Can I ask about graphics cards here?

[WaterGypsy]

OK guys, between us we have loads of experience in things other than Excel and I wanted to pick your brains for what looks to me like a graphics card problem.

My mates PC won't start Windows normally - as it is loading the screen looks fuzzy (remember 'snowy' pictures on old TVs) and before it gets to the point where he enters his password the screen blacks out and a plain text box advises him to change resolution, which clearly he can't because the system won't load.

We can start in SAFE mode but trying to change the resolution says that the graphics driver isn't working... eventually we restored to a previous checkpoint (several weeks prior to last successful load) but the problem persists.

I feel it is probably a graphics card problem - does anyone have an alternative idea?

Thanks

 

[litrelord]

It certainly sounds like a hardware problem if the system restore point hasnt' done the trick. I'm no expert but the next things I'd try would be downloading the latest drivers (I guess you'll need another machine for that) and installing them whilst in safe mode. (It's unlikely this will work based on your description of the problem but it's always worth a go).

If there's still a problem it may be worth making sure the graphics card is seated properly, perhaps even take it out and clean the connections.

Last resort is to find another graphics card you can borrow and try that to see if it fixes the problem (or, if you're lucky, check whether the mobo has on board graphics in addition to the card and try using that).

There's also the option of getting a Linux live cd (The Ubuntu live CD is extremely friendly) and running that to see whether the problem persists. This should definitely narrow down whether it's a hardware or software fault.

Hope this helps

Nick

 

[WaterGypsy]

It certainly sounds like a hardware problem if the system restore point hasnt' done the trick. I'm no expert but the next things I'd try would be downloading the latest drivers (I guess you'll need another machine for that) and installing them whilst in safe mode. (It's unlikely this will work based on your description of the problem but it's always worth a go).

If there's still a problem it may be worth making sure the graphics card is seated properly, perhaps even take it out and clean the connections.

Last resort is to find another graphics card you can borrow and try that to see if it fixes the problem (or, if you're lucky, check whether the mobo has on board graphics in addition to the card and try using that).

There's also the option of getting a Linux live cd (The Ubuntu live CD is extremely friendly) and running that to see whether the problem persists. This should definitely narrow down whether it's a hardware or software fault.

Hope this helps

Nick

All good ideas - thanks Nick