distorted output - please help!

[Guest]

we had the pc running a few programs last night including a live feed. when
the electricity went off. on start up, the display is distorted (just barely
readable). we performed a restore to two days ago but it hasn't helped. The
monitor's (a flat screen) menu itself isn't distorted, just the output of the
pc.
Any advice?

 

[R. McCarty]

It's possible your PC (Video card/MB Chip) has been damaged.
When you say line power went off - was it a momentary outage
or did it stay off for say a minute or more ?

When power comes back on after a momentary loss, it creates a
spike that can exceed the maximum rating of certain components.
This is why everyone should have a minimal UPS (Universal Power
Supply). It's a small battery and monitor that keeps a PC running
during power outages. Basic units can be as cheap as ~$25.00.

 

[Guest]

It was off for less than a minute until we switched to emergency supply, but
we left the pc switched off longer than that, maybe about four or five minutes

 

[R. McCarty]

It's also possible the drive contents didn't get flushed (written) due
to the abrupt power off. Try to boot the PC to Safe Mode (F8).
If your video functions correctly - then it's a drive issue and you'll
need to run a Chkdsk to see if the "Dirty" flag is set.

 

[Guest]

i rebooted but the display is worse than ever in safe mode. I think we'll
need to buy a new graphics card!

 

[Jack Handey]

Have you tried turning it off and leaving it off for about 15 to 20 minutes
before you restart it?