White screen crashes - Apparently not malware - No idea what to do next

Hi,

Previously I had only posted in the malware removal forum. Now that I've gone though all the steps there, I believe I'm being told that my system is clean. That being the case, I have no idea what to do next. Here's some info for starters:

I run a Toshiba Satellite A305 notebook pc with an extended desktop,
3GB RAM, 32-bit OS, and Vista Home Premium SP2.

A while back, my laptop screen started "pinking out", and eventually darkened. I have been told the easiest fix there is to get a new screen, which I plan to do very soon, if in fact it is necessary. Leaving that aside, I have changed the output settings so that everything can be viewed on the external monitor and have been working, the best I can, that way ever since.

At some point after the above change, my system began crashing with a white screen, and sometimes a blue screen. At times during the malware procedure, the internal monitor began to work again - then out again - and back and forth randomly each time I have to reboot, which is every time I come back to my desk, after the system has locked itself due to inactivity.

Having never worked through any other type of problem on Majorgeeks, I do not what forum I should be posting in, or how to start trying to solve the problem.

I know someone will point me in the right direction, and I thank you in advance.

Thanks,
Karen

 

It sounds to me (maybe karendanette could confirm?) like "blue screen" references the colour blue in this case and not a stop screen.

This does make me second plodr's opinion that the graphics chip may be failing although this is the first case I have heard of where it changes the whole screen to one colour.

 

When I mentioned blue screen, I was in fact talking about BSOD. I can't tell you what the message said, but I downloaded Blue Screen View today, and ntkrnlpa.exe seems to be the culprit in both of the mini dumps it showed. I was surprised that it only showed two minidumps because I assumed it was happening every time the computer froze up (white screen).

Most of the time, I'm not at my desk when it happens. It's when I come back to my computer after having been gone for a while that the white screen is there, on the external monitor. The internal monitor is dark or maybe even off. So, technically, I can't say what happens before the white screen. I just know that I cannot do anything except shutdown and reboot. I hope that makes sense.

Karen

 

The laptop won't wake up. I have to hold down the power button until it shuts down, and then I reboot. It's as if it is frozen. It has happened every time I come back to my desk, except this last time. Just now, when I came back to my desk, I moved the mouse and both screens came on.

 

Also, I have had an external monitor for the life of the laptop, January 2009. This is not a new setup. This is something different that has started happening recently.

 

I've determined that it has something to do with the computer going into screen saver mode. Yesterday, I changed the settings to 90 minutes before going to screen saver. That explains why it was frozen this morning, and why it wasn't the last two times I came back to my desk.

I just changed it to eight hours, but that is only a temporary fix. I need to know what is causing the computer to freeze in screen saver mode, requiring me to reboot to get back to work. Would it have anything to do with the file I mentioned earlier regarding the cause of the BSOD? The file was ntkrnlpa.exe. Thanks!

 

Could you go into the settings and disable the screen saver entirely? You will also need to prevent the monitor from going blank.

ntkrnlpa.exe is a core windows file which "hides" drivers for your hardware as a routine part of how it works. This is looking more and more like a driver problem.

Have you updated your drivers recently or have windows updates been installed recently?

 

Okay, I just chose none as the screen saver and assume that's how you turn it off, so that's done. I would assume that it won't go blank now either, but am not sure. Windows automatically updates it's files. When given a choice, I update optional files also. I have not individually gone through to update any drivers.

 

I'm unfamiliar with The Cloud Kitchen, and given that the join date is March 2013, and this is their second post, I don't feel comforatble clicking the link provided.

 

Yes, this was a spam link poster and the user has been removed from the forum.

in that case can you go to the control panel, open "Programs and Features", and there should be an option on the left for "show windows updates" or something similar. Click on this and look for any updates that were made after you started noticing the problems. Please post the list of updates just before and after the problem here.

 

I've attached a screen capture of the updates you asked about. I don't think there's any reason to go past March 1. My first post to the malware forum was March 12, and I had tried some of the steps on my own in the week prior to that.

 

I don't think the problem is with the screen saver. You might want to go into your Control Panel > Power Option > click on the Balanced (which is what it should set with), and see how it is set to react after the time sets.

Some of the settings will cause it to be hard booted to restart, some will put in sleep mode and left clicking the touch pad will revive it

 

Okay. I did this and changed the setting from high performance to balanced. All the settings are for the computer to sleep and require a password on wakeup.

I agree with you that the screensaver is not the problem. When the computer is in "screensaver" mode, is that the same as "sleep" mode?

 

Hope it works for you like it did for mine. I actually removed my password so I wouldn't have to put it in, since I kept forgetting it

 

I didn't actually change anything except from high performance to balanced. The other settings were already set to sleep. I think we've put a bandaid on the problem, but I'm hoping for a cure.

It is interesting to note that all day today, both screens have been working.

 

Okay, I just came back to my desk after eating dinner and the screens were blank. I moved the mouse and they both woke up. So, it did go to sleep after 20 minutes, but not screen saver, and I didn't have to enter a password.

I don't understand what change I made that caused the change in the computer's behavior. Can anyone enlighten me?