# Chrome problem with SDMB **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [February 1, 2015, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome-problem-with-sdmb/711490 "2015-02-01T04:04:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsa)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2015, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome-problem-with-sdmb/711490/1 "2015-02-01T04:04:09Z")
Recently I have a problem with Chrome displaying certain things on the SDMB. Anything included within _Italics_ tags shows blanks in place of the text. **Bold** appears properly in posts, but on the “Main” page under the “Last Post” column the bold and underlined beginning text of the last unread post is blank except the underlining is still there. Cursor over it and it shows up properly except it’s in red. Clicking on a Forum name and returning to the “Main” page there is no change. If I click on the “Last Post” text and then return to the “Main” page then the “Last Post” text shows up properly. Also the bolded text “factual question” in the description of the General Questions forum is also all blank except for a single period in the middle of the blank space. Upon further examination it looks like any bold text that isn’t in a post doesn’t display. Any ideas on what the problem could be? SDMB on Firefox is fine. ETA: sorry if this should be in ATMB ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2015, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome-problem-with-sdmb/711490/2 "2015-02-01T16:32:35Z")
Can you take a screenshot and upload it to [imgur.com](http://imgur.com)? ---
**Author:** ![rsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsa)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2015, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome-problem-with-sdmb/711490/3 "2015-02-01T19:06:00Z")
The problem is not occurring after a reboot. I think it has returned after a reboot before but I may be mistaken. I’ll post if it occurs again. ---
**Author:** ![rsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsa)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome-problem-with-sdmb/711490/4 "2015-02-02T02:40:55Z")
OK, so I was casually browsing the SMDB occasionally clicking on a link. Everything was working fine. At some point I was reading a thread and clicked on a link. When I clicked on the tab to return to SDMB almost everything is invisible. Never used imgur before, but set up an account, uploaded a screen shot and shared it. I don’t know how to view the image other than via my account. Is “QgCLaJK” all you need? ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome-problem-with-sdmb/711490/5 "2015-02-02T03:00:09Z")
> [@rsa](#): > > OK, so I was casually browsing the SMDB occasionally clicking on a link. Everything was working fine. At some point I was reading a thread and clicked on a link. When I clicked on the tab to return to SDMB almost everything is invisible. > > Never used imgur before, but set up an account, uploaded a screen shot and shared it. I don’t know how to view the image other than via my account. Is “QgCLaJK” all you need? One stop shopping for the [link](http://imgur.com/QgCLaJK). ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome-problem-with-sdmb/711490/6 "2015-02-02T03:09:45Z")
Moved to ATMB. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome-problem-with-sdmb/711490/7 "2015-02-02T03:17:59Z")
Sounds like you are having some kind of cache problem. I would reinstall chrome. If that doesn’t fix it, look up how to use chrome with a fresh profile. ( no cache or cookies or settings) ---
**Author:** ![rsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsa)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome-problem-with-sdmb/711490/8 "2015-02-02T03:23:12Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Sounds like you are having some kind of cache problem. > > I would reinstall chrome. If that doesn’t fix it, look up how to use chrome with a fresh profile. ( no cache or cookies or settings) If I reinstall do I lose my bookmarks? ---
**Author:** ![rsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsa)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome-problem-with-sdmb/711490/9 "2015-02-02T03:24:53Z")
> [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](#): > > One stop shopping for the [link](http://imgur.com/QgCLaJK). Thanks. I could swear I tried that, but I guess I got it wrong. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome-problem-with-sdmb/711490/10 "2015-02-02T03:27:04Z")
> [@rsa](#): > > If I reinstall do I lose my bookmarks? No it should leave all your data alone. But if you make a fresh profile your bookmarks will be gone. You can back them up, tho. And then import them. Should do that first in either case. You’ll have to google it tho. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome-problem-with-sdmb/711490/11 "2015-02-02T06:34:36Z")
I’ve had this happen too. Just out of curiousity, **rsa** ,what operating system are you using. I’m pretty sure I’ve only had it happen on a laptop running Vista. [Example 1](http://i.imgur.com/a8u9CFq.jpg) [Example 2](http://i.imgur.com/fbsT7IY.jpg) I don’t use the laptop that much, so I took screenshots and forgot about it. I figured it was a font issue. I remember it begin a little disconcerting because the page would load and then the type would disappear suddenly. ---
**Author:** ![rsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsa)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome-problem-with-sdmb/711490/12 "2015-02-02T18:20:16Z")
I’m a long time user of Vista which, despite its reputation, has served me well. I did reinstall Chrome last night and haven’t had a repeat of the problem although I haven’t been on the SDMB much since then. I have noticed that Chrome has been taking quite a bit longer to load than usual which possibly started around the same time as this other problem. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome-problem-with-sdmb/711490/13 "2015-02-03T00:29:27Z")
Vista may have a problem with Chrome’s hardware accelerated font rendering. (There was an update back in 2012 for Windows 7, but I don’t think it applied to Vista.) If you run into that problem again, here’s how to turn off the acceleration, to see if that fixes it: Type the URL chrome://flags/#disable-direct-write into your address bar and press enter. Enable the option “Disable DirectWrite,” and then restart Chrome. If you still have trouble, you can try disabling all hardware acceleration. Close Chrome, and then edit the Chrome shortcut and add “–disable-gpu” (without the quotes) to the end of it. I have to do this in order to use Chrome over Remote Desktop. ---
**Author:** ![rsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsa)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome-problem-with-sdmb/711490/14 "2015-02-03T00:34:39Z")
Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome-problem-with-sdmb/711490/15 "2015-02-03T00:40:55Z")
You could try a portable version of Chrome such as from [Google Chrome Portable (web browser) | PortableApps.com](http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/google_chrome_portable) This will just run from whatever folder you choose and not install bits and pieces throughout your system. That way it shouldn’t mess up your current version while you are troubleshooting. ---
**Author:** ![rsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsa)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chrome-problem-with-sdmb/711490/16 "2015-02-03T23:43:06Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Vista may have a problem with Chrome’s hardware accelerated font rendering. (There was an update back in 2012 for Windows 7, but I don’t think it applied to Vista.) If you run into that problem again, here’s how to turn off the acceleration, to see if that fixes it: > > Type the URL chrome://flags/#disable-direct-write into your address bar and press enter. Enable the option “Disable DirectWrite,” and then restart Chrome. > > If you still have trouble, you can try disabling all hardware acceleration. Close Chrome, and then edit the Chrome shortcut and add “–disable-gpu” (without the quotes) to the end of it. I have to do this in order to use Chrome over Remote Desktop. Tried both of these ideas and still have the problem. Not a bid deal, Firefox is fine.