Question : Problem: any advice on this monitor problem?

I bought a used viewsonic monitor. The guy said it was a Dell.
The model seems to be Viewsonic - Ultrabrite A70f+.
When the pc boots up, and after I see the Windows XP screen, the monitor screen gives me this message.

turn off mode in 5 seconds.

What do I do?
Any key to press so the monitor does not cut off?
It does not seem to cutoff, just the screen goes blank.

Would this be the screen saver set at 5 seconds?

I can't get to the desktop to make any settings changes.

Answer : Problem: any advice on this monitor problem?

Ok.  Step by step...

Start the computer.  
As the POST screen (the first screen displayed) nears completion, start hitting the F8 key on your keyboard.
The Boot Menu will display.
Choose "Safe Mode" or "VGA Mode".
After getting into Windows, right click anywhere on the desktop that is not occupied by a program icon.
Select "Properties" and left click.
Select the "Settings" tab.
Change the resolution to 800x600.
Restart normally.
If it still blanks out after that, it's a bad monitor.  If it doesn't. go back into the display properties window and increase the resolution one step at a time.