# Weird (and rather dull) computer display question...

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-and-rather-dull-computer-display-question/309447>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 22, 2005, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-and-rather-dull-computer-display-question/309447 "2005-06-22T22:14:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\
**Post date:** [June 22, 2005, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-and-rather-dull-computer-display-question/309447/1 "2005-06-22T22:14:53Z")

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OK, one of the XP pro machines I support kept spontaneously rebooting - often never even getting as far as login; I’ve tried reseating everything, checking the fans, scanning for malware etc. The only thing that would seem to hold it off for a while was to do a system restore, but after a day or two, it all starts again.

Anyway, that’s pretty much irrelevant; I decided to give it the clean wipe and reinstall, as the next option. This machine has Novell Netware client installed, so instead of the XP welcome screen, you get a black screen with a red and grey Novell login box in the centre. I’d managed to boot as far as this login box one time, then I gave up, powered down the machine and moved it to the maintenance bench. Just to get the current data off the hard drive before wiping, I decided to boot from a Mandrake Move CD - (a ‘live’ distribution of Linux that requires no install); at the point that the Linux boot sequence switches display modes from text to graphics, the screen went black and for a fraction of a second, the greay and red Novell login box flashed into view, partially obscured by some weird chunky pixellated/coloured blocks.

Wuh duh fuh?

How did this happen? Just to recap - the machine was booted as far as the Novell login, shut down and disconnected from mains power, then booted into Linux, wherupon the Novell login box (which belongs to a Win32 service) appeared briefly on the screen. I’m guessing I was only seeing a _picture_ of it, not the actual thing, but… but… Any suggestions?

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**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\
**Post date:** [June 22, 2005, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-and-rather-dull-computer-display-question/309447/2 "2005-06-22T23:18:46Z")

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Residuals in graphics memory, pretty common. Unusual if the machine has been disconnected from power, but not impossible.