# My computer is dying!! Holy Crap! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 2, 2004, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-is-dying-holy-crap/222213 "2004-01-02T03:37:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Red\_Matrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/34f0e0/32.png) [@Red\_Matrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Matrix)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-is-dying-holy-crap/222213/21 "2004-01-04T02:27:14Z")
**SS** , [ol] [li]Right-Click your desktop and select properties.[/li][li] Then click on the _Settings_ tab.[/li][li] See if you can change the _Colors_ setting from 256 to anything higher. NOTE: if the option is not there, (like 16bit, 24bit) then it’s not possible to make icons pretty.[/li][li] See if you can change the _Screen Area_ setting. Slide the bar one or two ‘clicks’. (again, if it won’t let ya, then it’s broken)[/li][/ol] If you cannot actually change a setting, then it has to be your graphics/video driver. (okay, so it might be the hardware video card, but that’s the last resort) Try to reinstall your “video adapter” from the _Device Manager_ window. I believe you arrive at this window by right-clicking on “My Computer” (or another name if you changed it) Hey, this is another way to check if somethings wrong, BTW. If you see a yellow triangle, it means the O.S. can’t install a device that it knows exists in your box. See if _Display Adapters_ has a yellow triangle. If it does, then we know FOR SURE the problem is in the driver or card. If it’s missing an entry, then you haffta re-install it. The troubleshooting gets a fork in the road from here, so i’ll just stop and wait for an update. ---
**Author:** ![SanguineSpider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SanguineSpider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanguineSpider)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-is-dying-holy-crap/222213/22 "2004-01-04T04:12:23Z")
BAHHHH! I’m so tired of computer crap. I tried changing the graphics setting but it tells me to insert the CD and I can’t find it. I went through all this hoo-hah when I added more memory about a year ago or so. The computer cowboy who helped me then did a great job of dealing with a true illiterate of these wonky doohickie thingamabobs. I hate everything I don’t understand!! ARRRGH! ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-is-dying-holy-crap/222213/23 "2004-01-04T05:01:46Z")
Don’t despair! As a tech I still have the Windows 98 disk, just reply to the note I did send you, I am here to help. ---
**Author:** ![SanguineSpider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SanguineSpider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanguineSpider)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-is-dying-holy-crap/222213/24 "2004-01-04T16:14:37Z")
\*\*Gigo{/b], thanks… I’ll be checking emails right after this. My graphics card is: NVIDIA Geforce 2 MX/MX 400 So now what??? ---
**Author:** ![Horseflesh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horseflesh/32/7502_2.png) [@Horseflesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horseflesh)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-is-dying-holy-crap/222213/25 "2004-01-04T19:04:26Z")
Here’s NVIDIA’s latest Detonator drivers: [Click here](http://download.nvidia.com/Windows/53.04/53.04_win9x_english.exe) Save the file to your desktop or someplace else where you won’t forget it. Close all Internet Explorer windows and other programs, find and double-click **53.04\_win9x\_english.exe** and follow the instructions (sorry, can’t get past this stage as I don’t have an NVIDIA card myself). Good luck. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Immortal\_Mango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/da6949/32.png) [@The\_Immortal\_Mango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Immortal_Mango)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-is-dying-holy-crap/222213/26 "2004-01-04T20:56:49Z")
I hate XP.I hate XP.I hate XP.I hate XP.I hate XP.I hate XP.I hate XP.I hate XP.I hate XP.I hate XP.I hate XP.I hate XP.I hate XP.I hate XP.I hate XP.I hate XP.I hate XP.I hate XP.I hate XP.I hate XP.I hate XP.I hate XP.I hate XP.I hate XP.I hate XP.I hate XP.I hate XP.I hate XP.I hate XP.I hate XP.I hate XP.I hate XP.I hate XP.I hate XP.I hate XP.I hate XP.I hate XP.I hate XP.I hate XP. Damn thing doesn’t work. I regularly get error messages, I’ve run countless virus checks and de-frag a load of times. Still doesn’t work. Oh and half my games won’t install, the internet is tempermental and it won’t shut down properly, and… ---
**Author:** ![Blonde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Blonde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blonde)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-is-dying-holy-crap/222213/27 "2004-01-04T21:06:43Z")
Sorry to hear about that, **SS!** \ I have a problem with my (company-owned) laptop - I stupidly installed the WeatherBug and and now receive pop-ups about securing my computer constantly. How the hell do I remove the evil WeatherBug program? I’ve searched my C drive - but I can’t find the program. Should I just take a sledgehammer to it, and report it stolen?? I think I’m running on Windows 2000 something, not XP. ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-is-dying-holy-crap/222213/28 "2004-01-04T21:26:36Z")
**Blonde** : I googled on “Weatherbug removal” and got as the first hit [this site](http://www.pchell.com/support/weatherbug.shtml) which says you should just use the normal Windows ‘remove programs’ feature. Can’t vouch for its accuracy, though. ---
**Author:** ![SanguineSpider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SanguineSpider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanguineSpider)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-is-dying-holy-crap/222213/29 "2004-01-04T22:45:53Z")
Ok, **Horseflesh** … trying it now. Will keep you all updated… _sigh_ ---
**Author:** ![SanguineSpider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SanguineSpider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanguineSpider)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2004, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-is-dying-holy-crap/222213/30 "2004-01-04T23:18:12Z")
BLARGH!! It didn’t work, **Horseflesh**!! Same ol’ crappy graphics… making my eyes water and my head pound. CRAPCRAPCRAPCRAPCRAPCRAPCRAPCRAPCRAPCRAPCRAPCRAPCRAP!!! I burning my computer!!! ---
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-is-dying-holy-crap/222213/31 "2004-01-05T08:46:40Z")
Did the install finish successfully or was there an error? If successful, did you try to change your display settings after installing the driver? ---
**Author:** ![Horseflesh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horseflesh/32/7502_2.png) [@Horseflesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horseflesh)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-is-dying-holy-crap/222213/32 "2004-01-05T23:07:38Z")
Well, if you’re still up for some more online troubleshooting, read on… Go into Device Manager (right-click My Computer, left click Properties) and click on the Device Manager tab. Click the + next to Display adapters. Highlight each adapter and click the Remove button at the bottom. Reboot when it asks to. When it comes back up, cancel any “Found New Hardware” dialog boxes. The screen should look pretty awful at this point. Rerun the Nvidia file you downloaded previously. Reboot. Now wot you got? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-is-dying-holy-crap/222213.md?page=1)