(My weirdest, anyway.)
My PC is running Windows 7, and I use firefox; I did try installing other browsers, and the same thing happens.
When I’m on a webpage, everything seems fine until I scroll. I can scroll partway, and then
this
Anyone got any idea what it could be?
Busted video card, or video card driver issue. More likely the latter, but you never know.
I would certainly want to ensure your drivers were all correct and properly configured for the machines video card. Not impossible it is a stuck address bit inside the video system.
It’s a graphics glitch. Is it happening with other browsers, or when you scroll in other applications such as word processors?
If it happens just in one application, its a bug or misconfiguration there (try changing graphics settings such as whether the app uses hardware graphics rendering). If it’s happening in more than one application, it’s probably your graphics card - start by checking the driver (roll back to previous version if it’s been updated recently).
Good advice. Thanks. Er, just out of curiosity, how does a bit get stuck?
Bits can get stuck.
The bit is a semiconducting junction. If current is flowing or not, it is a 1 or 0. The junction can short through and always be on. Or the semiconducting junctions controlling that bit state can short to always on. Also they can become open and always be off. Even though it is solid state. It can wear out and act randomly or fail instantly and permanently. It is usually pretty catastrophic if it is in the active processing devices. But if it is in memory areas, it can appear intermittent to some extent.
I’ve seen that sort of video problem only once or twice myself. But it did not recur. I also suspect it might be a driver / application issue. If it was a hardware failure, it would likely happen across more applications.
If your system is getting old, it is more likely for compatibility to be dropped for some of it’s subsystems.
It does sound like a video card or driver issue if it’s happening with other browsers. Though it’s also possible that Windows put out an update to Direct2D that messed things up.
Either way, a workaround, should it happen again after restarting the computer (and making sure your drivers are up to date) would be to turn off hardware acceleration.
Click the 3-line button, then choose Options. Go to the Advanced Tab, and uncheck “Use Hardware Acceleration when available.” Then restart Firefox.
Note, this isn’t a fix, just a workaround. Video playback will likely be affected, requiring a lot more CPU. There are ways to fine tune the video settings that might get around that, but hopefully you won’t have to use them.
If the video card has its own RAM, or a fan on it, either of these could be broken. If the fan is broken, the card could run fine until it overheats. If it has its own RAM, and it’s glitchy, this explains why it’s a video specific problem. If it’s a very expensive card you bought for gaming, you might be able to replace just the RAM.
If you have pets, or smoke, vacuum out the computer, take the card out, vacuum around the slot, and reseat it. It’s a longshot, but it’s a free one.
If you don’t have a video card, then your onboard video may be shot (pretty common). Buy an cheap video card.
I doubt it’s a hardware problem. The whole screen isn’t smearing like that, just an element on the page. Especially with the cat picture…it’s the clear the “Popular” story ads on the right side are rendered just fine all the way down the screen (and the start menu, etc.) It could be a driver issue, or a browser issue, but it really doesn’t look like a hardware failure.
The OP didn’t ask what he should do, but I have lots of ideas and I’m glad to share. This is what I would do:
[ol]
[li]write a song about a Rocket Cat[/li][li] collect Millions [/li][li]profit![/li][/ol]
Oh, no, no, no, I’m a rocket cat
Rocket cat burning out his fuse up here alone
It looks like your cat’s UPC symbol. Too bad the picture wasn’t of your dog, then we could sing …
(wait for it …)
How much is that doggie, in your Windows?
Well, my system is a build, and it’s less than a year old, BUT the graphics card is an old crusty one I had to put in when my previous one suddenly failed. So I expect a trip to Best Buy will solve the problem, as soon as I can get a little ahead.
Also, it’s been really really hot here this week, I wondered if that might have been involved.
As it happens, I just vacuumed out my mobo recently, because cats.
Have you considered the possibility that you just have an extremely tall cat?
When you scroll are you using the wheel or the scroll bar on the page? Does it occur both ways?
The reason I ask is that the first thought that comes to mind when I hear ‘When I do X with my mouse/keyboard x happens on my monitor’ is IRQ conflict. It is unlikely, Windows handles those pretty well these days…
Slee
I haven’t seen an IRQ conflict since Windows 98. If it somehow was, I’m sure a driver change and/or replacement video card would still fix it.
Gone are the days of manually managing things like IRQs and comm ports. Just as a fun exercise in Windows 7 go into Device Mananger, change the view to “Resources by connection” and expand the IRQ category. Good grief on my work laptop there’s almost 200 of them. Good thing the system takes care of it all now. I remember having to mess with jumpers to set these things!
Better get a CueCat to read it.
Concur bad video driver or possible bad video hardware but I would lean towards driver since it only happens in specific applications.
That said, this ain’t weird.
People in retail get flashbacks about being flooded with customers while understaffed, explorers get flashbacks about running away from rampaging hippos. IT people get IRQ conflict memories* from the old days…
Yeah, me too Atamasama, me too…
I still hunt for bad memory. It’s a wide awake nightmare on some days for me.
