Laptop Screen Issue

[Allen95060]

I have a Fujitsu lifebook N3010 laptop which just started giving me
strange issues with the screen. At fist it started with the XP loading
window where the windows logo looked like it had discolored boxes
imbedded in, then it started in the OS with lines and boxes over the
whole screen, and finally even the boot screen showed it. Here's the
twist though. When I start Firefox (or any other program) everything
looks fine and when I close Firefox the background still looks bad but
the icons on my desktop look fine. If I then proceed to change the
theme (or just reload the same theme) everything goes back to normal
except for maybe the mouse which has boxes and lines trailing along
with it.

I was going to re-install the OS but I don't know how much good it'll
be since it seems to be affecting the boot screen also. I've read
elsewhere that this may be an overheating issue for the video card but
I wanted to get some more opinions before I opened up the lappy
again.

I'm running XP Pro, 2.66 pentium, w/ a Radeon 9000 Mbility card.
Thanks in advance for any insight into this issue.

 

[JohnO]

I have a Fujitsu lifebook N3010 laptop which just started giving me

strange issues with the screen.

Try turning off video acceleration first.

From MS:
1. Right-click the desktop, and then click Properties on the menu.
2. Click the Settings tab, and then click Advanced.
3. Click the Troubleshoot tab.
4. Move the Hardware Acceleration slider until it is one notch to the
right of None, the Basic acceleration setting.
5. Click OK, and then click Close.
If the issue is resolved when you set the Graphics Hardware Acceleration
slider to None or Basic, contact your hardware manufacturer to inquire about
how to obtain and install the latest video driver for your video adapter.

 

[Allen95060]

Well, I did what you suggested and initially it didn't work. So I put
it back to the original setting but I turned off "enable write
combining" and it asked me to restart. I checked it back on before
restarting and then I restarted. I've restarted twice just to make
sure that it didn't revert back to the problem and all seems well thus
far. Thanks for the tip-- maybe it just needed a kick to refresh the
system. I have no clue, but at least it's working. I'll keep this
board posted if things change. Thanks again!

 

[JohnO]

Well, I did what you suggested and initially it didn't work. So I put

it back to the original setting but I turned off "enable write
combining" and it asked me to restart. I checked it back on before
restarting and then I restarted. I've restarted twice just to make
sure that it didn't revert back to the problem and all seems well thus
far. Thanks for the tip-- maybe it just needed a kick to refresh the
system. I have no clue, but at least it's working. I'll keep this
board posted if things change. Thanks again!

Well, that was a lucky guess on my part! Keep your eyes open for updated
video drivers for your vid system. Chances are this is a bug of some sort
and could get fixed. Or, maybe it was just a one-time thing.

-John O

 

[Allen95060]

Well, the problem's back. I checked the video drivers and I have the
latest from ATI-- I'm totally confused about this problem. If anyone
has any more input I'd appreciate it. Next step is to clean out the
system and start from scratch.

 

[JohnO]

Next step is to clean out the

system and start from scratch.

Not so fast:

Download that ATI driver installer.
Create a restore point.
Switch to the standard VGA driver.
Reboot, and install the new driver.

If the original driver is corrupted this will fix it. Worth a shot, and a
whole lot easier than formatting.

-John O