J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:

VanguardLH WROTE:

When the computer boots, and BEFORE any operating system loads, the
POST screen should show what devices are detected, like the mass
storage devices (hard disks) on the SATA ports, optical drives, etc.
At that point in the POST, no OS is loaded yet so it doesn't matter
how the drive was partitioned or those partitions formatted. The
idea is to see if the bare drive regardless of what has been
recorded on it can be recognized by the computer. If detected, it
should in the POST screen. If not detected, the OS won't find it,
either.

Some mobos have a splash screen that obscures the POST
device-enumeration list. Often there's a message such as "Press ... to
bypass splash screen", and there's usually a BIOS setting to turn it off
altogether, but in my (limited) experience, mobos that can show such a
splash graphic screen usually have it _on_ by default.

But, at least, even with the adware banner or screen, if you can read it
then the video card and monitor are working using their basic config.
If either the POST or adware screen is readable, I'd then boot into
Windows' safe mode and make sure the video card wasn't set to use some
resolution outside the ability of the monitor. Changing resolution is
something you do inside of Windows.

I'm assuming the OP has an LCD/LED monitor. If he has an old CRT
monitor, it is possible that using the resizing controls either on the
monitor or in Windows can push the frequency past what the monitor can
handle.