OT: emergency computer help

[FlabLoser]

Suddenly, my desktop computer looks like its in safe mode. Only its not
in safe mode. Video is 640x480, 4-bit color. Control panel says it
couldn't start the video driver (code 43).

But in rebooting the computer, even the bios/motherboard screen looks
bad. There are ' or " scattered over the screen. The bios setup screen
is fuzzy too.

Computer monitor menus (built into the monitor) look sharp as ever, so I doubt my monitor has barfed.

I can only guess my video card gave up. Thoughts?

 

[SanfordRJones]

If so, you can figure that one out pretty easily.

Also, try uninstalling the driver for your video card and re-installing.

 

[UpTheMiddlex3Punt]

Re-seat your video card first. If that doesn't do it, it might be that the flash for your bios got corrupted. If you know who your motherboard manufacturer is, you may be able to download a tool that would check the integrity of it. You might also consider doing a bios update to see if this solves the problem.

Was there any event ahead of time that may have caused this? Power outage, lightning, computer fell down?

 

[FlabLoser]

rolled back driver - nothing

re-installed driver - nothing

No recent events. Worked fine earlier today then BAM.

I'll try re-seating the card (nvidia 8800 GT, by the way).

 

[SwampDawg]

There were clues it was going. None were just like your but just lots of random **** happening that I couldn't explain, like screens freezing, commands not being accepted and so forth. My advice is to make sure all your stuff is backed up, and don't just trust your external hard drive. My problem prevented backups for about three days, so I had to rebuild a lot.

 

[Chesusdog]

Try these steps:

*Reseat your video card
*Update BIOS if possible
*If your motherboard has an on board video card then remove your old one and see if that one works

It sounds like your card crapped out. It can and does occasionally happen.

 

[ababyatemydingo]

1. Your power supply is failing. Its not putting out enough amps on the 12 volt rails. Video consumes the most amperes, so that's the weak link in the chain and will fail first. Newegg.com. $30 for a 500 watt pwr supply

2. As you said, your video card (whether onboard or a separate card) has failed. It happens. Look for caked lint, bulging capacitors, failed cooling fan on the card. Replace the card, and blow out your case more frequently in the future. Dust and heat are your enemy. If you replace the card, remember to disable the old one in the device manager

3. The CMOS (bios) battery has failed. It looks like an oversized watch battery. CM2032. Unplug the pwr cord from the back of the puter. Pull the old battery. Wait ten minutes. Install the new battery. Waiting ten minutes will reset your bios to default settings.

4. Look for bulging capacitors on the mainboard, to rule out a mainboard failure. If your good with a soldering iron, you can fix them for around $5. Just get the specs for off of the old one and order them from any electronics supply house. Solder the new ones in by applying heat to the underside of the board. You can also fix dead pwr supplies, video cards, etc this way

PS. By this point in the diagnosis, most people just say 17 it, and go buy a new one.

I'm a MCSE and CCNA and do this crap for a living

 

[aTotal360]

and use the onboard to test if its your gfx card. good news is, gfx cards are cheap.

 

[FlabLoser]

1. Your power supply is failing. Its not putting out enough amps on the 12 volt rails. Video consumes the most amperes, so that's the weak ]
Power supply....now that's one thing that changed several weeks ago. The old PS had its fan making noises and visibly slowing down and speeding up. Several weeks ago I replaced that 600W supply with a 650W one of the same brand - coolmaster.

The vid card has a power cable going to it (had never seen that before...these DVI-output vid cards are all new to me). I did try swapping the power cable going to the card with a spare one hanging out of the suupply. Also, there are 2 DIV connections on the back of the card. The both act the same. Reseating the cards didn't get 'er done either.

I'm gonna haul the whole computer to work tomorrow and try the card on another computer and see what happens.

 

[FlabLoser]

Turns out its the card.I'm buying 2 new SLI cards. I've never done SLI mode before. Question - where in the same hell does one acquire the bridge connector that connects the top of 2 SLI cards? I'm shocked to see it doesn't come with the vid cards....like a power supply without power supply cable/connectors.

 

[UpTheMiddlex3Punt]

If your motherboard does not support SLI, it will not come with them, even if you have to PCIe x16 slots.

 

[Sutterkane]

****** gfx cards are cheap. Decent-good ones you have to pay at least 150 bucks. Unless you're just using MS Office and IE.