Two odd problems since new system built

[Atreju]

Hello,

I built a new system and I am encountering two problems, which could
be related.

The first thing I noticed is that whenever I come back to my computer,
the screen is on displaying my desktop. The screen saver never kicks
in, nor does the monitor power saving mode. It DOES work when I use
the "preview" button in the display properties.

Second thing: I play an online game which runs in full screen mode.
Every so often, but not always, the game will suddenly minimize and
I'm looking at my desktop. I just click back on the game in the
taskbar and everything is ok. Whenever this happens, it will usually
happen several times in a row. I have not found any pattern as to when
it will or will not happen. It stops after a short while.

Initially I had been having some trouble with Firefox so I tried
shutting it down every time. I don't think the minimize thing has
happened when it was off, but that could be a coincidence. In any
case, the screen saver still won't kick in even with FF off.

My suspicion is something is refreshing itself over the desktop... I
don't know what could be doing this but if anyone has any idea or has
seen this problem, any suggestions would be appreciated.

Here are my relevant hardware specs:

Pentium Core 2 Duo
2 GB RAM DDR2 800MHz
Gigabyte Nvidia GeForce 7600 GS w/ 512MB
WD SATA 250 GB Hard drive
The motherboard is Gigabyte, with the Intel P965 chipset.

If you need any other info I've omitted, let me know.

Thanks.

 

[Mike Easter]

The screen saver never kicks
in, nor does the monitor power saving mode. It DOES work when I use
the "preview" button in the display properties.

If you need any other info I've omitted, let me know.

You are some kind of Win OS. Which one? 9x? XP?

What are the display settings for screenserver? What are the settings
for powersaving on the mobo config and the OS's powersaving function.

Gigabyte makes about 5 different p965 mobos.

 

[Atreju]

You are some kind of Win OS. Which one? 9x? XP?

Sorry, forgot to include that. Windows XP Pro, latest sp and updates.

What are the display settings for screenserver? What are the settings
for powersaving on the mobo config and the OS's powersaving function.

I will go into the CMOS now to check but ordinarily my screen saver is
set to 5 minutes with the power-off at 20 minutes.
As a test, I've set it to 1, 2 but it has not worked.

Gigabyte makes about 5 different p965 mobos.

GA-965P-S3

 

[Atreju]

You are some kind of Win OS. Which one? 9x? XP?

What are the display settings for screenserver? What are the settings
for powersaving on the mobo config and the OS's powersaving function.

In the CMOS everything looks normal; there is nothing specific about
video, and it's only settings that pertain to power button and to wake
from suspend options.

 

[Atreju]

You are some kind of Win OS. Which one? 9x? XP?

What are the display settings for screenserver? What are the settings
for powersaving on the mobo config and the OS's powersaving function.

Gigabyte makes about 5 different p965 mobos.

Just FYI, due to an annoying bug where the video card driver always
insisted on telling me that SLI has been disabled because I only have
1 video card (a nuisance that many GeForce owners belive to be a
not-so-subtle advertisement), I just updated to their most recent BETA
driver which removes that stupid notice. Anyway, just wanted to let
you know that the problem still persists, so updating my drivers
didn't resolve it.

 

[Walter Mautner]

In the CMOS everything looks normal; there is nothing specific about
video, and it's only settings that pertain to power button and to wake
from suspend options.

The cmos settings are meaningless to winXP. You need energy settings in your
control panel or the desktop properties - display settings.
You may try safe mode to rule out autostarts, or use msconfig to temporarily
disable (some of) them, while trying the screensaver with a low time
setting.

 

[Bucky Breeder]

I built a new system and I am encountering two problems,
which could be related.

The first thing I noticed is that whenever I come back to my computer,
the screen is on displaying my desktop. The screen saver never kicks
in, nor does the monitor power saving mode. It DOES work when I use
the "preview" button in the display properties.

Gigabyte Nvidia GeForce 7600 GS w/ 512MB

Second thing: I play an online game which runs in full screen mode.
Every so often, but not always, the game will suddenly minimize and
I'm looking at my desktop. I just click back on the game in the
taskbar and everything is ok. Whenever this happens, it will usually
happen several times in a row. I have not found any pattern as to when
it will or will not happen. It stops after a short while.

On the game part, the particular game you're accessing online might be factor
which someone might be able to relate to...

I'm not familiar with your particular GF 7600, but I had some similar bizarre
display issues with a nVidia GeForce cira MX 440, or some such...

Probably, you have the latest and correct drivers downloaded and installed.

The solution to mine was in Display Properties > Settings tab > Advanced
button > which brought up either a specific nVidia dialog, or a tab with one;
and *then* that tab brought out another balloon-type dialog of settings.

On Windows XP, I had to reset a couple of options to "let Windows decide" or
"auto-detect" or similar. The nVidia defaults were either over-riding or
conflicting with the Windows Display Properties > Screen Saver tab,
particularly the Power Settings, for my PC. I know I banged around in there
and finally got it copasetic after a couple of reboots, which weren't
notified as required; merely precautionary on my part. I eventually went on
to an ATI card.


Best wishes to all for a safe, joyous and prosperous New Year.

--

To me clowns are not funny!
In fact, they are kind of scary.
I have often wondered where this all started...
I think it all goes back to that time when I was but a small child
and we lived in Paris. In springtime, when we went to the circus
and a clown jumped out of that little yellow bus - and killed my Au-pair.

For this reason, I do not think the French are cowards at all.

 

[Atreju]

SNIP

The solution to mine was in Display Properties > Settings tab > Advanced
button > which brought up either a specific nVidia dialog, or a tab with one;
and *then* that tab brought out another balloon-type dialog of settings.

On Windows XP, I had to reset a couple of options to "let Windows decide" or
"auto-detect" or similar. The nVidia defaults were either over-riding or
conflicting with the Windows Display Properties > Screen Saver tab,
particularly the Power Settings, for my PC. I know I banged around in there
and finally got it copasetic after a couple of reboots, which weren't
notified as required; merely precautionary on my part. I eventually went on
to an ATI card.

Thank you for the suggestions, I am going to play around with the NV
settings and I'll also look at their website for info.

And here, I'm coming FROM an ATI card

 

[Smoker]

Hello,

I built a new system and I am encountering two problems, which could
be related.

The first thing I noticed is that whenever I come back to my computer,
the screen is on displaying my desktop. The screen saver never kicks
in, nor does the monitor power saving mode. It DOES work when I use
the "preview" button in the display properties.

Second thing: I play an online game which runs in full screen mode.
Every so often, but not always, the game will suddenly minimize and
I'm looking at my desktop. I just click back on the game in the
taskbar and everything is ok. Whenever this happens, it will usually
happen several times in a row. I have not found any pattern as to when
it will or will not happen. It stops after a short while.

Initially I had been having some trouble with Firefox so I tried
shutting it down every time. I don't think the minimize thing has
happened when it was off, but that could be a coincidence. In any
case, the screen saver still won't kick in even with FF off.

My suspicion is something is refreshing itself over the desktop... I
don't know what could be doing this but if anyone has any idea or has
seen this problem, any suggestions would be appreciated.

Rename the file that it defaults to and see what happens. Put a semicolon in
front of the name.

 

[Atreju]

Hello,

I built a new system and I am encountering two problems, which could
be related.

SNIP

Well this is absolutely nuts - but... the problem has gone away. I
have not done any more windows updates since before this problem
started (I have it request to update, not automatically update).
However, one thing I DO have always automatically updating is my
Antivirus software... in the past they have occasionally goofed with
one of their updates and caused some kind of benign problem, and
they're quick to fix it. Perhaps that happened here. I will
investigate further into that.

Meanwhile, everything is back to ok.

Thanks.