Seeking some computer help

Burkex · 10-07-2009, 02:38 AM

Last night I was on itunes, playing poker, surfing the net, and all of that typical stuff and my computer just went haywire. I got some windows message that my display drivers had stopped working and then my whole computer just sort of went nuts and froze up.

When I restarted it I had vertical lines on my computer screen...dots that covered the whole screen in sort of zebra like stripes (I'll try to post a screenshot if I can) and then my icons were HUGE, way bigger than normal and took up most of the screen. For example: the mouse arrow was like 5x the normal size. Also the color was all messed up. My video card is a Nvidia Geforce 8600GT so I went to the nvidia site and downloaded the newest drivers. But that didn't work either. I tested out the monitor on a different computer and that works fine. Then I checked out my Nvidia display adapeters in the device manager and I get this:

Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems. (Code 43)

When I hit "check for solutions" I get this:

Windows was able to successfully install device driver software, but the driver software encountered a problem when it tried to run. The problem code is 43..

Now I did google windows error code 43 but I really couldn't find any solutions.

I am thinking that maybe my graphics card is broken. But I do not want to go out and buy a new one only to find out that that isn't the real problem. So do any of you computer geniuses know anything about this? I would love any help or constructive comments, thanks.

Burkex · 10-07-2009, 03:02 AM

here is the screen shot of everything fucked up and a SS of the current nvidia, it's messed cause it says no graphics card:

Burkex · 10-07-2009, 03:09 AM

Bah here is a better shot of that 2nd part:

(I know I don't have a great computer but I don't want to lose everything and/or have to get a new computer) See how it says no gaming graphics, shouldn't it say Nvidia 8600 GT? I used to play WOW on this computer and it ran awesome.

k^M · 10-07-2009, 06:55 AM

Since you tried the monitor on a diff pc, can you do the same with your vid card?

Tried uninstalling the device entirely and re-installing device drivers?

Bralkan · 10-07-2009, 06:59 AM

Sounds like your video card died. It is not your monitor.

Your video card drivers are failing to initialize. You can try uninstalling all of your nvidia drivers and reinstalling to see if it works. Also, in device manager right click on your card and remove. Reboot. See what it does then.

If you have an extra / old video card, try throwing that in and see if it works.

sentagur · 10-07-2009, 09:43 AM

Open your computer while its still on and make sure the Video card fan is still running.
Take out your Video Card and check the Capacitors for any bulges or evidence of leaking fluid.
check the board itself around the GPU chip for any discoloration.
If you find any of those there is a good chance its toast.

Clean contacts and the Graphic card slot with compressed air. clean your fan and cooling block as well and put the card back in

Start windows and uninstall your video drivers.
restart your computer and let windows load the defaults, then restart again and try loading the ones you downloaded.

Burkex · 10-07-2009, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bralkan

Your video card drivers are failing to initialize. You can try uninstalling all of your nvidia drivers and reinstalling to see if it works. Also, in device manager right click on your card and remove. Reboot. See what it does then.

I tried this and it didn't work.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sentagur

Open your computer while its still on and make sure the Video card fan is still running.
Take out your Video Card and check the Capacitors for any bulges or evidence of leaking fluid.
check the board itself around the GPU chip for any discoloration.
If you find any of those there is a good chance its toast.

Clean contacts and the Graphic card slot with compressed air. clean your fan and cooling block as well and put the card back in

Start windows and uninstall your video drivers.
restart your computer and let windows load the defaults, then restart again and try loading the ones you downloaded.

I checked and the fan is turning but I don't think the graphics card is working. I took it out and I used the compressed air to get rid of all the dust, I looked at the card and didn't see any discoloration or anything, no leaking fluid or whatever. Then I put it back in and tried all of that stuff and it didn't work.

I do not have another computer to try the graphics card. I ended up buying a new card off of newegg and hopefully that works. If that fails then I have no clue what to do. This really blows, especially since I am clueless with computers.

Thanks for all of the help. I appreciate it.

Twobit Whore · 10-07-2009, 05:04 PM

Your video card likely fried. Try a different one, Nvidia preferably and don't change drivers. If it works then you have your answer.

Burkex · 10-07-2009, 05:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Twobit Whore

Your video card likely fried. Try a different one, Nvidia preferably and don't change drivers. If it works then you have your answer.

Yea I just ordered one, nothing too special:
Newegg.com - EVGA 256-P2-N753-TR GeForce 8600 GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

Hopefully that fixes it.

BTW do you guys usually go through video cards on a regular basis, like 1 per year or something? Is it like changing tires on a car or something? It seems like you guys have a bunch of them like spares lying around too. I had this computer for almost 2 years now and this is the first problem I have encountered with it but it seems to be a pretty big problem.

EDIT: you see how that video card says 256 MB or w/e I am guessing that is the memory on the card (is the correct?) and currently on my computer it says the card has 0 memory so I am guessing that it is fried and that is why my screen is all messed up.

Twobit Whore · 10-07-2009, 05:23 PM

That would be my guess.

Some people upgrade video cards often. I do it every couple of years or so.

Why are you buying an 8600GT though? It's pretty much junk these days.

Burkex · 10-07-2009, 05:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Twobit Whore

Why are you buying an 8600GT though? It's pretty much junk these days.

It's what I had before so I know that it works in the computer. As I said I am sort of a computer nub so I am kinda clueless on the matter.

Right now I have a Dell (you can tell I am a nub cause I have a Dell) Inspiron 531 (It's a tower desktop type of computer). With 2gig, windows vista, etc...if this video card fixes my problem and the computer actually works again I would definitely keep this one as a spare one and then get a better graphics card....if you are an expert on this matter what kind of card would be good to get these days and would be compatable in my computer? But first I need to make sure that this is going to actually fix my problem.

Twobit Whore · 10-07-2009, 05:38 PM

Well it depends on what you use it for and how much you want to spend. If it's just a web surfing e-mail machine then that will do just fine.

Burkex · 10-07-2009, 05:43 PM

It burned out when I had the computer split into 3 screens, I had 2 poker games going on full tilt and I had 1/3 of the screen season 3 of the wire running off of itunes. Plus I had some internet stuff minimized. Is that putting a lot of stress on the card? Plus it pissed me off cause it got all messed up while I was kicking ass in 2 poker tourneys and when the computer went nuts I couldn't finish those games and slowly ended up getting chipped away in those tourneys that I was in a good position to win...I could have at least made the final table and finished in the money.

Twobit Whore · 10-07-2009, 05:50 PM

No, that shouldn't be hardly any stress. It's an old card, sometimes they just give out.

Jysin-DW · 10-07-2009, 07:24 PM

Does your screen have any artifacts when you are at the boot screens (Before Windows) or especially during BIOS?

That is usually a tell tale sign its your vid card, because its not relying on any software drivers from the OS.

Hopefully you registered it. nVidia is good about their warranties.

10-07-2009, 02:38 AM	#1 (permalink)
Burkex It's Lord of the Flies time. Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 3,487 -77 Internets	Seeking some computer help Last night I was on itunes, playing poker, surfing the net, and all of that typical stuff and my computer just went haywire. I got some windows message that my display drivers had stopped working and then my whole computer just sort of went nuts and froze up. When I restarted it I had vertical lines on my computer screen...dots that covered the whole screen in sort of zebra like stripes (I'll try to post a screenshot if I can) and then my icons were HUGE, way bigger than normal and took up most of the screen. For example: the mouse arrow was like 5x the normal size. Also the color was all messed up. My video card is a Nvidia Geforce 8600GT so I went to the nvidia site and downloaded the newest drivers. But that didn't work either. I tested out the monitor on a different computer and that works fine. Then I checked out my Nvidia display adapeters in the device manager and I get this: Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems. (Code 43) When I hit "check for solutions" I get this: Windows was able to successfully install device driver software, but the driver software encountered a problem when it tried to run. The problem code is 43.. Now I did google windows error code 43 but I really couldn't find any solutions. I am thinking that maybe my graphics card is broken. But I do not want to go out and buy a new one only to find out that that isn't the real problem. So do any of you computer geniuses know anything about this? I would love any help or constructive comments, thanks. __________________ "If you want the ultimate, you've got to be willing to pay the ultimate price. It's not tragic to die doing what you love." My favorite comment (-1): "Your posts make me want to gouge my own eyes out."

10-07-2009, 03:02 AM	#2 (permalink)
Burkex It's Lord of the Flies time. Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 3,487 -77 Internets	here is the screen shot of everything fucked up and a SS of the current nvidia, it's messed cause it says no graphics card: Attached Images __________________ "If you want the ultimate, you've got to be willing to pay the ultimate price. It's not tragic to die doing what you love." My favorite comment (-1): "Your posts make me want to gouge my own eyes out." Last edited by Burkex; 10-07-2009 at 03:07 AM..

10-07-2009, 03:09 AM	#3 (permalink)
Burkex It's Lord of the Flies time. Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 3,487 -77 Internets	Bah here is a better shot of that 2nd part: (I know I don't have a great computer but I don't want to lose everything and/or have to get a new computer) See how it says no gaming graphics, shouldn't it say Nvidia 8600 GT? I used to play WOW on this computer and it ran awesome. Attached Images __________________ "If you want the ultimate, you've got to be willing to pay the ultimate price. It's not tragic to die doing what you love." My favorite comment (-1): "Your posts make me want to gouge my own eyes out."

10-07-2009, 06:59 AM	#5 (permalink)
Bralkan Llama Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 2,574 +5 Internets	Sounds like your video card died. It is not your monitor. Your video card drivers are failing to initialize. You can try uninstalling all of your nvidia drivers and reinstalling to see if it works. Also, in device manager right click on your card and remove. Reboot. See what it does then. If you have an extra / old video card, try throwing that in and see if it works. __________________ -insert cute, witty remark- err..... fuck

10-07-2009, 05:04 PM	#8 (permalink)
Twobit Whore Insert Quarter Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 11,204 -13 Internets	Your video card likely fried. Try a different one, Nvidia preferably and don't change drivers. If it works then you have your answer. __________________ I got a list of demands written on the palm of my hand. I ball my fists and you gonna know where I stand.

10-07-2009, 06:55 AM	#4 (permalink)
k^M AoE Hazzard Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 742 -37 Internets	Since you tried the monitor on a diff pc, can you do the same with your vid card? Tried uninstalling the device entirely and re-installing device drivers?

10-07-2009, 09:43 AM	#6 (permalink)
sentagur Registered User Join Date: May 2007 Location: All Over the Place Posts: 111 -7 Internets	Open your computer while its still on and make sure the Video card fan is still running. Take out your Video Card and check the Capacitors for any bulges or evidence of leaking fluid. check the board itself around the GPU chip for any discoloration. If you find any of those there is a good chance its toast. Clean contacts and the Graphic card slot with compressed air. clean your fan and cooling block as well and put the card back in Start windows and uninstall your video drivers. restart your computer and let windows load the defaults, then restart again and try loading the ones you downloaded.

10-07-2009, 05:23 PM	#10 (permalink)
Twobit Whore Insert Quarter Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 11,204 -13 Internets	That would be my guess. Some people upgrade video cards often. I do it every couple of years or so. Why are you buying an 8600GT though? It's pretty much junk these days. __________________ I got a list of demands written on the palm of my hand. I ball my fists and you gonna know where I stand.

10-07-2009, 05:38 PM	#12 (permalink)
Twobit Whore Insert Quarter Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 11,204 -13 Internets	Well it depends on what you use it for and how much you want to spend. If it's just a web surfing e-mail machine then that will do just fine. __________________ I got a list of demands written on the palm of my hand. I ball my fists and you gonna know where I stand.

10-07-2009, 05:43 PM	#13 (permalink)
Burkex It's Lord of the Flies time. Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 3,487 -77 Internets	It burned out when I had the computer split into 3 screens, I had 2 poker games going on full tilt and I had 1/3 of the screen season 3 of the wire running off of itunes. Plus I had some internet stuff minimized. Is that putting a lot of stress on the card? Plus it pissed me off cause it got all messed up while I was kicking ass in 2 poker tourneys and when the computer went nuts I couldn't finish those games and slowly ended up getting chipped away in those tourneys that I was in a good position to win...I could have at least made the final table and finished in the money. __________________ "If you want the ultimate, you've got to be willing to pay the ultimate price. It's not tragic to die doing what you love." My favorite comment (-1): "Your posts make me want to gouge my own eyes out."

10-07-2009, 05:50 PM	#14 (permalink)
Twobit Whore Insert Quarter Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 11,204 -13 Internets	No, that shouldn't be hardly any stress. It's an old card, sometimes they just give out. __________________ I got a list of demands written on the palm of my hand. I ball my fists and you gonna know where I stand.

10-07-2009, 07:24 PM	#15 (permalink)
Jysin-DW Registered User Join Date: May 2003 Location: Abroad... Posts: 879 +4 Internets	Does your screen have any artifacts when you are at the boot screens (Before Windows) or especially during BIOS? That is usually a tell tale sign its your vid card, because its not relying on any software drivers from the OS. Hopefully you registered it. nVidia is good about their warranties. __________________ Retired Guardian of Xanadu - EQ2 Retired Overlord of Darkwind - EQ1

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