Full-size windows and wierd vertical flickering

[Lindsay]

Never seen this before, but then to achieve the weird flickering, it's
unlikely anyone would have seen it. Now I may have some buggy software
that's responsible, but until I can determine what's causing it, I need to
know it's not Windows.

Take a window. Any windows. Any program. Resize it until it's full screen.
Not maximized, but the same size as your screen. Now move the mouse as if
your doing stuff. Anything weird looking? Flickering vertical lines? No?
Must be some crap I've installed! It's a process of elimination.

 

[CWatters]

Flickering vertical lines? No?

Sorry not on my PC.

 

[Malke]

Never seen this before, but then to achieve the weird flickering, it's
unlikely anyone would have seen it. Now I may have some buggy software
that's responsible, but until I can determine what's causing it, I
need to know it's not Windows.

Take a window. Any windows. Any program. Resize it until it's full
screen. Not maximized, but the same size as your screen. Now move the
mouse as if your doing stuff. Anything weird looking? Flickering
vertical lines? No? Must be some crap I've installed! It's a process
of elimination.

Did your computer always do this? If not, what changed? Here are some
things to try:

1. Update your video card drivers. Get the drivers from either the card
mftr.'s website or from the OEM's website if you have an OEM machine
(like a Dell, HP, Sony, etc.) for your specific mode. Don't get the
drivers from Windows Update. If you did apply video drivers from
Windows Update, then roll them back from Device Manager to the drivers
that worked.

2. If doing the above doesn't help, attach your computer to a different
monitor. Does the problem go away? Then you probably have your original
monitor's refresh rate set too low and/or the monitor is going. If the
problem continues with a different monitor, you know the issue is with
your video card and not your original monitor.

Malke

 

[Bob I]

Wireless mouse and antenna too close to monitor?

 

[Lindsay]

This is a laptop. I bought a new wheel mouse 'cos the touchpad is just too
small. It's since using the new mouse. If I unplug, no change. It's the only
thing I've done. Can't be the monitor, because it only happens with full
screen (not maximized) windows. Really weird.

 

[Malke]

This is a laptop. I bought a new wheel mouse 'cos the touchpad is just
too small. It's since using the new mouse. If I unplug, no change.
It's the only thing I've done. Can't be the monitor, because it only
happens with full screen (not maximized) windows. Really weird.

Then update the drivers for the video card as previously suggested. The
new mouse drivers may have overwritten or otherwise corrupted your
video drivers. Get the drivers from the laptop mftr.'s website.

Malke

 

[Lindsay]

There are no new drivers. The mouse is a standard MS optical wheel mouse.

Incidentally, I think I've cured it. I disabled the touchpad in the BIOS and
it hasn't done it since. I guess there was some kind of conflict between the
2 mouses.

Also, I'm not able to update the video drivers. There aren't any for XP.
Neither from ATI nor MS nor Compaq/HP. I just use the XP installed driver.
Same for the touchpad. I don't know the manufacturer of the touchpad anyway.
None of the Compaq documentation seems to mention any.

 

[Malke]

There are no new drivers. The mouse is a standard MS optical wheel
mouse.

Incidentally, I think I've cured it. I disabled the touchpad in the
BIOS and it hasn't done it since. I guess there was some kind of
conflict between the 2 mouses.

Also, I'm not able to update the video drivers. There aren't any for
XP. Neither from ATI nor MS nor Compaq/HP. I just use the XP installed
driver. Same for the touchpad. I don't know the manufacturer of the
touchpad anyway. None of the Compaq documentation seems to mention
any.

Glad you got your problem sorted. Next time you post, give all the
information and details about your system, what you've done, etc. in
your first post.

Malke

 

[Lindsay]

Actually it didn't sort it.

Sorry 'bout not giving enough info first time, but knowing what info to give
is not easy. I could give you info, and you might still ask for something
else I hadn't thought of.

Anyway, I got XP to re-install the video driver again, and the problem
continued. Then, by unchecking the "Show compatible hardware", there was
another driver for this machine specifically labeled Compaq. So I installed
that, and it appears to have settled down.

Another question now is: What on earth has a mouse driver got to do with a
video driver? i.e. How can the mouse driver upset the video driver?
Re-installing the video driver would not of occured to me because the 2 seem
unrelated.

 

[Lindsay]

OK. I fixed it. It turned out to be an app I've been using. If I quit the
app, no more problem! The app is to do with dragging and resizing windows. I
guess there's a glitch. I started using this app about the same time as
getting my new wheel mouse. I even pulled the laptop apart in cace there was
a loose connection. Of course, there wasn't.

Thanks for everyones help. And watch out for buggy software. At least this
bug is only visual and doesn't hurt anything.

 

[Lindsay]

OK. Spoke too soon.

This is what I've done:

I've uninstalled any software installed lately.

Unplugged the wheel mouse.

I located the driver for the touchpad (Synaptics) and installed/restarted.

Located the latest ATI driver and installed/restarted.

Set the display to maximum refresh rate (100hz).

And the problem persists. :-(

Unless I can reproduce this on another machine, I'm reckoning there is
something wrong with this laptop.

Any more thoughts?

 

[Lindsay]

Here's a turn up for the books. I've been using classic look. If I use XPs
visual styles, no problem. At least not so far.