Try wiggling the monitor cable while the computer and monitor are on. If you tried two monitors, then it's probably the video card. Could you put your video card in another computer? I think you can get a video card for around $39, but make sure it uses the same interface as your current one.

Wiggling the connections was one of my first thoughts. Didn't work.

You wrote: "but make sure it uses the same interface as your current one."

That's what I don't know. Perhaps remove the old one and take it with me when I go to Office Depot or Best Buy?

Taking out the old one and taking it to the appropriate retailer is a good idea, but be careful to avoid damaging the card. This card maybe a little more difficult to remove than normal cards; you might consider taking the entire computer to the store and let them look at it.

Maybe,

Right click on the desktop screen and choose "Personalize"--->
"Colors"-----> "High constrast settings", and turn off "Apply color

Got an appointment soon but will try that when I return.

If the BIOS's date is any indication of the PC's date, I wouldn't spend any money to add a video card to such an old PC. Try borrowing a friend's display. Or buy one you can return without a restocking charge. Whatever the display shows will tell you what the problem is, the display or the PC. Whichever it is, you'll need a new one.

According to Dell, the ATI Radeon HD4200 is not compatible with Win10.

That means you need to revert to old drivers provided by Win7, but there's no promise of stability.

If you run a compatibility check, it will most likely highlight the video card as Not Compatible. Use 7/8 legacy drivers.

Did you try uninstalling the driver and rebooting?

Elmer J -- Unfortunately, that was my thought also.

Brushworks - Yes, I read that. But I don't know when the current driver was added and, as I said, the monitor was fine until 2 days ago.

Frankly, for my use, I was perfectly satisfied with Win 7. I was able to hold off an automatic update for quite a while. But one day, after I booted the computer, I realized Win 10 was in place. That update occurred several years ago. All was well until 2 days ago.

Steve J -- No, I didn't try that.

Since Win10 updates regularly, things change, especially on older systems.

An option for you to try.

Use Device Manager, Open Display Adapter, right click on ATI HD4200, choose Properties, Driver Tab (at top) Choose Roll Back Driver.

It's worth a try.

How much do you love your old computer? You can probably get a new computer with Win10 on it (and hence all the proper hardware and drivers) for less than the aggravation you are now facing. Of course, you probably don't have to get a new monitor but monitors are getting better and cheaper all the time.

driver update was apparently installed 1/24/2018.

Unable to roll back driver -- it's grayed out.

In monitor's properties, a notation says: "Device DISPLAY\DELF018\5&66c7e57&0amp;UID256 requires further installation."

Will need to delay further work on this til much latter today.

P.S. I do like this computer. Have never had any problems with it previously.

The thought of reinstalling software & obtaining the various permissions is painful! Is there an easy way, and for a reasonable price?

Uninstall the drivers for the video card and the monitors and reboot as I mentioned already. Windows should re-install them automatically. You mentioned that they display in color during bootup, but when it get to windows, it's black and white? If so, that's simply a driver issue, and re-installing the drivers is easy and painless, and will likely resolve your issues.

Jean, yes, moving to a new computer is painful but it has to be done periodically. What's a reasonable price for you? You can get a Dell Inspiron for under $500 with the following specs (no monitor).

• 3.0 GHz Intel Core i5-7400 Quad-Core
• 8GB of 2400 MHz DDR4 RAM
• Integrated Intel HD Graphics 630
• 1TB 7200 rpm SATA III Hard Drive
• 9.5mm DVD±RW Drive
• 1 x Gigabit Ethernet Port
• 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi | Bluetooth 4.0
• 2 x USB 3.0 Type-A | 4 x USB 2.0 Type-A
• USB Wired Keyboard & Mouse Included
• Windows 10 Home (64-bit)

Hey folks. Guess what? Color has returned! (At least for now.)

Perhaps tickling things set it right?

Thank you for your suggestions. Hope we won't need to continue this saga.

As Daniel Tiger says, "keep trying, try, try, try, try again".

Brushworks -

Finally had time to review what may have occurred to re-instate the color. Properties for ATI Radeon now say driver was installed 1/13/205.

Don't know how that happened because, as I said previously, "rollback driver" was grayed out.

- - -

Thank you, everyone, for your help. I'll keep a list of your suggestions in case the system doesn't remain stable.