# Black bar repeatedly appears on screen **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 12, 2020, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-bar-repeatedly-appears-on-screen/851659 "2020-04-12T22:54:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2020, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-bar-repeatedly-appears-on-screen/851659/1 "2020-04-12T22:54:17Z")
I periodically get a [black bar on my screen](http://www.seiglefamily.com/data/blackbar.JPG). As you can see, it is included in a screen capture so it is not a problem in the monitor. It always happens in the same place. It clears if I do a reboot, or sometimes will just clear spontaneously. I can’t tell what triggers it or what makes it go away. I am using an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 that is less than a year old. Any ideas about what could be causing this? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2020, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-bar-repeatedly-appears-on-screen/851659/2 "2020-04-12T22:59:06Z")
Bad video RAM. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2020, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-bar-repeatedly-appears-on-screen/851659/3 "2020-04-12T23:08:05Z")
Are you drivers up to date? ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-bar-repeatedly-appears-on-screen/851659/4 "2020-04-13T11:57:30Z")
It could be a [tooltip](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tooltip) that is (A) displaying on top of a window other than its own and (B) not rendering correctly. Sometimes, I’ll get a sticky Tooltip from GMail on top of other Chrome pages or other applications, and no way to make it disappear. As for why it’s black: if the rendering engine doesn’t know it’s supposed to be there, it may not draw it correctly. Today, different applications or even different browser tabs may use separate rendering engines. You could try closing the other applications one by one and see if the black thing still appears on top of Chrome. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-bar-repeatedly-appears-on-screen/851659/5 "2020-04-13T12:56:16Z")
I checked the drivers, updated in November but new version just out a couple of weeks ago. I just updated to that version. I also submitted a ticket. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-bar-repeatedly-appears-on-screen/851659/6 "2020-04-13T12:58:35Z")
> [@Heracles](#): > > It could be a [tooltip](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tooltip) that is (A) displaying on top of a window other than its own and (B) not rendering correctly. > > Sometimes, I’ll get a sticky Tooltip from GMail on top of other Chrome pages or other applications, and no way to make it disappear. > > As for why it’s black: if the rendering engine doesn’t know it’s supposed to be there, it may not draw it correctly. Today, different applications or even different browser tabs may use separate rendering engines. > > You could try closing the other applications one by one and see if the black thing still appears on top of Chrome. That is an interesting idea. It’s an odd place for it but when it pops up again I will try to rule things out. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-bar-repeatedly-appears-on-screen/851659/7 "2020-04-14T21:38:22Z")
It hasn’t happened again since I posted this. Meantime, I submitted a ticket to NVIDIA. They had me submit an msinfo32 dump and then got back to me with this. They don’t seem eager to take ownership of the issue. > [@](#): > > 1. Even after re-seating the card if the same issue perists > > 2. Contact the motherboard manufacturer and install the latest Chipset & BIOS drivers for the motherboard > > 3. Once done click on the link and run it -\> Win 10 : [http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkId=821403](http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkId=821403) > > If its states windows is up-to-date, restart the PC > > After login Go to windows update settings -\> and check for updates manually once done install any optional cumulative update > > Looking forward for your reply to assist you further. > > Regards, > Lohith > NVIDIA Customer Care