computer screen problems or what?

[momtheclown]

screen goes black, then comes back on with errors, and then freeses sometimse I have to turn off the computer from the back and the restart. It mainy happends while I am on the Internet and at different time frames...

 

[Trotter]

OK, give us some basic information.

What operating system are you running? WHat are your system specs? Are you usig onboard graphics, or a graphics card? Has anything else been acting up of late?

Thanx.

 

[momtheclown]

I am new at this so here goes.. windows xp

sorry my screen went black froze and now is working again....

where would I find out where the names of all the stuff is?

 

[Trotter]

Here's a link: http://belarc.com/free_download.html

Download Advisor and run it. Post the info it gives you about your processor, main circuit board, display, and multimedia.

Then we'll wing it from there.

 

[momtheclown]

Operating System
Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2 (build 2600)

System Model Enclosure Type: Desktop

Processor a
1.60 gigahertz Intel Pentium 4
8 kilobyte primary memory cache
256 kilobyte secondary memory cache

Main Circuit Board bBoard: i845
Bus Clock: 100 megahertz
BIOS: Award Software International, Inc. 6.00 PG 01/15/2002

display
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5500 [Display adapter]
ViewSonic A90f [Monitor] (17.7"vis, s/n 32L020101019, January 2002)


Multimedia
CMI8738/C3DX PCI Audio Device
Standard Game Port

While just trying to copy paste this information the screen went black then back on froze. I had to click off of this screen to the other screen and then back onto this screen to get it unfrozen and then it would go black and then come back on....

It is crazy.... trying to even get this typed in....

Bye the way thanks for your help

Microsoft was no help at all after being on the phone with them for 2 hours on my cell wasting minutes and getting no where...

 

[Trotter]

Open up Device Manager (START--> CONTROL PANEL--> SYSTEM--> HARDWARE tab--> DEVICE MANAGER). Click the "+" in front of "Display adapters" and then double-click "NVIDIA GeForce FX 5500".

Look at what it says in the box labelled "Device Status". If it doesn't say:

This device is working properly.

If you are having problems with this device, click Troubleshoot to start the troubleshooter.

click the "Troubleshoot..." and try its suggestions.

You may want to also download the latest drivers:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_2k_71.89.html

I'm not sure, but it sounds to me like either your card is dying, or its drivers are shot, or it needs reseating. Try this and we'll see what comes of it.

 

[momtheclown]

well I tried all of that and my computer crashed... and it kept saying that I had to have my boot disk to start it again but then all of a sudden it just started again.....

 

[Trotter]

I had to click off of this screen to the other screen and then back onto this screen to get it unfrozen and then it would go black and then come back on....

Are you running dual monitors? ANd one of them is fritzing? If so, it sounds like your graphics card.

If not, it sounds more like something else. ARe you running anti-virus and firewall programs? If not, get them and run them.

How about spyware? Go to Microsoft's website (www.microsoft.com) and download their anti-spyware program. It's free as long as your copy of Windows is legit. Run it and let it clean your system up.

Try these and report back if it helps.

 

[momtheclown]

Yes all of thoes are on the computer and adaware checking everytime I get off the net.

what I mean by switching screens is when I have two or more sites open at one time on the same computer screen.

I do not have dual screens.

And it usually only happens when I am on the internet switching back and forth between sites.

so you see I am lost in the frozen world of computers and internet...

 

[Trotter]

OK. Now I'm beginning to get the picture.

I do not think that it is your screen, or even your graphics card.

You said "it usually only happens when I am on the internet switching back and forth between sites." So, when you are switching from browser window to browser window.

I am assuming that you are running Internet Explorer. First off, I would recommend that you download and try either Firefox (http://www.mozilla.org/) or Opera (http://www.opera.com/) and see it either of them works better for you.

If you prefer to stay with Internet Exploiter, uhhhh, Explorer, try this. Click Tools (up on the top bar), Interent Options, Delete Cookies, OK, Delete Files, check the "Delete all offline content" box, OK, Clear History, Yes, OK.

How much RAM are you running? Windows XP won't run all that great with 128MB. 256MB is a whole lot better, and anything above that is wonderful.

Also, check your hard drive (using Advisor). Make sure that it isn't too full.

One more thing. After all of this, defrag your hard drive. Click Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Defragmenter. Choose your hard drive and let it analyze it. It will probably say that you need to defrag, so tell it to.

Let me know if any of this helps.