Windows 7 Laptop with messed up display....

Scania

Scania

Scania

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I'm posting this here as I'm presuming its a windows issue rather than a laptop / hardware specific issue....

My nephew has rang me to say his fairly new Toshiba laptop has a weird display problem, he described it akin to an old tv with the vertical hold set wrongly i.e. the bottom of the desktop is at the top, the top at the bottom and the left over to the right with lines dividing each section...???!

He didn't have anything critical saved on the laptop so I thought the easiest option would be for him to use the Toshiba recovery software to put it back to factory settings, this he's duly done, all his old program's have gone and its behaving just like a new machine ,but, the screen issue apparently remains.?!?

Possible faulty hardware after all? Or is it a windows 7 / settings / driver issue? I'm doubtful about a hardware fault tbh as the screen is fine and all text where it should be on POST and once running the recovery software until it finishes and the machine reboots.

Can't be much more specific as I'm working today (:() and don't have access to the machine until I call round later tonight to have a look.

I'm hoping the OC/UK collective can give me some pointers....

Thanks. :)
 
Scania said:
he described it akin to an old tv with the vertical hold set wrongly i.e. the bottom of the desktop is at the top, the top at the bottom and the left over to the right with lines dividing each section...???!
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as i renember it the vertical hold caused a scrolling effect so its a bit hard to know what u mean,some pictures would help.im fairly competent with windows and am not aware of any settings that can cause this.what graphic gpu,onboard? if formatting doesnt do it then its probably hardware issue
 
mrbell1984 said:
Format ?
Click to expand...

Probably what I'll eventually do. (I have Windows 7 - retail - discs)

I'd rather not though as the laptop has no discs and a lot of pre-installed software ,which he'd rather keep,on its recovery partition, Microsoft Office being one of them, I don't have a copy of that to reinstall (although I could install OpenOffice I suppose...)

Just seems an odd issue, I've always understood recovery partition software formatted the windows partition and then reinstalled a clean install, I'm a bit stumped as to why what appears to be some screwed up display setting remains...
 
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kyle1970 said:
as i renember it the vertical hold caused a scrolling effect so its a bit hard to know what u mean,some pictures would help.im fairly competent with windows and am not aware of any settings that can cause this.what graphic gpu,onboard? if formatting doesnt do it then its probably hardware issue
Click to expand...

Imagine the vertical hold stuck half way, i.e. the top half of his desktop is where the bottom should be and vice versa. The same thing seems -from what he describes to me - to he happening with left to right!

It does seem hardware related, as far as I'm aware it has onboard graphics i.e. no dedicated gfx card, but, I'm working and won't get to see the machine until tonight.

I've asked him to boot it into safe mode to see if it still does the same thing but he's not replied yet - he's only 13 and has probably thought sod it and gone out with his mates!! :D

I'll update later. :)
 
I'm presuming its a hardware fault, he's run the restore 3 times, without Internet, and each time it's the same.
He's dropping it off to me sometime through the week, I'll post pictures of the screen assuming I can't sort it. :)
 
Get him to run a Linux live CD. If the problem remains you know it's hardware.

Actually just get him to boot into the BIOS/UEFI - if it displays wonky then it can't be Windows or a driver issue.
 
I am using win8 which has the option under resolution settings to flip vertically and flip horizontally. Don't know if win7 is the same or what it would appear like if used.
 
Most laptops these days have HDMI ports, so use this to connect it to your TV. With the laptop hooked up to your TV, look at the display settings, etc.
 
BIOS / POST screen is fine, as is text whilst he's initialising the recovery process, it all goes to pot once the system reboots having completed the recovery.

Seems odd this would be the case after recovery.....

Hopefully he'll be dropping it off today and I'll take a look tonight after work.
 
Might be a problem with the screen at higher res only.

This is why you should test with a Linux live disc too.
 
Had this before with my wee bros PC when connected to a TV, seemed to have the screen sectioned in 2 4 different sections. Changed the resolution and luckily this seemed to resolve the problem for me. It has happened on the odd occasion since on booting up, but after installing a new PC we have had no problems at all.
 
I have seen this problem before, it is a hardware problem

Low resultion eg bios screens are fine , but when something actually tries
to use the graphics chip properly it goes to hell

The graphics chip is most likely damaged
 
I'm wondering if the system restore is just overwriting certain files. Perhaps a complete format and reinstall would do the trick if you have system image on CD?
 
Following most other peoples thoughts, it does seem a hardware issue.
However, one thing I would try is to completely un-install the graphics driver, reboot, see if it fixes itself on a standard display driver, and then go to the Toshiba website and download the latest driver for your graphics.
It's unlikely but possibly the graphics driver that is on the recovery partition is screwed.
Or like other people have said, try a Linux live CD :)
Hope this helps :)
 
Finally got to take a look at it over the weekend, alas, despite him assuring me the problem only existed in Windows, it's safe to say its some hardware fault.

The BIOS, post and indeed windows desktop is all screwed up!

The middle section is where it should be, but the left is on the right & vice versa, more like a horizontal issue rather than vertical!!
Kids!

It's going back to Toshiba......
 
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