Have just purchased a new machine, P2600, 1080ram, Geforce 4 card etc. i brought it with just the base unit and have plugged in my own monitor, keyboard and mouse. The machine has a 230V supply (is that the standard for all machines) and seems to boot up fine. The problem is that the monitor does not recognise the machine or visa versa, there is no picture on the monitor. The monitor plugs in to a mains not pc, it works on 2 other machines ive tried so seems to work ok. It plugs in fine to the display port in the graphics card and will switch on when it starts up (led goes green), but then powers off (goes amber) after about 3 seconds or so. Any ideas how to fix this, i have some computer knowledge but i am not very good with jargon, does it need som kind of monitor boot disk? Any help appreciated. James.

The power supply should be rated to the mains voltage of your location. Depending on where you are that will likely be either 110 Volts or 230-240 Volts.
Some (but by no means all) power supplies have a switch usually on the back that will allow you to specify the correct input voltage.

Does the computer make a beep when you switch it on.

i think it make a beep, the fans kick in and lights come on on the front and back, its a 230V power needed, dont think that is a problem. the problem seems to be between the display card (Geforce 4 TI) and monitor

There are drivers (software that tells equipment how to run) needed for the monitor, but it will usually work ok without the specialized ones using a standard one in Windoze. If you have changed the configuration of your computer by putting in the new card, it is possible that it is somehow exceeding the capability of the monitor and it would not work then. I recently had this happen when I switched a computer to a new monitor and the resolution settings were too high. Did you add the new card and monitor to an old install of Windoze? Do you get any opening screens at all?

Another possibility is that you simply didn't seat the video card properly. They can be difficult to seat and with AGP cards they are often not correct unless you hear 2 clicks when it goes in. Try removing and reseating it to be sure. If you don't get anything at all on the screen, this is the most likely possibility.

it is a 4 month old machine i purchased a few days ago, so as far as i know all the components inside were there originally. the monitor is about 3-4 yrs old from a 600mhz machine, i wouldnt of thought the monitor was the problem (i hope not). ill try reseating the card, and yes its AGP8 i think. Thankyou for your help, ill post tomorro with the results, if anyone else has any ideas please post, if i dont get this pc working i think ill explode having wasted £650. Hasten that thought !!!

The monitor plugs in to a mains not pc, it works on 2 other machines ive tried so seems to work ok. It plugs in fine to the display port in the graphics card and will switch on when it starts up (led goes green), but then powers off (goes amber) after about 3 seconds or so.

What you are describing is typical of a refresh rate problem...but not typically where it happens. Usually with refresh rate incompatibilities you at least get the OS to start loading.

If you have another moniter, try it.

In addition to making sure the video card is properly seated, make sure that if it has onboard video you are plugging the monitior into the correct port.