Garbled Display??!

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pacha

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Hi guys :confused:
My display is full of pink dots , that change to blue when there is a white object on the screen and red when there is a black object. They are also affected by movement, like the mouse or scrolling.

I can't boot up windows XP now. when i try it shows the windows logo against the black and looks as if it is loading (though it is garbled already at this point) but then as soon as it is done with this the monitor says that there is no signal. The only way i can use the computer is by booting into safe mode... (and obviously the display is still garbled in safe mode).

I just downloaded and installed the latest driver for my nVidia GeForce 6200 graphics card that im using but that didnt affect anything... my instinct told me to open up the computer, take out the graphics card, blow on it and put it back in (it always worked with those TV game cartridges!!:D) but that didnt affect it either.

please help! i have an art project that i need to work on and i cant do anything like this!
thanks!! :confused:

P.S. i can take a photo using my camera if that would help at all. (?)
 
Sounds like overheating RAM modules on the graphics card to me, can you get another graphics card to test?
 
thanks for the quick reply guys! i dont think i can get hold of another, where would i get one? (sorry, i'm pretty clueless when it comes to hardware) what do you guys suggest i do? do i need to buy another graphics card?
 
If you have a friend with a (presumably) PCI-Express graphics card that you can borrow for a few minutes then you can easily test. I wouldn't recommend buying a new one until you are sure that the 6200 is the culprit, though.
 
Try asking a friend if you can borrow his/her GPU for a mo.

Does your motherboard not have an onboard GPU?
 
i've got the pc open, looking right at the motherboard, how do i know if it has an onboard GPU and how would i plug the monitor in?
 
Well if you don't include the graphics card and you look on the back of the PC, is there another port closer to the top of the case that you can plug a display in?
 
pacha said:
i've got the pc open, looking right at the motherboard, how do i know if it has an onboard GPU and how would i plug the monitor in?
Click to expand...

Look at the back panel of your PC, where you plug in your peripherals. If there is a blue port which accepts 15 pins (the normal D-Sub connector) close to where your keyboard and mouse plug in then your motherboard has onboard graphics.
 
ah, ja there is! alright, iv plugged the monitor into it and switched the pc on but nothing appears on the screen.. no signal.
 
pacha said:
ah, ja there is! alright, iv plugged the monitor into it and switched the pc on but nothing appears on the screen.. no signal.
Click to expand...

Did you remove the 6200 before using the onboard graphics? Most motherboards disable the onboard graphics if a dedicated card is installed.
 
ok, i will do that quickly. thank you so much for the help hey. i will reply as soon as i have removed the 6200
 
Yay! the display is perfect now. you guys are diamonds. im guessing the 6200 is definitely the culprit then? so what is my next move? do i need to buy a new graphics card or, if im not planning on playing games, could i use the pc as it is? and what do i do with the 6200? throw it away? I am so relieved, thank you!
 
pacha said:
Yay! the display is perfect now. you guys are diamonds. im guessing the 6200 is definitely the culprit then? so what is my next move? do i need to buy a new graphics card or, if im not planning on playing games, could i use the pc as it is? and what do i do with the 6200? throw it away? I am so relieved, thank you!
Click to expand...

If you're not planning on playing any graphically-intensive games then you can use the PC as is.

You could try removing the GPU cooler, reapplying some thermal paste and then reinstalling the GPU cooler to see whether it fixes the problem (if you know how, of course. If you don't know how, rather let someone else do it and learn from them :p).

If you are planning on playing graphically-intensive games you'll likely have to buy a new graphics card if you are not willing to try the above. If it's an AGP card you'll have difficulty getting a new card as they're in rather short supply. If it's a PCI-Express card you have quite a range to choose from. Do you perhaps know whether it's an AGP or PCI-Express card?
 
I don't think the 6200 actually comes or used to come in AGP... As far as I remember.

EDIT: Silly me... Thinking of a different card. It wdoul most likely be AGP.
 
argh.. i just lost the long message i just typed.

I am not planning on playing games so it is fine. I think it is an AGP, as far as I can tell...

I would be more than happy to try to fix it, though it seems i am fresh out of 'thermal paste'! fancy that! :D (i have no idea what thermal paste is.. do you know where I would find some? (and i will google a guide on the procedure) or how i would go about finding someone to help me?

I just want to say thank you for what you do, you are an amazing person. I commend you for your patience with people like me and i don't know where id be now without your help! :D thank you.

on a side note, and please don't feel obligated to help me if you are too busy, i have a wireless router that i use to broadcast wifi in my house and I can't connect to it all of a sudden! Nothing picks it up! What do you suggest I do.
 
You should be able to buy some thermal paste at your local hardware shop. If you take your graphics card to your local hardware shop and ask them to disassemble everything, apply thermal paste and reassemble they should be able to for a small fee (if any).

Which model router is it? Are you able to connect via wired ports? How many computers do you have that are connecting wirelessly? Do you have encryption enabled?
 
ok, i will take the card in and ask them to fix it.

It is a Senao 2-Port Switch Wireless Router + Print Server. Yes, there is a WAN ethernet port and 2 other ethernet ports. I'll explain the setup briefly. I have the standard old Telkom Marconi router that has a cable going to the main pc and another going to the Senao wireless router (which i have plugged into the WAN port. is this correct?). I'm not sure if i have encryption enabled, how could i check? Thank you!

EDIT: forgot to mention how many computers are connecting wirelessly. There is and a Nintoendo Wii and sometimes my macbook and iMac. I also would occasionally use my phone to connect to the wifi.
 
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Hey like everyone has said it is prob your graphics, but you can always just try using a different monitor to see if you pixels isn't screwed up, never know, there is always something wrong that you don't usually expect. Good luck
 
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