I have been running a Maxtor 250gig HD in my Pc along with Athlon64 2800+ Gigabyte (GA-K8NS) MB 1 gig RAm Ati 9800se and WIN XP (home) I had had problems with the resolution resetting which appeared to resolve itself, however NOW on alot of the start ups the screen goes black with what is like a streak of pixels across it. I had noticed problems in the MBR so I reinstalled that but still got random boot up problems, I put in a Seagate 250Gig HD and used teh Maxtor as a secondary which initally seemed to resolve things but now I am back to square one. I have ran all my spyware and AVG anti virus and my machine should be clean. What can I do, Please help.
Hi,I'm no expert but it sounds like it might be something with the video card.Try removing the card and cleaning the contacts with a pencil eraser then re-insert the card making sure it is securely seated.Also make sure your video cards drivers are up to date.Give it a try,it can't hurt! Good Luck.
is your videocard seperate or onboard as i agree with boxwrench that appears to be a videocard problem. does it have a fan & is it spinning.
Streaks during startup, is all hardware related. If the suggestions presented by the others here don't work, you'll have to replace the video card. However, updating your drivers will have no effect since they are not in use during startup. Check for loose connections, and if you can, switch monitors and see if the same thing happens.
Ok I reseated the Graphics card with no effect. I wailed and lamented (!) and then tried a different lead to hook up my hard drives, and lo and behold I am up and running at present, however since the whole pixilated start up is come and go thing I will wait and see before springing for a new card. Thanks for your help, go raibh mhaith agat.
There is no question that the video card is dying. My screen was pixelated, and it ended up being my ATI 9700 Pro, going south. Since it was just under 3 years old, ATI sent me a new 9800 Pro, free of charge. I did have to send the 9700 Pro in, first.
