Gray Video Problem

[Jack Gillis]

I am having a strange video problem under XP Home.

On one of two identical machines, the gray of all menu bars on programs and
folders as well as the background of many, if not all, of the pop-up message
windows suddenly do not appear gray. These item appear with a dull green
tint. On the other machine these items appear gray as the should. This just
started a day or so ago. Within a program, light grays appear light gray
such as the cell background of Excel. Also booting Partition Magic from its
DOS floppy produces a gray menu bar.

Otherwise, all colors seem to appear just fine.

I have switched the monitors (Mag Flat Screens), cable and Video Card
between the two machines but the 'green' condition persists on the one
machine. I don't remember making any software changes but just to make sure,
I restored the system from a Ghost Image made before the problem appeared.
That didn't do any good.

Does anyone have any idea what might be going on here and can you help me
unravel this thing?

Thank you very much.

 

[Malke]

I am having a strange video problem under XP Home.

On one of two identical machines, the gray of all menu bars on
programs and folders as well as the background of many, if not all, of
the pop-up message
windows suddenly do not appear gray. These item appear with a dull
green
tint. On the other machine these items appear gray as the should.
This just started a day or so ago. Within a program, light grays
appear light gray
such as the cell background of Excel. Also booting Partition Magic
from its DOS floppy produces a gray menu bar.

Otherwise, all colors seem to appear just fine.

I have switched the monitors (Mag Flat Screens), cable and Video Card
between the two machines but the 'green' condition persists on the one
machine. I don't remember making any software changes but just to make
sure, I restored the system from a Ghost Image made before the problem
appeared. That didn't do any good.

Does anyone have any idea what might be going on here and can you help
me unravel this thing?

Since the problem occurs on another monitor, you know your original
monitor is OK. Uninstall and swap out the video card for a
known-working one. If the problem is gone, replace the original video
card.

Malke

 

[Jack Gillis]

Thank you Malke. I tried that also but still no solution. It is really
puzzle.

Thanks again.

 

[Malke]

Thank you Malke. I tried that also but still no solution. It is
really puzzle.

It would have been nice to have known that in the first place. Since
you've determined that the problem isn't hardware (video card or
monitor), the only thing left is software. Any third-party theming
programs installed? Ever? Set the machine back to the Windows XP theme.
If that does it, great. If not, try updating the video card drivers.
Get the drivers from either the card mftr.'s website or the OEM's
website if you have that sort of machine.

Malke

 

[Jack Gillis]

It would have been nice to have known that in the first place. Since
you've determined that the problem isn't hardware (video card or
monitor), the only thing left is software. Any third-party theming
programs installed? Ever? Set the machine back to the Windows XP theme.
If that does it, great. If not, try updating the video card drivers.
Get the drivers from either the card mftr.'s website or the OEM's
website if you have that sort of machine.

Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

I'm sorry, I thought I had mentioned that in my first post. OK, I have just
tried the Windows XP theme and again no luck. I don't think I have used any
other theming things. I think the next step will be cycling through all of
the themes in the Display Properties to see if that changes anything.

Thanks again.