oh no! what's wrong with my pc?

unwashed potato!

unwashed potato!

unwashed potato!

Soldato
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all of a sudden the screen has gone blocky with blue and red specs over it and blue and red blocks.

the device now only will start in safemode as each time i try to start in normal mode (windows 7) it starts with a blue screen with loads of text, and i can only read quick enough that it says windows has deteced an issue so will restart.

any clue what this could be? i fear could be something wrong with graphics card but it's odd that it starts in safe mode and not normal mode, though both have the issue with line/blocks or blue and red. the blocks etc change at different stages, e.g. just blue when it's on the bios page, then windows loading is a mix, then safe mode it's just red.

edit: in safe mode the notifaction says that audio service isn't running and it can't fix it if that makes any difference.

also this happened when watching iplayer in firefox. i've been having issues with firefox and flash freezing my pc lately for 30 seconds then it's fine.
 
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Are your drivers up to date? What make and model is your GPU?

Any overclock in place?

Checked for overheating?

Disable auto restart at failure by pressing F8 at Post.

Safe Mode may not be loading the audio drivers.

What version of Firefox are you using and is your flash up to date?

Full spec would help others to help you. :)

Artifacting in the BIOS does not sound good if the system is not overclocked.
 
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Mammalian said:
... starts with a blue screen with loads of text, and i can only read quick enough that it says windows has deteced an issue so will restart...
Click to expand...

To be able to read the error message, you need to turn off the "Automatic restart" setting. There are a couple of ways of doing this:
1) in the "Advanced Boot Options Menu" (hold F8 after BIOS finishes) or
2) it can be found in the Control Panel, once you have gotten Windows booted up
Cheers :)
 
Sounds like a driver issue, go into safe mode, use a driver cleaning program to get rid of your video card drivers completely and boot into windows normally. This SHOULD work. If it doesnt work id say re-install windows just to check.

Finally if this doesnt work then go through the steps of checking your RAM by swapping them with known working modules, moving on from that the GPU and then more drastically the CPU...
 
TWiNKLeT0Es said:
Are your drivers up to date? What make and model is your GPU?

Any overclock in place? none

Checked for overheating? downloaded a program called gpu-z but it wont let me install whilst in safe mode

Disable auto restart at failure by pressing F8 at Post.

Safe Mode may not be loading the audio drivers.

What version of Firefox are you using and is your flash up to date? latest official version of ff (off top of my head think it's 3.64) (i'm now on my laptop), and latest version of flash which is what causes the crashes in firefox

Full spec would help others to help you. :)how can i get full specs from within safe mode? order was from ocuk about 5 years ago so will check if my order is still on their website but fairly certain it's not as their system was updated after my order

Artifacting in the BIOS does not sound good if the system is not overclocked. :( poo
Click to expand...

trying what others have suggested. as it's happening in bios i'm fairly certain the gpu is screwed and i need a new one now. googling suggests this to be the case e.g http://www.techsupportforum.com/for...-on-screen-including-in-bios-post-550027.html


gpu is radeon X1900

this is similar to what i get...

link


error message on blue screen reads (with what i'd imagine not so important removed):

"attemp to reset the display driver and recover from timeout failed

tech info: stop: 0x00000116 -loads of long numbers

atikmdag.sys - loads of more long numbers"
 
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From within Safe Mode you can click > Start > Run type dxdiag > Click OK

Try removing the ATI Drivers from within Safe Mode then Driver Sweeper.

Then reinstall.

:Edit:

Does not look good in the BIOS?

Is the BIOS up to date?

Try using a bootable Linux USB stick and try seeing if there are any issues?

Also try removing the card and inspecting it for dust and the usual reseating even in a different slot if you have not tried?
 
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TWiNKLeT0Es said:
From within Safe Mode you can click > Start > Run type dxdiag > Click OK

Try removing the ATI Drivers from within Safe Mode then Driver Sweeper.just finished this and the above. no difference

Then reinstall.

:Edit:

Does not look good in the BIOS? yeah looks exactly the same in bios, it's buggered the second the computer gets switched on

Is the BIOS up to date? don't know but doubt that's the issue as it's just appeared whilst watching iplayer rather then when installing something which suggests something just gone wrong

Try using a bootable Linux USB stick and try seeing if there are any issues?
not a clue how i'd even start with this
Click to expand...


just thought i'd also add that i was given the option ot start from latest known good config so i did and it started up into windows 7 normal mode though with very low resolution. it still has the issue but it's oddly now working some what. i tried uninstalled the drivers for the gpu from device manager, then restarted and then reinstalled. says update is succesful but when i restart the drivers aren't there again.
 
Have you removed them for Add/Remove Programs?

Sounding good and more likely a driver issue. :)

Edit:

Oh just reread the post "It still has the issue"?

Not sounding good but i would suggest at this point as other may help you better though is remove all traces of the ATI drivers and start again.

Also consider updating the BIOS but do that as a last resort.

If you wish to try the Linux router goto: http://www.livecdlist.com/ and download what you want and put it on a USB stick to rule out a WINDOZ issue.

But it all depends on what BIOS version is being used.

Im small fry :) Your Big fry :)
 
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yeah the issue is still there and is always there e.g from moment it's switched on until i goes off, however i can now at least boot into windows normal mode, where as before i could only get into safe mode.

i may just get a new gpu (or second hand one from mm) or perhaps sell the whole device if it's worth anything as i've got a good laptop that i use to play games and i planned to upgrade when skyrim was out. only biggest issue is i have 2 monitors, one which is currently attached by hdmi but not sure how or if it's possible to attach the other to this laptop.
 
What make hard drives are you using?

Any Western Digital attached?

Anyway im sure others have the option but just download: http://support.wdc.com/product/downloaddetail.asp?swid=119&wdc_lang=en

Acronis True Image WD Edition Software.

From here backup the system (Whole Drive Partition to be sure) or whatever your hardware supports then reinstall Windows then the updated drivers and tally up the difference?

If it fails put the backup back and continue...

:Edit:

A wee bit complex and i done my quoter i think for me tonight as im not normally very active as it seems fixed but an alternative solution with a win win as always a good one.

From the above you can break it as much as you like. :)
 
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Mammalian said:
...error message on blue screen reads (with what i'd imagine not so important removed): ...
atikmdag.sys ...
Click to expand...

This sounds like a problem with the "Catalyst Control Centre" and not neccessarily the Display driver. You can install just the Display driver on its own, without having to also install CCC.

Mammalian said:
...latest known good config so i did and it started up into windows 7 normal mode though with very low resolution. it still has the issue but it's oddly now working some what.
Click to expand...

Thats probably Windows using its own (software) VGA driver, which usually runs at 640x480 and is really slow. Suggests the ATI driver wasn't installed.

Might be worth getting to the last known good config again and then installing just the ATI driver on its own. Cheers
 
TWiNKLeT0Es said:
To backup and let lose someone can reveal masters. But yes i agree nothing wrong with anyone trying with nothing lost?

We all learn as we all did. :)
Click to expand...

Pardon?

It's a banjaxed graphics card - a mate had a similar problem with an x1950. Worked fine with the odd artifact in text mode (eg BIOS) or VGA mode in Windows. Whenever it tried to load the ATI drivers it just blue screened in whatever PC it was installed in.

Stop egging the OP on to jump through hoops trying to coax some life out of a 4-5 year old component that's patently failed.
 
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