Multi Colored Horizontal and Vertical Lines On Monitor Upon Boot

[ColTom2]

Hi:

I have a daughter who has a HP desktop running XP Home SP3 and now when
she tries to boot the computer all she gets is multi colored horizontal and
vertical lines on monitor screen upon boot up. Had her swap monitors and she
still gets the same with different monitor.

I had her try to boot hitting F8 key and she gets the same results. Next
had her try to boot with F2 key and she also got the same, but said CPU was
making a funny noise.

Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks,

ColTom2

 

[Charles W Davis]

Did you add additional RAM following SP3 install? If so, insure that it/they
is/are seated properly.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I have a daughter who has a HP desktop running XP Home SP3 and now
when she tries to boot the computer all she gets is multi colored
horizontal and vertical lines on monitor screen upon boot up. Had
her swap monitors and she still gets the same with different
monitor.

I had her try to boot hitting F8 key and she gets the same
results. Next had her try to boot with F2 key and she also got the
same, but said CPU was making a funny noise.

Any help will be appreciated.

No 'before' and 'after'?

In other words - when was the last time remembered that it was functioning
properly, what changed between that time and the first time it was no longer
working properly?

If nothing - hardware failure is entirely plausible.

Since it is doing it with:
- A Different Monitor
- Safe Mode (supposing that is what you meant by "hitting F8 key")
- System BIOS (supposing that is what you mean by "boot with F2 key")

Then it is likely hardware. Video card, motherboard, memory or even power
supply.

 

[Paul]

Hi:

I have a daughter who has a HP desktop running XP Home SP3 and now when
she tries to boot the computer all she gets is multi colored horizontal and
vertical lines on monitor screen upon boot up. Had her swap monitors and she
still gets the same with different monitor.

I had her try to boot hitting F8 key and she gets the same results. Next
had her try to boot with F2 key and she also got the same, but said CPU was
making a funny noise.

Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks,

ColTom2

Swap out video card and retest.

*******

(You can get "lines" on an LCD monitor, from a failed driver chip on the LCD panel.
But you've eliminated the monitor from the picture, by swapping it out, and
that leaves the video card.)

It would be fun to pretend it was system RAM, but if it was system RAM,
the computer would have crashed by now. Since the computer is still
running, it probably isn't RAM.

When you have reports of a funny noise, check all fans for smooth
operation. View the fans with the side off the computer, to see
if they're all spinning.

It could be, the noise is actually coming from the video card fan,
it has seized or is near to being seized, the GPU overheated, and
there is your graphics corruption.

The CPU is better protected. On modern systems, if the CPU fan
seized, the CPU has overheat protection and the computer would shut
off. But the GPU on the video card, has no access to the hardware
signal used to turn off the computer, so it doesn't have that
option. The GPU may have the ability to crank back the internal clock
rate, but that still might not be enough to protect it.

Paul

 

[Greg Russell]

In

I have a daughter who has a HP desktop running XP Home SP3 and now
when she tries to boot the computer all she gets is multi colored
horizontal and vertical lines on monitor screen upon boot up. Had her
swap monitors and she still gets the same with different monitor.

I've seen the same problem from dust accumulated on the video card.

Power down, open the case and vacuum out the loose dust, then use a blower
to blow out the finer dust .. it should be done regularly, in an clean house
about once per year, more often in dusty environments.

This fixed the problem for friend who has a very clean house, but the
daughter's room was a dust collector, normal for a teenager.

 

[Greg Russell]

In I typed:

I've seen the same problem from dust accumulated on the video card.

Power down, open the case and vacuum out the loose dust, then use a
blower to blow out the finer dust .. it should be done regularly, in
an clean house about once per year, more often in dusty environments.

This fixed the problem for friend who has a very clean house, but the
daughter's room was a dust collector, normal for a teenager.

Also, the monitor itself can have accumulated dust on the interior, so it
should blown out with air.

 

[Jose]

Hi:

  I have a daughter who has a HP desktop running XP Home SP3 and now when
she tries to boot the computer all she gets is multi colored horizontal and
vertical lines on monitor screen upon boot up. Had her swap monitors and she
still gets the same with different monitor.

  I had her try to boot hitting F8 key and she gets the same results. Next
had her try to boot with F2 key and she also got the same, but said CPU was
making a funny noise.

  Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks,

ColTom2

Does the system produce any beeps when powered up? The beep codes can
tell you a lot of things. One short beep is generally good. Anything
else is probably a problem.

If one short beep is not the case, then describe the beeps as best you
can:

1 short, two long
3 short
1 short, 1 long
etc...

Does the video look okay during the POST (power on self test) and then
go haywire when Windows tries to load?

Since it is a desktop, I would locate a #2 Phillips screwdriver and:

Power off the system
Unplug the system from the power cord
Remove the cover
Touch a metal part of the system case to discharge any static
electricity
Reseat (remove/reinstall) components like RAM, cables, especially the
video card (if applicable).
Reassemble in reverse order
Test

 

[ColTom2]

Hi:

Thanks for all the replies! The computer was working yesterday and then
today is when everything started.

I have advised her to do the following, as she has a somewhat reliable
repair facility near her.

1. Have the computer thoroughly cleaned. As someone mentioned dust and
static electricity sorta go hand and hand.

2. Remove and reseat both the video card and memory card.

3. Hopefully the above will fix her problem, but if not check for
replacement of video card. Just hope that it is not the motherboard or power
supply.

Thanks again!

ColTom2




Hi:

I have a daughter who has a HP desktop running XP Home SP3 and now when
she tries to boot the computer all she gets is multi colored horizontal and
vertical lines on monitor screen upon boot up. Had her swap monitors and she
still gets the same with different monitor.

I had her try to boot hitting F8 key and she gets the same results. Next
had her try to boot with F2 key and she also got the same, but said CPU was
making a funny noise.

Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks,

ColTom2

 

[Donchano]

Hi:

Thanks for all the replies! The computer was working yesterday and then
today is when everything started.

I have advised her to do the following, as she has a somewhat reliable
repair facility near her.

1. Have the computer thoroughly cleaned. As someone mentioned dust and
static electricity sorta go hand and hand.

2. Remove and reseat both the video card and memory card.

3. Hopefully the above will fix her problem, but if not check for
replacement of video card. Just hope that it is not the motherboard or power
supply.

Thanks again!

ColTom2

Another suggestion - especially if the computer is currently sitting
on a rug or carpet.

Once the computer is cleaned, make sure you put some non-conductive
insulation between the floor and the bottom of the computer so that
the computer sits at least 75mm (approx. 3") off the floor. I've used
clean bricks to insulate my PC from the wall-to-wall carpet in my
studio and the static electricity and dust that a carpet is prone to.

The bricks also tend to keep the PC much cooler than it was when it
sat directly on the carpet.

 

[ColTom2]

Sounds like a great idea!

Thanks,

ColTom2

Hi:

Thanks for all the replies! The computer was working yesterday and then
today is when everything started.

I have advised her to do the following, as she has a somewhat reliable
repair facility near her.

1. Have the computer thoroughly cleaned. As someone mentioned dust and
static electricity sorta go hand and hand.

2. Remove and reseat both the video card and memory card.

3. Hopefully the above will fix her problem, but if not check for
replacement of video card. Just hope that it is not the motherboard or
power
supply.

Thanks again!

ColTom2

Another suggestion - especially if the computer is currently sitting
on a rug or carpet.

Once the computer is cleaned, make sure you put some non-conductive
insulation between the floor and the bottom of the computer so that
the computer sits at least 75mm (approx. 3") off the floor. I've used
clean bricks to insulate my PC from the wall-to-wall carpet in my
studio and the static electricity and dust that a carpet is prone to.

The bricks also tend to keep the PC much cooler than it was when it
sat directly on the carpet.

 

[ColTom2]

It was the video card plus a good cleaning and all is well.

Thanks,

ColTom2


Hi:

I have a daughter who has a HP desktop running XP Home SP3 and now when
she tries to boot the computer all she gets is multi colored horizontal and
vertical lines on monitor screen upon boot up. Had her swap monitors and she
still gets the same with different monitor.

I had her try to boot hitting F8 key and she gets the same results. Next
had her try to boot with F2 key and she also got the same, but said CPU was
making a funny noise.

Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks,

ColTom2

 

[Jose]

It was the video card plus a good cleaning and all is well.

Thanks,

ColTom2


Hi:

  I have a daughter who has a HP desktop running XP Home SP3 and now when
she tries to boot the computer all she gets is multi colored horizontal and
vertical lines on monitor screen upon boot up. Had her swap monitors and she
still gets the same with different monitor.

  I had her try to boot hitting F8 key and she gets the same results. Next
had her try to boot with F2 key and she also got the same, but said CPU was
making a funny noise.

  Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks,

ColTom2

Did you replace the video card, reseat it, move it to another slot,
etc.?

Did the funny noise get resolved?

 

[ColTom2]

Had to replace it.

It was the video card plus a good cleaning and all is well.

Thanks,

ColTom2


Hi:

I have a daughter who has a HP desktop running XP Home SP3 and now when
she tries to boot the computer all she gets is multi colored horizontal
and
vertical lines on monitor screen upon boot up. Had her swap monitors and
she
still gets the same with different monitor.

I had her try to boot hitting F8 key and she gets the same results. Next
had her try to boot with F2 key and she also got the same, but said CPU
was
making a funny noise.

Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks,

ColTom2

Did you replace the video card, reseat it, move it to another slot,
etc.?

Did the funny noise get resolved?

 

[brandontech34]

So in this issue, were the lines the only thing you could see? like you
could see nothing except for the lines *no text or word?*

I'm having a problem that sounds very similar to yours.

PC starts-up with weird colored horizontal and vertical lines
*check attachment for example*

If i could add the more serious pics i would, but the file is too big.

But in general this is my issue.

Is this the issue that occured and when you meant that pressing F8 and
F2 wasn't working, did you mean like no reaction or the screen didn't
change and it still had horizontal and vertical lines that couldn't let
you see anything


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