Help, my computer is going crazy! [Suspected Video Problem]

Factual Questions
1

When I got home tonight and switched on my computer, I got the rudest shock ever. There are vertical lines all over the screen, from the moment which I boot up to entering Windows (that is, when I could enter Windows, more on that later).

The sequence is a bit complicated, so I numbebered them:

  1. Switch on computer
  2. Notice lots of vertical lines over the screen.
  3. Strangely, no vertical lines when in DOS (when setting up the Anti-virus, processing AUTOEXEC.BAT)
  4. Loading Windows. There’s hell lot of lines. Those lines are not of an uniform colour - they seem to be more like display errors.
  5. Jump back to DOS screen and hangs.

I restarted in Safe mode. Windows still detect my Geforce 2 Titanium card. So I restarted once more normally and could enter Windows normally. There’s still hell lot of lines and noises - my mouse cursor will leave a trail of lines in its wake.

I try setting the resolution back to 1024 x 780 and the colour to 32-bit While restarting, Window hangs again. Taking the suggestion of a friend, I uninstall and reinstall the drivers. No luck.

I uninstall the drivers, use Windows’ default (at least I can still surf the Internet) and began to back up stuff to Yahoo Briefcase. Gradually, the lines disappear. “WTH?” I was thinking to myself. The screen looks fine now – ocassionally there are hints of white vertical lines at the top edge of the screen. Occasionally the display ‘streaks’. But everything’s okay.

I then…

  1. Reinstall the NVIDA Geforce drivers
  2. Restart the computer. No lines or noises or streaks
  3. Windows boot up in 1024 x 780 resolution.
  4. Hangs.
  5. After 2 minutes the screen goes black. The monitor’s power indicator is flashing, as if the monitor cannot recieve siginal from the video adapter.

I restarted and the same sequence happens again, except this time after step 5 Windows give me an exception error along with a Blue Screen of Death.

Restarted in Safe mode. No streaking this time at all. Restarted normally. Everything is okay. Changed to 32-bit colour and 1024 x 780 resolution with no problem. Begin to back up files like crazy. Now am typing this message.

So what the hell was wrong with my PC? Why is it all right now? How long will it stay this way?? What shall I do??

2

Sounds like your display adapter is failing. Does your motherboard have an onboard adapter you could enable to see if the problem goes away? If it does, I would say you need a new display adapter.

3

The card which I am using now is second-hand which I gotten for free. My friend, who gave it to me, claims that it is quite new and he haven’t use it much. But it may be the card because its manufacturer is not actually that well known.

4

Is the fan working on your video card? Maybe it’s overheating.

If you have Windows 9x, you could try restoring an earlier copy of your registry (some program may have fiddled with a video card or driver setting). Try booting up in DOS mode, then type ‘Scanreg /RESTORE’ Windows will show you the last five copies of your registry which were backup up after a successful boot. Pick a registry that pre-dates when the problems started and restore it. Then re-boot normally.

5

Make sure the monitor cables are plugged in securely.

6

Try your monitor on another computer, make sure it isn’t acting flaky; other wise try another vid card.