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display has vertical lines and then scrambled characters



 
 
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  #1  
Old August 16th 07, 02:44 PM posted to alt.sys.pc-clone.dell
ll[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 4
Default display has vertical lines and then scrambled characters

Hi,
I'm working on a Dell Pentium3 (800MHZ) which has run fine for the
past 3 yrs or so. I replaced the video card at that time (3 yrs ago),
as the old one had died.

About 2 weeks ago, the video display started having problems
(scrambled characters and 'nonsense characters' (wingdings, like
spade, etc) in varying colors where the startup video card info used
to just be white text on a black background, equally spaced vertical
lines in the Dell splash screen upon startup, what resembles 16 color
mode when Windows Desktop appears, 'paintbrush effect' when the cursor
is moved across the Desktop). It appeared to 'go away,' as the next
time it was started, the monitor was fine again (no lines or
anything).

Having thought it might be a virus, I was downloading McAfee last
night, when at the end of the long (for dial up) download process, the
screen went black, although the PC was still on (I had had the
computer on for approx an hour at that point). I turned the monitor
off and then back on again, and there was nothing. Upon restarting
the PC, the splash screen appeared with those same scrambled
characters and vertical lines once more, and the other previously
mentioned display 'distortions.'

This started occurring after visiting an ebay affiliate website, and
I'm wondering if this may be a virus of some sort?

Thanks for any help,
Louis

  #2  
Old August 16th 07, 03:09 PM posted to alt.sys.pc-clone.dell
BigJim
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 355
Default display has vertical lines and then scrambled characters

video card gone bad is my guess
"ll" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi,
I'm working on a Dell Pentium3 (800MHZ) which has run fine for the
past 3 yrs or so. I replaced the video card at that time (3 yrs ago),
as the old one had died.

About 2 weeks ago, the video display started having problems
(scrambled characters and 'nonsense characters' (wingdings, like
spade, etc) in varying colors where the startup video card info used
to just be white text on a black background, equally spaced vertical
lines in the Dell splash screen upon startup, what resembles 16 color
mode when Windows Desktop appears, 'paintbrush effect' when the cursor
is moved across the Desktop). It appeared to 'go away,' as the next
time it was started, the monitor was fine again (no lines or
anything).

Having thought it might be a virus, I was downloading McAfee last
night, when at the end of the long (for dial up) download process, the
screen went black, although the PC was still on (I had had the
computer on for approx an hour at that point). I turned the monitor
off and then back on again, and there was nothing. Upon restarting
the PC, the splash screen appeared with those same scrambled
characters and vertical lines once more, and the other previously
mentioned display 'distortions.'

This started occurring after visiting an ebay affiliate website, and
I'm wondering if this may be a virus of some sort?

Thanks for any help,
Louis



  #3  
Old August 16th 07, 04:07 PM posted to alt.sys.pc-clone.dell
Ben Myers
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 3,432
Default display has vertical lines and then scrambled characters

My guess is that the latest video card has also failed. Some video cards
simply stop working. Others show strange symptoms. Excessive operating
temperatures are the usual causes. If the cooling fan on a video card gets
clogged or stops spinning, the inside of the graphics chip suffers an internal
electronic breakdown. Cards with nVidia chips seem to fail the most, partly
because the chips run hot and partly because the companies that buy nVidia chips
and manufacture cards sacrifice product quality for lower manufacturing costs.
It's the same manufacturing and business management mindset that has resulted in
tainted cough syrup, poinsonous toothpaste, and lead paint on toys elsewhere in
the consumer sector.

.... Ben Myers

On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 06:44:30 -0700, ll wrote:

Hi,
I'm working on a Dell Pentium3 (800MHZ) which has run fine for the
past 3 yrs or so. I replaced the video card at that time (3 yrs ago),
as the old one had died.

About 2 weeks ago, the video display started having problems
(scrambled characters and 'nonsense characters' (wingdings, like
spade, etc) in varying colors where the startup video card info used
to just be white text on a black background, equally spaced vertical
lines in the Dell splash screen upon startup, what resembles 16 color
mode when Windows Desktop appears, 'paintbrush effect' when the cursor
is moved across the Desktop). It appeared to 'go away,' as the next
time it was started, the monitor was fine again (no lines or
anything).

Having thought it might be a virus, I was downloading McAfee last
night, when at the end of the long (for dial up) download process, the
screen went black, although the PC was still on (I had had the
computer on for approx an hour at that point). I turned the monitor
off and then back on again, and there was nothing. Upon restarting
the PC, the splash screen appeared with those same scrambled
characters and vertical lines once more, and the other previously
mentioned display 'distortions.'

This started occurring after visiting an ebay affiliate website, and
I'm wondering if this may be a virus of some sort?

Thanks for any help,
Louis

  #4  
Old August 16th 07, 05:49 PM posted to alt.sys.pc-clone.dell
ll[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 4
Default display has vertical lines and then scrambled characters

On Aug 16, 10:07 am, Ben Myers
wrote:
My guess is that the latest video card has also failed. Some video cards
simply stop working. Others show strange symptoms. Excessive operating
temperatures are the usual causes. If the cooling fan on a video card gets
clogged or stops spinning, the inside of the graphics chip suffers an internal
electronic breakdown. Cards with nVidia chips seem to fail the most, partly
because the chips run hot and partly because the companies that buy nVidia chips
and manufacture cards sacrifice product quality for lower manufacturing costs.
It's the same manufacturing and business management mindset that has resulted in
tainted cough syrup, poinsonous toothpaste, and lead paint on toys elsewhere in
the consumer sector.

... Ben Myers

On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 06:44:30 -0700, ll wrote:
Hi,
I'm working on a Dell Pentium3 (800MHZ) which has run fine for the
past 3 yrs or so. I replaced the video card at that time (3 yrs ago),
as the old one had died.


About 2 weeks ago, the video display started having problems
(scrambled characters and 'nonsense characters' (wingdings, like
spade, etc) in varying colors where the startup video card info used
to just be white text on a black background, equally spaced vertical
lines in the Dell splash screen upon startup, what resembles 16 color
mode when Windows Desktop appears, 'paintbrush effect' when the cursor
is moved across the Desktop). It appeared to 'go away,' as the next
time it was started, the monitor was fine again (no lines or
anything).


Having thought it might be a virus, I was downloading McAfee last
night, when at the end of the long (for dial up) download process, the
screen went black, although the PC was still on (I had had the
computer on for approx an hour at that point). I turned the monitor
off and then back on again, and there was nothing. Upon restarting
the PC, the splash screen appeared with those same scrambled
characters and vertical lines once more, and the other previously
mentioned display 'distortions.'


This started occurring after visiting an ebay affiliate website, and
I'm wondering if this may be a virus of some sort?


Thanks for any help,
Louis




Thanks for your help in this. This video card has a blue, staggered,
heat sink rather than a fan, and so I was wondering if that might've
been part of the cause. It doesn't usually encounter prolonged usage
and is left on, at the longest, for an hr at a time. Will investigate
replacing the card - thanks!

  #5  
Old August 16th 07, 08:46 PM posted to alt.sys.pc-clone.dell
[email protected]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 409
Default display has vertical lines and then scrambled characters

Hi!

This started occurring after visiting an ebay affiliate website,
and I'm wondering if this may be a virus of some sort?


No virus...it'd be very difficult to get ahold of a machine that early
on in the boot process so as to affect the BIOS informational screens.
(If the behavior showed up on a warm boot, there might be a
possibility.

Anything else would require the virus reflash the BIOS, which would
make for a large and complicated virus that had to determine exactly
what hardware it was running, pick a BIOS from its library and flash
the system ROM with it. That's very unlikely to happen...the few
viruses that do attempt BIOS flashing only overwrite the ROM chip with
garbage. This results in an unstartable system.

Your video card has gone bad. It's very likely a problem with the
memory on the card, although graphics processor and other component
failures are possible. Go ahead and replace it.

William

  #6  
Old August 16th 07, 08:50 PM posted to alt.sys.pc-clone.dell
[email protected]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 409
Default display has vertical lines and then scrambled characters

Hi!

This video card has a blue, staggered, heat sink rather
than a fan, and so I was wondering if that might've
been part of the cause.


It's certainly possible, if the heat sink wasn't big enough to cool
the chip it is placed on. Lack of airflow around the heat sink could
have caused a failure as well. I normally prefer only a heatsink on a
video card, as it is one less possible point of failure. Any decently
designed computer case should move enough air to let the heatsink work
properly.

I really think the failure has happened elsewhere--in some of the
video memory on the card (not your computer's working memory) or in
another component on the card. If the card has capacitors on it, look
to see if any have bulged, leaked or exploded.

William

  #7  
Old August 16th 07, 10:00 PM posted to alt.sys.pc-clone.dell
Tony Harding
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 760
Default display has vertical lines and then scrambled characters

Ben Myers wrote:
My guess is that the latest video card has also failed. Some video cards
simply stop working. Others show strange symptoms. Excessive operating
temperatures are the usual causes. If the cooling fan on a video card gets
clogged or stops spinning, the inside of the graphics chip suffers an internal
electronic breakdown. Cards with nVidia chips seem to fail the most, partly
because the chips run hot and partly because the companies that buy nVidia chips
and manufacture cards sacrifice product quality for lower manufacturing costs.
It's the same manufacturing and business management mindset that has resulted in
tainted cough syrup, poinsonous toothpaste, and lead paint on toys elsewhere in
the consumer sector.


That's a little harsh, IMHO.
  #8  
Old August 16th 07, 11:32 PM posted to alt.sys.pc-clone.dell
S.Lewis
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,079
Default display has vertical lines and then scrambled characters


wrote in message
ups.com...
Hi!

This video card has a blue, staggered, heat sink rather
than a fan, and so I was wondering if that might've
been part of the cause.


It's certainly possible, if the heat sink wasn't big enough to cool
the chip it is placed on. Lack of airflow around the heat sink could
have caused a failure as well. I normally prefer only a heatsink on a
video card, as it is one less possible point of failure. Any decently
designed computer case should move enough air to let the heatsink work
properly.

I really think the failure has happened elsewhere--in some of the
video memory on the card (not your computer's working memory) or in
another component on the card. If the card has capacitors on it, look
to see if any have bulged, leaked or exploded.

William



I might also add that while I suspect the video card, I have to wonder why
(2) AGP cards would croak in the same machine. Either external environment
(dust/heat/dirt, etc) or the board is whacked - specifically the voltage to
the AGP slot.

Just a stab.

Stew


  #9  
Old August 17th 07, 02:47 AM posted to alt.sys.pc-clone.dell
Ben Myers
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 3,432
Default display has vertical lines and then scrambled characters

Not all that harsh. These are often the same companies who provide a user's
guide with no reference to country of manufacture, no web site, nobody to call
or email for support, and on and on. Pride of ownership? NOT! Do they
stand behind their products? Nope!

This has been going on for years with computer hardware manufactured out there
on the Pacific Rim... Ben Myers

On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 17:00:35 -0400, Tony Harding wrote:

Ben Myers wrote:
My guess is that the latest video card has also failed. Some video cards
simply stop working. Others show strange symptoms. Excessive operating
temperatures are the usual causes. If the cooling fan on a video card gets
clogged or stops spinning, the inside of the graphics chip suffers an internal
electronic breakdown. Cards with nVidia chips seem to fail the most, partly
because the chips run hot and partly because the companies that buy nVidia chips
and manufacture cards sacrifice product quality for lower manufacturing costs.
It's the same manufacturing and business management mindset that has resulted in
tainted cough syrup, poinsonous toothpaste, and lead paint on toys elsewhere in
the consumer sector.


That's a little harsh, IMHO.

  #10  
Old August 28th 07, 09:16 PM posted to alt.sys.pc-clone.dell
ll[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 4
Default display has vertical lines and then scrambled characters

On Aug 16, 2:46 pm, wrote:
Hi!

This started occurring after visiting an ebay affiliate website,
and I'm wondering if this may be a virus of some sort?


No virus...it'd be very difficult to get ahold of a machine that early
on in the boot process so as to affect the BIOS informational screens.
(If the behavior showed up on a warm boot, there might be a
possibility.

Anything else would require the virus reflash the BIOS, which would
make for a large and complicated virus that had to determine exactly
what hardware it was running, pick a BIOS from its library and flash
the system ROM with it. That's very unlikely to happen...the few
viruses that do attempt BIOS flashing only overwrite the ROM chip with
garbage. This results in an unstartable system.

Your video card has gone bad. It's very likely a problem with the
memory on the card, although graphics processor and other component
failures are possible. Go ahead and replace it.

William



William,
Thanks for your help - your explanation of the likelihood (or non..)
of a virus flashing the BIOS was great and clearly detailed. I'll
have to go out and get the video card.
As far as possible causes of failure, just given the environment, a
few yrs ago the machine made a transition from a smoker's home to a
non-smoker's home. I spent weeks cleaning the insides and outside,
quite delicately, before adding the new video card. The old card's
fan had become clogged with lint and smoke 'film.' I blew out the
card contact slots and other 'crannies,' but I do now wonder if
anything in/on the slots may have caused the failure, if not just
poorly constructed component.

-Louis

 




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