Is there a way to delay the power to my monitor?

[CpCaveman]

I was trying for ages (not exactly a computer genius) to hide the windows startup pictures/info (managed to change a bit but its not what i want to see) when i power up my machine and have had the idea to just delay the power for 1 to 2 minutes to the monitor then all i`d have to change is the startup sound and hey presto its the arcade machine when the monitor powers up (not ideal I know but to anyone using it its perfect) i`m currently using a power saving multiplug so the monitor doesnt get power until the computer is turned on, so if that power was delayed would be exactly what i want, any ideas on what I can use?

[PL1]

I don't remember if they make a 1-2 minute delay base, but Rodney put a 10-second-delay relay in his cab here.

Find the datasheet for the linked H3Y-2 delay and you should find the P/N for a longer delay version IIRC.


Scott

[lilshawn]

555 timer circuit and a relay?

[melvinbates]

I haven't tried these but they seem to be kinda what you are asking for.  It looks like it's coil is 120Vac so it should be a fairly easy wiring job. 

http://www.mpja.com/prodinfo.asp?number=19082+RL

[paigeoliver]

Most real arcade games that run on PC hardware actually do show the post screens and I have even seen some obviously boot windows before the game software loaded.

Just wire two switches, one for the rest of the cabinet and one for the monitor and turn the monitor one on after it finishes booting.

[brad808]

Most real arcade games that run on PC hardware actually do show the post screens and I have even seen some obviously boot windows before the game software loaded.

+1 on this, I had a pga tour championship that showed the post and then windows xp embeded boot screen, then switch to looked like a pga background, then the game loaded up

[DaOld Man]

Im still bouncing around the idea of having a video player display on the screen until windows boots, then switch the monitor to the PC.
Does anyone have any ideas for a simple video player that turns on instantly?
My thought is to have the PC automatically switch the monitor from the video player to the PC and maybe power off the video player. The control would be fairly simple, use either comport or printer port to turn on a vga relay, the relay would switch monitor to either video player or PC, but I cant find a player that I think would work.
But if you simply want the monitor off until the PC boots, you could probably have a relay turned on through printer port by the PC. The relay would control power to the monitor.
But a timer would probably be a lot simpler.

[Steve248]

555 timer circuit and a relay?

This is a good idea. Relatively easy to make in electronic terms.

[lilshawn]

http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/projects/timer.htm

not exactly what you'd be looking for, but could be easily adapted.

[Negative]

If you need power delay only to hide Windows logo, i think much simplier will be disable logo with programs like Restorator (or something like this). It's very simple with XP, a little tricky with Windows 7. I had the same problem (didn't want to see Windows logo during booting my cab), but i cleared all boot graphics.

Also, you can use hibernate instead of shutdown, and delete system picture "Restoring Windows...", and there will be no intro graphics when you power up your cab.

[CpCaveman]

Sorry have had a lot of stuff on, so havent replied to the replies thanks for the ideas everyone can see the timer thing working but seems a bit awkward (not difficult just awkward) in the meantime I actually found a way of getting rid of the welcome and start up (cant believe there are actually options for this thought windows HAD to show itself ) heres how i did it incase anyone else wants to do it, copied this off the website i found:

If you don't want to use "Fast User Switching", you may want to disable the Welcome Screen. You must be logged in as an Administrator to do this.
Note: To do this follow the directions below:

1) Click on Start
2) Click on Control Panel
3) Double-click on User Accounts
4) Click on "Change the way users log on or off"
5) Uncheck "Use the Welcome Screen" (note: this will also disable "Fast User Switching")
6) Click on Apply Options
7) Close the User Accounts window and the Control Panel
The next time you reboot your computer, the classic login prompt will be used

What if I dont want the Welcome Screen OR the classic prompt? Can I disable both?
To Login automatically to a user account, follow the instructions below:

1) Click on Run
2) Type in the following command and click OK

control userpasswords2

3) Highlight the user you want to log into automatically, then uncheck the box for

"Users must enter a username and password to use this computer"

4) Click on Apply and you'll be asked to verify the username and password to log in automatically
5) Click OK and the next time you restart your computer, you'll automatically be logged in without having the classic prompt or Welcome Screen.

This is for Windows XP which is (obviously now) whats in my machine, i end up with a blank screen then two lines of text pop up for a second giving a quick chance to change boot options then it goes straight to desktop, I then changed my destop wallpaper to the same as my mala background with a welcome message (after hiding all the icons) so it acts like a sort of "splash screen" before mala starts, not perfect I know but has finally stopped the look and feel of just starting up a computer in a box.

Thanks again everyone though.