good. but then again, I already knew that the screen I've been trying to use DOES work on another computer so I'm not suprized. due to my current location - I think it's might be hard to get it serviced properly... is there any kind of part I could get that would perhaps do a usb to vga adaptation?? I guess I'm wondering if there's a way to get around this and bypass the bad plug...

Yes if an electrical surge "blew" the initial monitor is could have damaged the VGA port components on the laptop.

There is a very small chance that a service center that repairs laptops (at the motherboard level) may be able to fix it. (i am assuming the laptop is not under warranty).

Most likely you will have to change the motherboard since the video is embedded in the board.
It may be more cost effective to buy a new laptop, if the external monitor is essential for your needs.

Good Luck!

so you're saying that it's not just the plug and that a usb to vga adapter wouldn't help??

wow - ok, that's what I'm going to do next. just posted to an email list in our community to see if anyone has one :) I'll give this a try and keep you posted
thanks so much for your help!!

You can also look at eBay...here is one seller link....
http://cgi.ebay.com/USB-2-0-VGA-Adapter-USB-VGA-Extra-Monitor-Screen-/150420488358?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2305c280a6

wow - thanks! if it says that it works for vista 64 bit - do you think it'd work for win 7 64bit?

It should, but its best if you look for one that specifically supports Win7x64
example: http://www.iogear.com/product/GUC2015V/
this may be a cheaper solution than repairing or buying a new laptop

Please not I have not tested these products, just googling them. you do have a 30 day return on most products (not on ebay) make sure you do before buying

Note: some of these products may use external power adapter (provided with product)

if this will work it's for sure better than fixing the machine - besides the royal pain of reconfiguring etc... took me weeks to get it working how i like the first time around :)

will definitely try this before doing anything else
thanks so much for your help!!

just wondering what you thought about this... my friend suggested trying a monitor that connects with HDMI plug instead of VGA... he was going to ask around if anyone has an HDMI monitor. do you think there's a chance of that working? (or does it run to the same place as the vga...)  if it would work - would that suggest that a usb to vga would too?
thanks!

Natively...
Does you laptop have an HDMI port? If it does yes...if not no...You have to have an HDMI video card

However, if you want to use your HDMI HDTV (or a monitor) for your PC display, you will need a vga to hdmi converter...but your video port is dead...so you will have to use a usb to hdmi converter.

I have used the following manufacturer's product and it works quite well...
Atlona AT-HDPIX2 USB to HDMI Converter Up to 1080p (withaudio)
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&q=usb+to+hdmi+converter+1080p&wrapid=tlif12897819444231&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=10275363551894555479&ei=1YLgTL_XCI_msQO1t-TiCg&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCAQ8wIwAA#

my laptop does have an HDMI port... are you saying that it goes to the same place as the vga one so is unlikely to work? I didn't quite catch what you meant about still needing to get the HDMI to vga... I'm totally new at this :)
what I understood from my friend was that apparently there are monitors that plug right into HDMI ports instead of VGA ports. I was just wondering if that was worth a try - or if it would likely be the same as the VGA problem. and, if on the chance that it wouldn't work, would that mean that usb to vga is also not likely to work or is that a different method?
sorry for the confusion... :) really appreciate your help!

Since the laptop does have an HDMI port just borrow an HDMI cable and connect it to the laptop HDMI port and the TV/monitor HDMI port...hopefully your laptop HDMI port circuits are not damaged.

If that does not work then you can decide to go with either a usb2vga or usb2hdmi adapter and corrosponding monitor

Just an FYI....See pictures of ports attached
A analog VGA port on the laptop connects to a analog VGA port on a monitor
A digital video port on the laptop connects to a digital video port on a monitor
A HDMI port on the laptop connects to a HDMI port on a monitor

cool pics!! ok - yeah - my laptop has the analog vga (damaged...) and the HDMI as in the pic - will be trying the hdmi soon - and will let ya know what happens :)
thanks so much

ok - update :) tried it on HDMI monitor and it worked!! was too lazy to buy a different monitor so went ahead and bought a usb to vga converter - and it's not installing properly... I'm worried that it's not working with win7 even though they told me that it would...
I'm going to post a new question about this - can I post a link to it here once I do that?
once I get this working - I'll close this one :)
thanks SOOO much for everything!

here's the link to my new question...
https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/26638921/usb-to-vga-device-wont-install-properly.html

just got the external usb adapter working and it works great!! a tiny bit slower than I remember when it plugged in directly - but it's not bothering me  :) thanks so so much for your help and patience with this problem!

Happy to help :)