Tom's Hardware > Forum > Windows XP > Windows XP General Discussion > Strange Problems with Computer
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darksied   08-22-2009 at 06:41:21 PM

Yesterday, my computer started acting strangely. Sometimes the colors would get really funky and the resolution would get really low (like 800x600). My computer still seemed to be working fine though. A reboot would cause the colors to go back to normal. However, sometimes when I rebooted my computer would not start right. It would stay on the welcome screen for my motherboard for about 20s (it normally only stays on that screen for a couple seconds), then start up normally. However, it would often recognize my main HD (the one that my OS is installed on) in 2 slots on my motherboard (0 and 4). Also, my monitor would often go black on the Windows Welcome Screen (the screen before the login screen). The monitor still seemed to be getting a signal and I still had hard drive activity, but it wasn't displaying anything.

Anyway, I was hoping somebody could help me with my problem.


Message edited by darksied on 08-22-2009 at 06:42:33 PM
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saint19   08-22-2009 at 10:51:33 PM
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the HDD is SATA or IDE....maybe if you discconect, clean the conections and re-conect the HDD the problem solves...try this, works for my with 2 HDD SATA 500GB

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Shadowraze   08-23-2009 at 12:43:08 AM
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I had this once on a freinds computer.
this really sounds like something with more of the video card then the HDD but im only guessing. Try to find the latest drivers for your video card. if that doesn't work try Saint19's instruction but also make sure the video card is properly seated in the port it is in.

What video card do you have?

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darksied   08-23-2009 at 01:04:48 AM
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I have an 8800GTS. It's really strange because I haven't changed any hardware for a while. It just randomly started happening yesterday. Right now my computer is working fine, so it only happens some of the time. I guess it would be worth a try to re-seat my video card and check the connection to my hard drive. I also already tried updating my drivers yesterday when it first happened, but it occurred again today when I first booted up my computer.

Edit: Actually there was a new video card driver released just last night :p . I guess I will try installing that and see if it helps.


Message edited by darksied on 08-23-2009 at 01:08:50 AM
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darksied   08-23-2009 at 07:25:57 PM
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I installed the new driver for my video card, but the problem happened again today. I booted up my computer normally, but had to install windows updates. When I booted up my computer again (after the update), the colors on my monitor were all messed up. The first time, the monitor appeared completely black, so I turned off my computer and tried again. The second time, the monitor had these black and white lines going vertically across the monitor. Seconds later, it showed these multicolor boxes. I shut down my computer and let it rest. Finally the third time, my computer started normally with normal colors.

I'm not sure what is causing this problem. Do you think my monitor is finally going (I'm still using an old Trinitron) or do you think it's something inside my computer?

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