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#1
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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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