something REALLY bad happened...

[font=verdana, arial, helvetica]...And I can't do a system restore. My only choice is backing up to yesterday, which is when the gimp happened. I was installing Nero, and my computer had a fit. There is all kinds of funky stuff showing up on the screen, and it's not just in Windows. When I restart, and it boots into DOS, the DOS background has the same kind of stuff going on. I originally thought it was a video card conflict, but now uncertain b/c of the DOS thing. Can someone PLEASE tell me what I can do. I'd like to reformat, b/c I backed all my data up. What could be happening here. I attached a couple screenshots. Please help!!! Thanks in advance.

here are the two screenshots:[/font]

http://home.comcast.net/~braun6368/screwed.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~braun6368/screwed2.JPG

[font=verdana, arial, helvetica]-Tim[/font]

 

What I think it might be (from most probable to least probable)

fried videocard
bad monitor
not enough memory

Might not even be one of those, but it's a start. Also, make sure that your monitor is plugged into the back of the computer securly.

[edit] stupid me, if it was a bad monitor, it wouldn't show up in the screenshot. Neither would a partially unplugged monitor... sorry bout that.

 

yea id go for video card .. but i had a pin chiped of a ss7 CPU and it did that :-/ ......try reseating the video card and CPU.....worth a shot ...... Iv seen the same thing in both cases....

 

if you messed with ur monitors refresh rate at all that could be a problem
just a thought!

 

Check out this thread: http://www.majorgeeks.com/vb/showthread.php?t=28046

A couple of the guys had the same problem installing Nero.

 

Does your GPU (video card) have a fan, and if so is it still spinning?

 

Does the DOS startup screen look OK on a cold boot when the vid card isn't hot? If it does it only when hot, fan would be a good place to look. If it looks strange on a cold boot, before the card has time to overheat, it may be the card itself failing. Sounds like the Nero install was just co-incidence, as that wouldn't cause problems on the boot screens.

If the fan's running OK, you might also want to try removing & reinstalling the monitor cable a couple of times. I've seen dirty and damaged connectors cause artifacts on the monitor. Replugging the connector will wipe the contacts a bit. If that helps, remove the monitor cable and clean the pins and the plug with electrical contact spray cleaner, if you can find some. Radio Shack & electronics stores carry it. Although if the picture got this bad all at once, it's likely not the connector, as that generally degrades over time. But doesn't cost anything to try.

 

this is a brand new computer. just over a month old. and yes, on a cold boot the DOS screen is still screwed up. bad. i do not think it's the monitor, b/c why would a screenshot grab that? the computer doesnt know whats on the monitor. also, when i try to scroll, or move a window around the screen, it's very choppy.

the nero thing is what's confusing me, b/c as soon as it finished installing, boom, PC had a fit.

 

You're right, excellent point.

Your video card may be dying a premature death

I don't think it's a Nero thing.

 

if the DOS screen is all messed up, then it would be a dying video card, imo. best way to find out is to test it in another computer to see if you get the same results.

 

Just to add...

If you're seeing that junk on the screen during a cold boot prior to Windows loading, when the BIOS is displaying it's info, then it's a hardware problem.

The good news is your PC is so new that you can get it fixed under warranty.

 

UPDATE:

i shut my computer down for about 1/2 hour & then rebooted it. it's still choppy moving windows around, but the lines are gone from it. it's just as clear as before. i'm guessing vid card going bad?

 

Sounds like it.

 

Wai wai wai...

I didnt think that screenshots actually took a capture from the video card...
they wouldnt show up any rendering errors, would they? wouldnt it be more likley to be a driver causing the problems?

If im completley wrong, which it is quite possible, looks like video card.