Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

No display except in safe mode...

Collapse
This topic is closed.
X
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • No display except in safe mode...

    A ex-coworker has a problem with his PC.

    I am no a PC tech but I usually fix my PC when it has a problem. People at work think I am a PC god since I am on mine all the time.

    He asked me back in January to take a look at it. He had a bad virus. Antivirus Pro 2009. The PC would freeze up and I couldnt get into safe mode because it kept telling me the video drivers were corrupt.

    So I talked him into doing a reformat and reinstall of XP.

    About a week ago he told me he needed me to look at it again. I finally got over there tonight and this thing has me pulling out my hair.

    Its an OLD(as in 5 to 7 years) Dell Dimension 4500S Intel Pent 4 1.8Ghz.

    When you turn it on it starts loading XP but as soon as it gets to where it will load the part to pick an account the screen goes black. The green lights on the monitor all flash and the power light turns orange. The PC keeps running and the mouse and keyboard still light up.

    I booted into safe mode and everything works fine. I ran AVG and it didnt find anything. But on the desktop of all the accounts is icons for "Virus Scan" And "Online Virus Scan". The first one doesnt seem to go anywhere. The Online one is a link for a page on clicklinkz*com. * = .

    So is this a virus doing this or something else? Any help would be appreciated.

  • #2
    At frist I was thinking virus, but the more I think about it I wonder if something in the video card is going south.. could even be a driver issue.

    couple suggestions.

    Try useing the system restore function with XP and roll the system back a couple of save points. If they tried to update something or install a driver, if might has farked something up.

    If you have access to another Video card, try slapping that in the system.. or (Assuming it's not an integrated MB) try putting this Video card in another system..
    Just sliding down the razor blade of life.

    Comment


    • #3
      I forgot to say I tried system restore. Theres only one restore point after I reformatted and installed all the windows updates and that did no good.

      And yes its all integrated, MB, video, and sound is all on one board.

      Comment


      • #4
        Sounds like the drivers are borked. If it was the card, integrated or not, it should be dead in either mode. That it works in safe mode, using the default windows drivers makes it sound like a driver issue. However, how the driver issue occurred is up for debate. It could be a virus. Try running hijackthis, or whatever it's called. There's a link in the sticky in here to it. That'll let you know if there's anything that needs to be dealt with.
        Ba'al: I'm a god. Gods are all-knowing.

        http://unrelatedcaptions.com/45147

        Comment


        • #5
          I'd also suggest
          1) Grab the driver from manufacturers website and transfer to USB stick
          2) Grab Driver sweeper and stick on the same stick
          3) If the driver package is in "Add\remove programs" remove and reboot.
          4) Reboot,install Driver Sweeper. Follow instructions and remove graphics drivers
          5) Boot normally and cancel Windows attempts to install driver
          6) Follow manufacturers instructions to install latest driver (normally double click and next>next>next etc)

          If you still have problems then it's very likely borked hardware
          Lady, people aren't chocolates. D'you know what they are mostly? Bastards. Bastard-coated bastards with bastard filling. Dr Cox - Scrubs

          Comment


          • #6
            i'm thinking more along the lines of a bad resolution setting.
            try using safe mode to lower the res and see if it will boot. easiest way to do it is to remove the driver and reboot. should then reboot at default resolution
            CS evolution: Not all the apes evolved, some just learned how to shave.

            Comment


            • #7
              Quoth dmf View Post
              i'm thinking more along the lines of a bad resolution setting.
              try using safe mode to lower the res and see if it will boot. easiest way to do it is to remove the driver and reboot. should then reboot at default resolution
              Ditto checking this first. Also, check the refresh rate for the monitor on the display properties.

              Right click on a blank portion of the desktop;
              Select Properties;
              Go to the Settings tab;
              [For XP] Click the "Advanced..." button;
              Go to the Monitor tab;
              Make sure it is set to 60 Hertz (default on most monitors) You may also want to check it at other settings.
              The Rich keep getting richer because they keep doing what it was that made them rich. Ditto the Poor.
              "Hy kan tell dey is schmot qvestions, dey is makink my head hurt."
              Hoc spatio locantur.

              Comment

              Working...
              X