Weird characters ?

A Dell PC with basic Hardware features is showing this problem on a cold startup and a reboot:

Dell Booting screen weird characters in columns across the screen and also on the windows boot screens and even inside windows can this be a virus that has infected the BIOS or a possible hardware failure or what ? If it is a virus how can you fix it ?

:major :major :confused

 

I would suspect the video card or possibly the monitor. If this is a desktop computer, can you try another monitor and cable? If it still has a messed up screen, you may need a new video card.

What are the specs of the computer?

E

 

I agree with Fred... it's either a video card problem, or a memory (RAM) problem. If you multiple RAM sticks installed, try pulling one at a time and see if the weirdness goes away. You could alos download and run a RAM diagnostic from the Memory section here at MajorGeeks. If the RAM is OK, it's most likely the video card....

hd2k

 

Thanks dudes I fixed it already, it was the video card like you said but it was fixed hours ago.