Many users are still afraid to power up all their PC components (monitor, system, and speakers) at once (via a power strip on/off switch for example). They believe that they should first turn on the monitor and then the system. This really isn�t necessary with most modern PCs. That advice was useful back when video cards weren�t as capable as they are now; old video cards would sometimes assume the display was monochrome unless the monitor was already on. If you�d like, try powering on your PC components simultaneously. Even if you have an older system, you won�t cause any damage. If your display comes up in monochrome, simply go back to your old method of first powering up the monitor, then the system case.