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Rillion

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Re: The Question Thread
« Reply #345 on: May 10, 2009, 12:35:26 AM »

The only time I've had messed up graphics like that was on a PC with a dying video card. Hopefully it's something simple like that rather than more corrupt data, etc.

I'm still doing the data recovery thing myself.. bleh.

If it's the video card that would still be pretty screwy since it's a laptop, and one that is less than two years old.  Still, I guess it could be worse.

Edit: Plus, that still wouldn't explain why it went into the set-up menu on start-up. 

I hope the data recovery project is going okay for you. 
« Last Edit: May 10, 2009, 12:43:18 AM by Rillion »
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Bill Brasky

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Re: The Question Thread
« Reply #346 on: May 10, 2009, 01:07:45 AM »

Boyfriend's computer is fucked up.....

First, his external hard drive took a dump last week.  Took it to the local data recovery place; they agreed to recover the data and transfer it to a new external hard drive which he supplied for them.

He's been transferring files to the new external hard drive all afternoon.  Says he finished a few hours ago, but the new hard drive was still hooked up the computer. 

Then he got the Blue Screen of Death.  So far as I know, he rebooted and things were working fine.

Then later I come downstairs, and he's very unhappy.   I ask what's wrong, and he says "Go start up my computer and see."  What happens is that the computer goes to the start-up menu, but it's all fragmented-- the words are chopped in half and repeated all over the screen.  If you tell the computer to go through its normal start-up process, what you see is the start-up loading screen splattered all over the place. 

I unplug the external hard drive from the computer, make sure nothing else is attached to it except the mouse and power cord, and restart it.  Same thing happens.  No "safe mode" is offered.  No error messages are given.  The end of my very limited trouble-shooting ability has been reached.

Any ideas? 

rabidfurby

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BonerJoe

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Re: The Question Thread
« Reply #347 on: May 10, 2009, 03:31:47 AM »

Bad RAM.
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rabidfurby

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Re: The Question Thread
« Reply #348 on: May 10, 2009, 08:18:47 AM »

Boyfriend's computer is fucked up.....

First, his external hard drive took a dump last week.  Took it to the local data recovery place; they agreed to recover the data and transfer it to a new external hard drive which he supplied for them.

He's been transferring files to the new external hard drive all afternoon.  Says he finished a few hours ago, but the new hard drive was still hooked up the computer. 

Then he got the Blue Screen of Death.  So far as I know, he rebooted and things were working fine.

Then later I come downstairs, and he's very unhappy.   I ask what's wrong, and he says "Go start up my computer and see."  What happens is that the computer goes to the start-up menu, but it's all fragmented-- the words are chopped in half and repeated all over the screen.  If you tell the computer to go through its normal start-up process, what you see is the start-up loading screen splattered all over the place. 

I unplug the external hard drive from the computer, make sure nothing else is attached to it except the mouse and power cord, and restart it.  Same thing happens.  No "safe mode" is offered.  No error messages are given.  The end of my very limited trouble-shooting ability has been reached.

Any ideas? 

rabidfurby

I deny all responsibility for fucking up Rillion's boyfriend's computer.  :D

BJ's probably right, bad RAM would do that. You can download Memtest86, burn it to a CD or thumbdrive, then boot his computer from it and it should fail pretty quickly if the RAM is that fucked up.

Since it's a laptop, it's also possible that the cable connecting the screen to the guts is fucked up. If the display is fucked up even in the BIOS menu right when you start the machine, that's more likely the problem.
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freeAgent

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Re: The Question Thread
« Reply #349 on: May 10, 2009, 08:59:31 AM »

I'm thinking either the RAM or video card is bad.  It may be the video card, especially if it's an nVidia.  nVidia built millions of bad video chipsets for a few years until recently, some of which have been quietly recalled.  The problem is more likely to occur in laptops and usually takes a year or two to happen (at least).  The chips basically destroy themselves with time.

One fairly easy way to test the RAM is Memtest86+, as rabidfurby mentioned.  There are also a bunch of testing tools on the Ultimate Boot CD.
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blackie

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Re: The Question Thread
« Reply #350 on: May 10, 2009, 09:58:55 AM »

I would check the manufactures support website to see if there are any customer advisories for that make/model of laptop.

If you want to try to force safe mode, tap the F8 key during windows startup.

Lots of times you can also do a memory test in BIOS. Most of the time you can get into BIOS by pressing one of the F keys during POST, but what F key it is depends on the specific computer.

What was he doing before the issue started happening?

Is it just the boot screen that is messed up?

I have seen similar issues when there is a resolution miss match, and the monitor can't handle what the OS resolution is set to.
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mikehz

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Re: The Question Thread
« Reply #351 on: May 10, 2009, 10:39:51 AM »

If I were to get a phone with a data plan, I'd go for the iPhone. It's like having a computer in your pocket.

As it is, I don't need/want a $30 data plan, since I never send text messages. Instead, I have an iPod Touch, which works great. The cell phone, which I carry everywhere but seldom use, is a VX 8300.
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Equilibrio

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Re: The Question Thread
« Reply #352 on: May 10, 2009, 07:25:43 PM »

Do blind people listen to pornography?
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hellbilly

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Re: The Question Thread
« Reply #353 on: May 10, 2009, 10:54:04 PM »

I hope the data recovery project is going okay for you. 

Thank you.. good news to report actually. I found the missing backup that holds 90% of all my family pics and vids! So while I haven't yet recovered my work and artwork, at least I have almost all the good stuff.

Any progress on your end?
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Rillion

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Re: The Question Thread
« Reply #354 on: May 11, 2009, 12:31:33 AM »

I hope the data recovery project is going okay for you. 

Thank you.. good news to report actually. I found the missing backup that holds 90% of all my family pics and vids! So while I haven't yet recovered my work and artwork, at least I have almost all the good stuff.

Any progress on your end?

Well, we went with the "bad video card driver" theory and tried downloading a new driver, which seemed to work just fine upon restarting....until he tried to play WoW again.  Then the same thing happened-- the screen froze, then went to black, then the startup screen was all wonky.  That happened a couple of times, and then he left it alone for about an hour-- off, not on.  Then he started it up again, and then cautiously started WoW again, and....it seems okay.  He played for a couple of hours or so without incident.  So we're cautiously optimistic, without really understanding what happened.  Meanwhile, I'm going to investigate whether his Nvidia card was actually recalled, and if anything can be done about that. 

I'm very glad you found most of your family pictures....be sure to back that up on an external drive now, or possibly two.  In fact, especially when you (hopefully) get the rest recovered as well, invest in a good and roomy external hard drive and back up the entire system.  I spent this afternoon doing that on a 160 gig drive, and feel so much safer. 
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rabidfurby

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Re: The Question Thread
« Reply #355 on: May 11, 2009, 02:09:17 AM »

Well, we went with the "bad video card driver" theory and tried downloading a new driver, which seemed to work just fine upon restarting....until he tried to play WoW again.  Then the same thing happened-- the screen froze, then went to black, then the startup screen was all wonky.  That happened a couple of times, and then he left it alone for about an hour-- off, not on.  Then he started it up again, and then cautiously started WoW again, and....it seems okay.  He played for a couple of hours or so without incident.  So we're cautiously optimistic, without really understanding what happened.  Meanwhile, I'm going to investigate whether his Nvidia card was actually recalled, and if anything can be done about that. 

Yeah, this sounds like the video card. Starting up WoW would easily overheat one of the defective chips. You should be able to call Dell and have them repair it, even if it's out of warranty - Nvidia shipped a shitpile of defective laptop chipsets that were prone to overheating.

You can probably make it work a little better by buying a can of compressed air and spraying the dust out of all the fans, but that won't be a permanent fix, and it'll may still crash if he tries to fire up WoW.
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freeAgent

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Re: The Question Thread
« Reply #356 on: May 11, 2009, 09:03:57 AM »

Yeah...definitely sounds like one of the nVideo chips that was bad.  The Inquirer has the best coverage of the issue IMO: http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1004378/why-nvidia-chips-defective
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Rillion

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Re: The Question Thread
« Reply #357 on: May 11, 2009, 10:26:51 AM »

Cool, thank you.
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Rillion

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Re: The Question Thread
« Reply #358 on: May 11, 2009, 11:57:38 AM »

Do blind people listen to pornography?

You mean pornographic movies?  I don't know.  I bet they call phone sex lines, though.  For the right amount of money, you could probably get someone to give play-by-play on the porn movie you're listening to.  "Now she's lying down on the pool table, and he's hiked up her skirt.  He's pinching her nipple...now he's licking it....."
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Bill Brasky

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Re: The Question Thread
« Reply #359 on: May 11, 2009, 07:52:09 PM »

Do blind people listen to pornography?

You mean pornographic movies?  I don't know.  I bet they call phone sex lines, though.  For the right amount of money, you could probably get someone to give play-by-play on the porn movie you're listening to.  "Now she's lying down on the pool table, and he's hiked up her skirt.  He's pinching her nipple...now he's licking it....."

obaby..
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