Why does my computer say "Analog, Out of range"?

Hey everyone,

Sometimes I leave my computer running at night and in the morning it will say "Analog out of range" and the Vista screen just won't come back no matter what I press on the keyboard.

But the computer is still running so I'll try to reset it by pressing the on/off switch but nothing! It won't turn off or on...frozen?

I actually have to unplug the power cord and replug it to get it to turn off so I can reboot it. Then it will say that the computer was shut down improperly and ask if I want to continue to windows or go into cmd etc.

What is going on with the "analog out of range" thing?

P.S I have never had this problem with XP but with this new tower and moniter (Vista) it's constantly happening almost everyday at least once.

Any help is appreciated!

This will most likely be an issue with power-saving features. Windows based computers have always had issues with some of the power-saving features.

First, a simple check to see if your computer has crashed (this will only work if your keyboard has lights to indicate Caps Lock being on or off - some, including my Logitech keyboard, do not). Press enter on your keyboard and count slowly to 10 then press the Caps Lock key and again count slowly to 10. If the light has not changed state (ie if it was off it should now be on and vice versa) then your computer has either crashed or has an exceptionally high processor usage at that time.

Now, the 'Analog out of range' is because your monitor is warning you that it is not getting a signal from your computer. This happens when power-saving features are used to 'Turn Screen Off' or 'Suspend' the computer. Oddly though I would usually only expect this message to be displayed for a short period (a few seconds) before the monitor switched itself into stand-by mode.

First thing you should do is switch off all power-saving features. Then you need to find out which features are causing the problems. Generally you can use the turning off the screen and powering down hard drive options with little concern. That said, rather than using the turning of the screen option, just turn your monitor off with the power button when you walk away. Avoid using suspend or shut down and see whether that cures the issue.

The situation under which these will cause the computer to crash vary, but generally it is because you are running a program which is not compatible with these features. This may be an e-mail program or a file downloader etc. These will stop responding and cause a lock up.

your computer is going into standby and somehow wont come back.

im not familiar with vista, but for XP you would:
right click on your desktop and go to properties
go to screen saver
go to power
under system standby, put never

hopefully the vista menu is similar.