computer problems Options

[Mommy]

I have some strange computer problems that started 2 days ago. I need some fix help...especially for the bolded item. Any suggestions y'all could provide would be greatly appreciated. thanks

green line running down the right side of my screen when I print screen, the line doesnt show up. Sounds like an issue with my monitor, right? I only thought this shit happened with CRT's but this is an LCD monitor that is only 4-5 months old. What the hell? Is there any way that it could be a non-monitor related issue? Also, I have a replacement plan on this monitor (thank god) so if it is that, no worries.

secondly, stuff on my desktop is acting goofy. One program wont open at all and if I save a pic to my desktop it wont open with windows picture viewer. If i right click and open with another program, it opens fine. I dont know if I got a virus or if my hard drive is starting to fail. Initially, I thought hard drive, but the pic opens just not normally so yeah...

Also, items on my other hard drive are acting weird. If i drag files to another folder, it doesnt display them properly. see pic. documents on the right middle part of the folder are sitting on top of other items. What the fuck is going on?


I detest most anti-virus software out there except for trend micro, but i dont have the money to buy that. Anyone know of some free virus scan software... trend micro used to have a virus scan for free, but I could only get the spyware scan to run the other day. For some reason, my computer wont let it do a full scan. Weird. Im just baffled by all these problems happening all of a sudden. Im actually starting to think that my video card may be going out now that I think about it. Could this be a possiblity? Thanks guys

[jonathan83]

in that folder, you need to right click in the open space and go to "arrange icons by" and then select "align to grid" or "auto arrange"

i think.

[Mommy]

yeah, i got that fixed. I just arranged the icons differently and then put them back. I was just annoyed that this happened on the same day as everything else so thats why I mentioned it too.

[impala454]

i'd avoid those window blinds or whatever desktop skinning app you're using.

as far as the pics not opening in windows viewer... what type of pic? .gif? .jpg?

and which program doesn't open?

[Mommy]

.jpg and its just plain ol' Windows Picture Viewer that doesnt work (or whatever its called)

I dont know how to turn this skin off. A friend put it on here.

[impala454]

can you right click the pic and go to "preview"?

[pebkac]

Eh, if the green line doesn't show up when you print screen it could either be a bad monitor or a bad video card. You might try either hooking your computer up to a different monitor or your monitor to a different computer to find the problem.

Remember that there is such thing as a defective monitor, so just because it's new doesn't necessarily mean that it's not the problem.

[Mommy]

Im now starting to think that my motherboard is going out. I restored to an earlier date and lost a couple USB drives. I was already having some problems with some ports on the front of my computer. Maybe my motherboard going out is causing bad connection with my video card and that would explain the green line??? I dont know. I need to get a hold of a copy of windows so that I can reformat and see if that fixes any of the problems. At this point, though, im thinking hardware is the problem, not software.

[pebkac]

It's possible. Especially if the video card is integrated into the motherboard.

[Seeker]

reformat and reinstall

[impala454]

Im now starting to think that my motherboard is going out. I restored to an earlier date and lost a couple USB drives. I was already having some problems with some ports on the front of my computer. Maybe my motherboard going out is causing bad connection with my video card and that would explain the green line??? I dont know. I need to get a hold of a copy of windows so that I can reformat and see if that fixes any of the problems. At this point, though, im thinking hardware is the problem, not software.

what makes you think it's the motherboard? you sound like my dad when it comes to computers... don't guess. a green line is almost always going to be the monitor itself. watch a dvd movie full screen or play a 3d video game if you have one and see if it goes away (I would doubt it would).

before you spend any money, do as lance suggested and reformat. there's nothin like a fresh comp

[Spectatrix]

I detest most anti-virus software out there except for trend micro, but i dont have the money to buy that. Anyone know of some free virus scan software... trend micro used to have a virus scan for free, but I could only get the spyware scan to run the other day.

AVG Antivirus. http://www.grisoft.com/doc/31/us/crp/0

[Mommy]

what makes you think it's the motherboard? you sound like my dad when it comes to computers... don't guess. a green line is almost always going to be the monitor itself. watch a dvd movie full screen or play a 3d video game if you have one and see if it goes away (I would doubt it would).

before you spend any money, do as lance suggested and reformat. there's nothin like a fresh comp

If you read my whole quote you will notice that I already said I should try reforrmatting first. I have reason to think its the motherboard because of a lot of other issues that Im having with the computer, failing ports, problems with the computer recognizing my hard drives sometimes, etc. I know basic procedure for fixing comp problems. There's an order. First, you try some scans, then restoring to an earlier date, then reformatting, then hooking things up to other comps, etc. If i guess, though, Im going to say its the motherboard because that and the processor are the only parts in there that are over 4 years old.

In order to reformat though I need a copy of windows, which I dont have.

Also, I dont think the green line is the monitor. It most definitely seems like a video card issue because the green line was non-existent, and then I restarted and it showed up. Im going to try taking a can of air to my comp later and also check my fans to make sure they are in working order. My video card fan has been out for over a year, but I figured I was getting enough cool air in the comp that it wouldnt matter. That could be an issue too.

[impala454]

so why bother asking us if you've already made up your mind what it is and are going to dismiss what we say/suggest?

[Mommy]

I'm not starting this with you. Most of the time I will have your back on arguments, but sometimes I think you just start stuff because its your pastime. I am taking suggestions on what it could be, but if you say condescending things like comparing me to some old person I have never even met when I already said Im going to try reformatting then yeah, Ill defend myself. Jonathan offered advice. Spex answered one of my questions. Lance offered advice. Pebkac answered a question. Your post offers nothing to this thread or to helping me with my problem. I bothered asking for their valuable input. I told you why its not the monitor. It happened on re-start. That suggests to me that its not the monitor, but the video card. DURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRr

[Divergent Realit...]

i think you pissed off the daemon in your video card.

burn some incense, light some candles and watch it for a little while.

if that does not fix it, take a screwdriver to the video card and get a new one.

maybe update the drivers first.

[pebkac]

If you read my whole quote you will notice that I already said I should try reforrmatting first. I have reason to think its the motherboard because of a lot of other issues that Im having with the computer, failing ports, problems with the computer recognizing my hard drives sometimes, etc. I know basic procedure for fixing comp problems. There's an order. First, you try some scans, then restoring to an earlier date, then reformatting, then hooking things up to other comps, etc. If i guess, though, Im going to say its the motherboard because that and the processor are the only parts in there that are over 4 years old.

In order to reformat though I need a copy of windows, which I dont have.

Also, I dont think the green line is the monitor. It most definitely seems like a video card issue because the green line was non-existent, and then I restarted and it showed up. Im going to try taking a can of air to my comp later and also check my fans to make sure they are in working order. My video card fan has been out for over a year, but I figured I was getting enough cool air in the comp that it wouldnt matter. That could be an issue too.

If the video card is overheating, that would definately be the issue. You can buy a new cooling fan for fairly cheaply (don't know how difficult it is though as I've never changed out a video card cooling fan).

[Divergent Realit...]

If the video card is overheating, that would definately be the issue. You can buy a new cooling fan for fairly cheaply (don't know how difficult it is though as I've never changed out a video card cooling fan).

they can be a hassle, some of them are built into the heat sink.

last time that happened i just used a pci slot exaust fan thing.

[Mommy]

they can be a hassle, some of them are built into the heat sink.

last time that happened i just used a pci slot exaust fan thing.

yeah, it had a built in heat sink....therein lies the problem

[impala454]

I'm not starting this with you. Most of the time I will have your back on arguments, but sometimes I think you just start stuff because its your pastime. I am taking suggestions on what it could be, but if you say condescending things like comparing me to some old person I have never even met when I already said Im going to try reformatting then yeah, Ill defend myself. Jonathan offered advice. Spex answered one of my questions. Lance offered advice. Pebkac answered a question. Your post offers nothing to this thread or to helping me with my problem. I bothered asking for their valuable input. I told you why its not the monitor. It happened on re-start. That suggests to me that its not the monitor, but the video card. DURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRr

I didn't mean to be condescending. I know a lot of what I type on here ends up reading that way. Yeah I threw in a little joke, but if I'd have been saying that to you in person it wouldn't have sounded condescending. I just typically don't enjoy it when people (not just you, lots of people do this to me) ask a question about some computer/electronics thing, and then they don't like the answer and tell me why I'm wrong.

It's my opinion that your green line is your monitor. Monitors display a picture via vertical and horizontal scan lines. They're all sent out from the electronics inside the monitor, and if one of those leads goes bad you will get a line. It could also be your video card, but your video card having a heat sink instead of a fan is not a problem, it's the way it was designed. There are tons of video cards out there that don't have fans. Typically when video cards go bad due to overheating, your image will stutter or start blinking out. I gave you a couple of suggestions of things to try, watching a full screen DVD (which is using the directshow APIs in windows) or playing a 3d video game (which changes your resolution & refresh rates up) to see if it goes away. You can also go to your monitor properties and attempt to change the refresh rate and see if it goes away (not a fix but it'll help you determine if it's the monitor).

If you want me to continue to help I will but don't come back and tell me you think it's the motherboard and I'm wrong and I'm a horrible person and jackass, etc, etc if you want help. I enjoy helping people with this stuff, just don't like getting flak back from the person I'm trying to help.

[Mommy]

I never called you a name though. I'll try your suggestions when I get on that computer. We'll see what happens.

[pebkac]

I would try what I originally suggested and try hooking the monitor up to a different computer or the computer to a different monitor. That will give you an idea of where the problem lies. I mean, unfortunately, it's all going to be guesswork at this point until you actually start making changes to the computer.

This post has been edited by pebkac: Oct 12 2007, 06:50 PM

[Mommy]

When I woke up this morning the green line was gone

[TetraGrammaton C...]

i woke up this morning the green line was gone
jessica, the plans they made put an end to you
i walked out this morning and i wrote down this song
i just can't remember who to send it to

i've seen lines and i've seen green
i've seen bright displays that i thought would never end
i've seen lonely times when i could not find a friend
but i always thought that i'd see that green line again


/lame
sorry

[Matt]

Im now starting to think that my motherboard is going out.

Check the power supply too. Low or high voltages can make computers do some crazy things.

[Mommy]

Check the power supply too. Low or high voltages can make computers do some crazy things.

hmm touche. I forgot I have an old power supply too