Trouble with graphics display-please help

[Dianne]

Here is the situation:

Brand new Dell Dimension 8400
XP Pro
128MB PCI Express x16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) ATI Radeon X300 SE graphics card
17 in. 1704FPT UltrasharpT Digital Flat Panel Display

I installed WMP 10 and SP2 yesterday after doing disk cleanup, running
spyware, doing virus scan.
Thought I got a nice clean install and everything ran great for at least 5
hours last night before I went to bed, leaving the computer running as I
always do.

All of a sudden this AM, I get a thin line (almost like the display is
broken) horizontally across the top third of the screen.
When I move the mouse around, I can see kind of a shadow moving withing the
thin line which corresponds to my mouse movements.
So, I made sure my mouse driver was installed and there was no newer one.

What I've done:

Made sure latest monitor driver is installed.
Made sure latest graphics driver is installed.
Restarted computer
Called Dell. They had me shut down and disconnect all cables and ran
monitor self test - passed
They talked me into doing a system restore to before the WMP 10 and SP2
install.

Still have this thin line running across the screen.

This is as far as I've gotten with Dell before we got disconnected and I
gave up for a while.

Just wondering if anyone here has experienced this. Please help if you can.
I find I've gotten better help here in the past than from any Tech Support
person over the phone!

Thanks,
Dianne

 

[Malke]

Here is the situation:

Brand new Dell Dimension 8400
XP Pro
128MB PCI Express x16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) ATI Radeon X300 SE graphics
card 17 in. 1704FPT UltrasharpT Digital Flat Panel Display

I installed WMP 10 and SP2 yesterday after doing disk cleanup, running
spyware, doing virus scan.
Thought I got a nice clean install and everything ran great for at
least 5 hours last night before I went to bed, leaving the computer
running as I always do.

All of a sudden this AM, I get a thin line (almost like the display is
broken) horizontally across the top third of the screen.
When I move the mouse around, I can see kind of a shadow moving
withing the thin line which corresponds to my mouse movements.
So, I made sure my mouse driver was installed and there was no newer
one.

What I've done:

Made sure latest monitor driver is installed.
Made sure latest graphics driver is installed.
Restarted computer
Called Dell. They had me shut down and disconnect all cables and ran
monitor self test - passed
They talked me into doing a system restore to before the WMP 10 and
SP2 install.

Still have this thin line running across the screen.

Connect the machine to a different monitor. Is the display correct now?
If so, you know your monitor has failed. You can also connect the flat
panel to a different computer and if it does the same Bad Thing, that
confirms that it is the monitor. If the monitor works fine with a
different computer and/or the computer display is awful on a different
monitor, then you know the video card is failing. Swap it out for a
known-working video card and connect to your original monitor.

Malke

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi,

You probably need to reseat the video card. Open the drive tower after
powering down and unplugging it. Unscrew the small screw holding the video
card in place and gently but firmly remove the card. Check the pins to see
that they are clean, then reinsert the card, making sure everything is
properly lined up.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Dianne]

Thanks for the tips. I'll try that.

Dianne

Connect the machine to a different monitor. Is the display correct now?
If so, you know your monitor has failed. You can also connect the flat
panel to a different computer and if it does the same Bad Thing, that
confirms that it is the monitor. If the monitor works fine with a
different computer and/or the computer display is awful on a different
monitor, then you know the video card is failing. Swap it out for a
known-working video card and connect to your original monitor.

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

 

[Dianne]

Thanks, Rick. It's worth a try.

Dianne

Hi,

You probably need to reseat the video card. Open the drive tower after
powering down and unplugging it. Unscrew the small screw holding the video
card in place and gently but firmly remove the card. Check the pins to see
that they are clean, then reinsert the card, making sure everything is
properly lined up.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Dianne]

That did it, Malke. Connected to different monitor and the problem
disappeared! That was enough proof for Dell. Called Dell and they're
overnighting a new monitor me today. Thanks for the suggestion.

Dianne
Remove SHOES before emailing me

 

[Malke]

That did it, Malke. Connected to different monitor and the problem
disappeared! That was enough proof for Dell. Called Dell and they're
overnighting a new monitor me today. Thanks for the suggestion.

Excellent! Glad you got it sorted, and thanks for letting me know.

Malke