Is this a hardware issue? or system/software issue?

[Tim]

Since this is not a binary group, here is a link to demonstrate my problem:

http://members.cox.net/winxprules/screen.jpg
(800x600 JPEG - 212,371 bytes)

This computer is having a weird problem. Not every time you startup the
computer, but often, the display is as seen in the above linked file. We
thought it was the monitor going out, but the fact that you can press
PRINT-SCREEN and take a screen capture showing these "lines" and save it to
file proves it's not the monitor. Also, when you move the mouse, the mouse
is in the center of a "block" of a lot of "lines" that just moves with the
cursor.

I thought it was a driver problem, so I installed the latest drivers for the
video card. That did not work. I thought it was a software problem, so I
rebuilt the entire system (deleted the partition, created a new one and
installed a fresh OS). That seemed to do the trick... or so I thought. A day
later, it was back to this again.

My question to you is this: Do you think this could be a hardware related
problem? Would the video card be at fault here? or the motherboard? I may
not know a lot about the inner-workings of the hardware, but I had assumed
that if it were hardware related, I wouldn't be able to take a "screen
capture" from the affected system and expect to capture what was going on.

Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.

Tim

 

[Tim]

Oh and I neglected to mention one thing.

While this is happening, if you restart... the symptoms go away. During
POST, you do not see any graphic distortion at all. It is only after windows
startup and you first see the cursor.

Thanks!

 

[Anna]

Since this is not a binary group, here is a link to demonstrate my
problem:

http://members.cox.net/winxprules/screen.jpg
(800x600 JPEG - 212,371 bytes)

This computer is having a weird problem. Not every time you startup the
computer, but often, the display is as seen in the above linked file. We
thought it was the monitor going out, but the fact that you can press
PRINT-SCREEN and take a screen capture showing these "lines" and save it
to file proves it's not the monitor. Also, when you move the mouse, the
mouse is in the center of a "block" of a lot of "lines" that just moves
with the cursor.

I thought it was a driver problem, so I installed the latest drivers for
the video card. That did not work. I thought it was a software problem, so
I rebuilt the entire system (deleted the partition, created a new one and
installed a fresh OS). That seemed to do the trick... or so I thought. A
day later, it was back to this again.

My question to you is this: Do you think this could be a hardware related
problem? Would the video card be at fault here? or the motherboard? I may
not know a lot about the inner-workings of the hardware, but I had assumed
that if it were hardware related, I wouldn't be able to take a "screen
capture" from the affected system and expect to capture what was going on.

Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.

Tim

Tim:
Certainly sounds like a video card problem. It may be simply that your card
is not seated properly. AGP cards, in particular, sometimes have a problem
in partially "escaping" from their slot. So first off - check that the card
is properly seated. If it is, then hopefully you can get your hands another
another video card to see if that one works.
Incidentally, the fact that you can or cannot make a screen capture is
irrelevant in this situation.
Anna

 

[Star Fleet Admiral Q]

Make sure you are not running the Video card at a refresh rate "NOT"
supported by the monitor. Failing that, it may be you have a failing video
card - note a print-screen captures the output from a point just before it
is sent out the Video connector on the PC - hence if the Video card is
failing, you can capture its output with a Print Screen, but also it could
be a synchronization (refresh rate) issue - I've seen both cause this issue.

--

Star Fleet Admiral Q @ your Service!

http://www.google.com
Google is your "Friend"

 

[cquirke (MVP Windows shell/user)]

http://members.cox.net/winxprules/screen.jpg
(800x600 JPEG - 212,371 bytes)

This computer is having a weird problem. Not every time you startup the
computer, but often, the display is as seen in the above linked file.

Normally I'd say this looks like bad SVGA RAM; it's not monitor or
refresh rate, as this is a pixellated effect. I'm surprised
PrintScreen captures it unless that really does capture the contents
of the SVGA RAM (I wasn't sure that it did)

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Gone to bloggery: http://cquirke.blogspot.com