Originally Posted by
seahwk83
Any changes that either happened or that you perhaps made to your computer around the time that the problem started; particularly any software or hardware that you installed or setup.
from your first statement, it would seem you display may be "going"
Do you have access to an external monitor that you could hook up to see what image would like on another monitor?
Are you getting any 'error' messages of any kind?
Did it just start happening out of nowhere?
since the age of your PC, you should stick what came with
try and see if it is a display issue first by trying another monitor if possible, if it turns out it is your display in the laptop, you would just have to use an external monitor as opposed to getting that one fixed which would cost more than the laptop is worth
Thank you!
I've tried wracking my brain to figure out if something downloaded onto my PC to access a website or something. There might have been an active x type thing, but I was afraid to remove it and run into even more problems.
when you said display, do you mean the monitor screen? I wish I had another monitor to test it on, but I definitely don't have one here.
the problem did appear to start of nowhere while I was in the middle of watching a downloaded version of iron chef. I have gotten the following messages (in the beginning, the screen would freeze for a little bit, and then all of the icons and windows became huge and weird looking. The colors also turned to cruddy teal, white, blue, and green. OK, here are the messages:
the nv4_disp display driver has stopped working normally... (weird screen change; also, the mouse would have a garbled square formed around it, and it wouldn't let clicking work anymore.
problem with file nv4_disp "the driver itself got stuck in an infinite loop" (shutting down my PC, like a blue screen)
after a lot of searching on the internet, I read that I should remove nvidia from add/remove progr. so that's what I did.
then I wrote to nvidia customer support, and they said it sounds like I need to get the right drivers or something from the manufacturer.
the best way to describe the visual situation is this: the windows, icons and font is huge, and none of it fits in the screen (kind of like in safe mode), and the colors and graohics are really crappy. There are symmetrical, vertical pinstripes in various windows. Sometimes they flash up a bit, and sometimes they become greatly reduced in number. Also, a letters are missing little pieces of themselves. Typing looks like it has a light flashy effect on the screen.
by the way, despite being checked to set system restore points, there weren't any.
for a little while, it looked like the problem was mostly fixed, except that videos ran like photo animation. I created a system restore point. Wlel, eventually my computer became snailish (it always does when it's been on for awhile, so I restarted it. The problem returned! It was there a little more, and then a lot more.
I tried lowering everything in display properties. Then I went to windows update and got all the express and custom stuff I could. Reboot, and the problems were still there.
then I went to install a new driver manually according to my PC and model no. on reboot, after the windows page, all I would get was black. After trying a dozen things in some form of safe mode, I got back in. when I tried to restore back, it said it couldn't do it.
by the way, it's now impossible to bring the colors, etc. back up from the total minimum you can use.
so then I tried downloading the nvidia driver from the reinstallation cd that came with my PC. Upon restart, I was back to that old black screen. Again, no good system restore.
now sometimes Firefox will close for no reason too.
I honestly don't know a dying screen from adam, but I was thinking the screen appears to be working okay
does this sound like it's about the video drivers, the screen, or something else?
if it is about the drivers, would you recommend I buy and download "drivercleaner" or something similar? The free download found various stuff, but use of the program costs money that's only worth paying if it will fix everything (and simply!)
I think my PC is 5 1/2 years old, not 6 1/2 as I wrote earlier, but it's still a dinosaur.
I can't believe it's still alive, but I'm waiting on a check that's supposed to be coming in next week. Then I get a new one! (I'll be back for recommendations!) this one is sitting on two boxes to get air circulating underneath, and my external memory is held together with blue tape. The only thing is that I really, really need to use it until I get my new one (which I might have to get shipped from the US to Europe), and I don't want to lose my files if I can help it.
also, if I can't save this myself, I could pay someone to come and do it (if there's any hope or if it's worth the money)... but I need it! AGAIN, THANK YOU!