Any PC Gurus here?

[Shaun]

I'm having some serious issues with my PC. Occasionally my screen will start blinking, then go all pixelated. Rebooting doesn't seem to solve the problem. When rebooting it'll get to a certain point, then blue screen before restarting itself.

After several reboots it'll load up windows without any issues. After a while the issue repeats.

Anyone ever encountered anything like this before? :o

[DBSimon]

Hi There

If you can get access to another monitor try plugging this in first. This will help you to diagnose whether its the monitor at fault or something with the actual computer (for example the graphics card). I am by no means a PC Guru but at least the above will enable to you locate where the fault is coming from.

If its the monitor then as much as I hate to be part of a throw away society, the best thing to do is throw it away and buy a new one as they are so cheap. If however the problem persists then I would advise you taking it to a repair shop. Its probably the graphics card but if its not, you could end up replacing a good working order graphics card with another one and still have a mal functioning PC.

Good luck anyway!

Simon

[Gareth]

When you say there is a blue screen, is it the one in the screenshot or has it got loads of numbers and say about checking recently installed hardware?

Gareth

[Shaun]

Hi There

If you can get access to another monitor try plugging this in first. This will help you to diagnose whether its the monitor at fault or something with the actual computer (for example the graphics card). I am by no means a PC Guru but at least the above will enable to you locate where the fault is coming from.



I use a dual monitor setup, and the issue is across both screens. I gather it's either the grafx card or motherboard.


When you say there is a blue screen, is it the one in the screenshot or has it got loads of numbers and say about checking recently installed hardware?

Gareth

The blue screen (or blue screen of death as it's more commonly known) appears only for a millisecond before the reboot...not long enough to read the text that it's showing before the reboot continues. :(

[Digitalsounds]

Is this a Desktop or laptop ?

Looks like a desktop to me,

if a desktop looks like your graphics card is knackered tiem to go buy a new one even if if its one built into the system board tou can over ride it with one in an expansion slot this will fix your problem

looking at those photos it doesn't look like a software issue as you are getting the problem at bios post test level of boot.


If its a laptop looks to me like a system board graphics card problem if so then try plugging into an external monitor, this might get around the problem but other than that its pretty much in need of system board replacement which could mean its cheaper to buy a new one.

[Mark Wild]

Graphics card Shaun, same thing has happened to me before.

[Digitalsounds]

Graphics card Shaun, same thing has happened to me before.

Errr thats i what i just said ;) :D

[BeerFunk]

It might be worth taking the GFX card out, extracting as much dust as possible, and re-seating it. Although, I'd guess you need a replacement :(

[Shaun]

It might be worth taking the GFX card out, extracting as much dust as possible, and re-seating it. Although, I'd guess you need a replacement :(


That was the first thing I tried, the problem still persisted.

Looks like it's time for a new Grafx card. The current one is only 2 years old. :(

Cheers guys. Much appreciated.

[Mark Wild]

Errr thats i what i just said ;) :D

Maybe it was more than just your opinion he was looking for. ;)

[Gareth]

The blue screen (or blue screen of death as it's more commonly known) appears only for a millisecond before the reboot...not long enough to read the text that it's showing before the reboot continues. :(

If you are able to go onto your BIOS settings, you can disable automatic rebooting which will then allow you to read the error codes which should allow you to diagnose the problem. If you are unable to access the BIOS settings it could be slightly harder. Let me know and we can go from there.

Gareth

[Marc J]

Your graphics card is :Censored: :eek:

If it's the same card I spec'd for you in October 07 (XFX), then it seems the warranty was only 1 year...which is a bit lame :(

[Marc J]

Shaun, I just found http://www.bjorn3d.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22081

Seems to be discussing your card and it's expected lifetime / warranty. If you registered the card when you bought it then the warranty would have been doubled to 2 years - still probably no good to you.

You might have a case against eBuyer with the Sale of Goods act and expected lifetime of a product, but you wouldn't get a full refund or replacement even if you had a case - it's be partial taking into account the 2 years use you've had out of the card.

And in graphics cards, 2 years is a long time.....

[BeerFunk]

Electronic components and devices are certainly not built to last these days - you couldn't pick a better example than the XBox 360 :(

[Marc J]

I forgot to say, if it's intermittent then it's likely a heating problem. Switch it on with the side off the case and check the GFX card fan is running smoothly.

I've had this happen to two cards. One was definitely :Censored: and the other just had a clogged fan. Since yours was an expensive card ditching it just for the fan would be silly, you should be able to get a replacement fan or 3rd party cooling for it.

Getting into the BIOS and / or managing to read the BSOD won't help at all. The effect is visible on the POST screen (the first screen you see when you switch on), which means it has nothing to do with the operating system at all.

[Creature]

buy the pics am 99% certain the graphics card chips are over heating - replace with a good quality card with good quality fans should cure this problem.

also you used to be able to get 2 fans on a board that would fit into a pci slot - this also could help

another cheeper option to look at 1st is the cable routing - try tieing it up out the way. and any case fans - make sure they are performing well

[Shaun]

I forgot to say, if it's intermittent then it's likely a heating problem. Switch it on with the side off the case and check the GFX card fan is running smoothly.

I've had this happen to two cards. One was definitely :Censored: and the other just had a clogged fan. Since yours was an expensive card ditching it just for the fan would be silly, you should be able to get a replacement fan or 3rd party cooling for it.

Getting into the BIOS and / or managing to read the BSOD won't help at all. The effect is visible on the POST screen (the first screen you see when you switch on), which means it has nothing to do with the operating system at all.

I've had the card out previously, and gave it a good clean, the problem still continued.

I won a bid on ebay last night for a second hand grafx card, I got it for less than a third of the price of a new card. Hopefully that'll resolve the problem when it arrives.

Cheers for all the replies, guys.

[Marc J]

I've had the card out previously, and gave it a good clean, the problem still continued.

I won a bid on ebay last night for a second hand grafx card, I got it for less than a third of the price of a new card. Hopefully that'll resolve the problem when it arrives.

It may be clean, but the fan may have packed in. Have a look inside when it's on and see how fast it's spinning, if at all.

If you've successfully bid on an identical card, and you can still fix the original with new cooling, then you'll be able to SLI them together for extra oomph :)

[Shaun]

The fan on the grafx card seems to still be spinning at a fair speed.

The PC wont boot into windows anymore though. I guess I'll be on the laptop till the replacement card comes.

[Shaun]

Well, replacement grafx card arrived today. Popped it in and the monitor went into standby right after it loaded up the boot screen. I'm now thinking the issue might be with the motherboard. :(

I've packed it up and shipped it off to the local PC repair shop...where I should have sent it to begin with.

[DJ Frankie]

Looks like a dodgy VGA cable to me, did you try replacing it?

[Shaun]

I've tried a different cable. I also run a dual monitor setup, and the problem is across both screens.

[DJTekno]

Seen this a couple of times myself, one time it turned out that it was a dodgy stick of RAM causing the issue........maybe try that, or at least swap out/over the sticks on the Mobo if you can?

[Marc J]

Well, replacement grafx card arrived today. Popped it in and the monitor went into standby right after it loaded up the boot screen. I'm now thinking the issue might be with the motherboard. :(

I've packed it up and shipped it off to the local PC repair shop...where I should have sent it to begin with.

Keep us posted Shaun, I'd be interested to know the cause. I'd half ruled out the motherboard because I know that was replaced not long ago....now I'm thinking maybe a dodgy gfx card off ebay?

At the end of the day could be anything....even CPU cooling. No doubt the shop will get to the bottom of it quick enough with swapping bits around...and probably lie to you in the process....

[Corabar Steve]

Seen this a couple of times myself, one time it turned out that it was a dodgy stick of RAM causing the issue........maybe try that, or at least swap out/over the sticks on the Mobo if you can?
That might prove a bit difficult as it's not actually in his possession at the moment.

I've packed it up and shipped it off to the local PC repair shop...where I should have sent it to begin with.
:sj:

[DJTekno]

I'm snow-blind, honest!!! :p ;) :D

[Shaun]

A new graphics card later, and all is well again. Well almost...

I have a new issue for the PC Gurus out there. I seem to be having an issue with internet explorer. I'm using IE8, andthe bar along the top has gone wonky (blacked out?). I've tried reinstalling IE but the problem persists. Any ideas? :)

[Marc J]

A new graphics card later, and all is well again. Well almost...

I have a new issue for the PC Gurus out there. I seem to be having an issue with internet explorer. I'm using IE8, andthe bar along the top has gone wonky (blacked out?). I've tried reinstalling IE but the problem persists. Any ideas? :)

I'm guessing they've replaced your nVidia card with an ATI. This is a known issue...change your desktop theme and back again and it'll go away.

Unfortunately you have to do this every boot. I came across it a while ago on a build for someone else, I don't know if it's been fixed or not since...

EDIT: Check out http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.internetexplorer.general/browse_thread/thread/c78fc5dbc2689d74/af732a6d47ae35c8?lnk=raot

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Use Google Chrome Shaun.

[BeerFunk]

Use Google Chrome Shaun.I've heard good things about this, I've been using Firefox for years now, but may switch to Chrome. IE was binned a long time ago!

[Shaun]

I'm guessing they've replaced your nVidia card with an ATI. This is a known issue...change your desktop theme and back again and it'll go away.



That worked. :)

[Marc J]

That worked. :)

Of course it did! Don't tell me you doubted me? ;)

So, we can assume the gfx card off eBay was a dud?

[Shaun]

EDIT: Check out http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.internetexplorer.general/browse_thread/thread/c78fc5dbc2689d74/af732a6d47ae35c8?lnk=raot

Thanks for that. The additional fixes outlined in the link didn't work. If the problem persists every reboot I might just try Daz's recommendation. For now though the black box is gone. I've had it with PC problems for now. :d

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

People bang on about how great or how rubbish browsers are but to me they are just a browser and Chrome is much faster than IE8 for me.

[Shaun]

Of course it did! Don't tell me you doubted me? ;)

So, we can assume the gfx card off eBay was a dud?

I didn't doubt you for a minute. I've lost count of the amount of times you've saved me from disasters. :)

The card from ebay worked. :) It was supplied with a vga cooler kit (which wasn't attached when it arrived), and came with 8 heatsinks that had to be placed on the cards ram. The card had 12 ram on it so I had to order some additional heatsinks on t'internet, which is why my machine has been in the shop so long.

All seems to be working well with the grafx card now (for now anyway). I think I need some additional cooling in there though, things seem to be breaking down too often.