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Author Topic: Graphic card doesn't work  (Read 8936 times)

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Kalenden

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    Graphic card doesn't work
    « on: December 07, 2008, 06:46:04 AM »
    Hello, I've been having some problems with my  graphic card.

    I've got a laptop XPS M1710, Vista and a Nvidia Geforce Go 7900 GTX

    Yesterday, I installed an old game ( from 2001) and after that I watched a video on viddler.com in full screen.
    I had some graphical glitches with any moving image on my laptop ( including scrolling ). I restarted my laptop, and tried to watch the video again. After which the laptop crashed and successfully restarted, I tried to watch it again and now it wouldn't restart.

    It would give me the Dell loading screen with graphical glitches on it ( red lines and such ) after that the load thingie and after that instead of the windows logo, a blue screen with some info on it.
    So I went into safe mode, and my screen was littered with these small blue squares/blocs. Figuring it had something to do with my graphic card, I disabled that through Device manager, and managed to restart in normal mode. If I enable the card, I can't start up except in Safe Mode.

    So the problem is most likely my graphic card. Reason I said I installed an old game is that after that I had problems with the video, ain't sure it is connected. Could it be that the game messed up my graphic card? Is it possible my card is irrevocably damaged from a few crashes?

    I already did a virus scan and updated to the newest drivers. Please help me with this, cause I really don't want to buy a new card and I'd be really surprised that a few crashes could break it so easily.

    Broni


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    Re: Graphic card doesn't work
    « Reply #1 on: December 07, 2008, 12:55:39 PM »
    Replacing video card in laptop would be a hassle.
    Did you try System Restore?
    Did you try to reinstall video driver?
    « Last Edit: December 08, 2008, 05:37:11 PM by Broni »

    Kalenden

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      Re: Graphic card doesn't work
      « Reply #2 on: December 08, 2008, 08:34:30 AM »
      Thanks for the reply.

      I haven't made any restore points for system restore  :-[...

      How do I reinstall my video driver? Under device managed I only see an option for uninstalling it.

      Carbon Dudeoxide

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      Re: Graphic card doesn't work
      « Reply #3 on: December 08, 2008, 08:39:51 AM »
      Go to your manufacturers website, locate your laptop model, and download the appropriate drivers.

      Did a search myself:
      http://supportapj.dell.com/support/downloads/driverslist.aspx?os=WLH&osl=EN&catid=-1&impid=-1&servicetag=&SystemID=XPS_M1710&hidos=WLH&hidlang=CK&TabIndex=

      There ya go. ;)

      patio

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      Re: Graphic card doesn't work
      « Reply #4 on: December 08, 2008, 09:16:53 AM »
      Laptops have video chips...not cards.
      Let's hope it's not the chip...they are expensive to replace.
      Follow the excellent advice above on re-installing your drivers...
      " Anyone who goes to a psychiatrist should have his head examined. "

      Kalenden

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        Re: Graphic card doesn't work
        « Reply #5 on: December 08, 2008, 10:34:09 AM »
        Thank you for the replies.

        I used the site you game me, Carbon Dudeoxide, ( changed the settings to windows vista ) and I downloaded the needed driver, installed it and it asked to restart. So I said yes, and it restarted.

        But after the loading screen ( the one with @windows corporation or something like that) I got blue lines, and white lines and flickering and such. After 30 seconds I restarted the laptop with the option The last known good configuration.

        What does this mean? I did install the driver thingies with the card disabled. Is that a problem?

        Broni


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        Re: Graphic card doesn't work
        « Reply #6 on: December 08, 2008, 05:39:46 PM »
        Quote
        I haven't made any restore points for system restore
        Do you have System Restore disabled, or...?
        The last known good configuration is reverting your Windows files to a state, where everything was working fine.
        Quote
        I did install the driver thingies with the card disabled
        What do you mean by the above?

        Carbon Dudeoxide

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        Re: Graphic card doesn't work
        « Reply #7 on: December 08, 2008, 09:13:23 PM »
        Woah that's odd!

        As well as answering Broni's questions, can you get the computer to boot with the external monitor?

        Kalenden

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          Re: Graphic card doesn't work
          « Reply #8 on: December 09, 2008, 07:40:56 AM »
          @Broni: System restore is disabled, I've had a lot of space problems on my C: Disk, and I disabled the feature. I know, stupid... :-[

          Sorry for being so unclear,what I did was the following:

          I went to the site you gave me, changed it to windows vista 32-bit,  clicked to expand Videos and selected the Geforce 7900 GTX option.
          I let the thing download, double clicked on it and after that it installed itself and I only had to press next.
          After this it asked to restart the laptop, and it did so. Then after the @windows corporation loading screen, I had these blue lines and white lines and flickering and stuff. It didn't auto restart or crash, so I manally restarted and selected the option The last known good configuration.

          I double clicked on the thing I downloaded, which starts the installation screen and went through the installation and restart. During this I had my Nvidia Geforce 7900 GTX disabled by using the Device Manager and I wondered if this could cause problems.

          @Carbon Dudeoxide

          I'm sorry but I am rather bad at computers/laptops. Could you specify what you want me to do please, I don't know how to boot a laptop/computer with the external monitor ( nor have I any idea what an external monitor is  :-[ ).

          At both of you, thanks for the replies and help so far! Is it possible my graphic card broke down from crashes, or do you think it's just a software malfunction?

          Carbon Dudeoxide

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          Re: Graphic card doesn't work
          « Reply #9 on: December 09, 2008, 08:10:18 AM »
          I don't know if it's a hardware problem or software problem.....too early to know.

          Forget about the external monitor for now (it's just another monitor, i.e. desktop monitor)

          I would go and enable the graphics card in Device Manager and then travel here:
          http://supportapj.dell.com/support/downloads/index.aspx?c=hk&l=en&s=gen
          Enter the service tag which should be on the bottom of the machine.
          Then look for the appropriate drivers.

          Kalenden

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            Re: Graphic card doesn't work
            « Reply #10 on: December 09, 2008, 08:37:10 AM »
            I did exactly what you said, and enabled the graphics card, it said to restart to enable the graphic card, but than my laptop won't start up.

            So I did the driver installation and the restart, the same happened. Blue lines, white lines, flickering. Although I think I see in the background a blue screen with text. Ain't sure about that.

            I could go in safe mode with the graphics card enabled, but I guess it is disabled in safe mode as well so that wouldn't work.

            Broni


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            Re: Graphic card doesn't work
            « Reply #11 on: December 09, 2008, 05:05:04 PM »
            Quote
            During this I had my Nvidia Geforce 7900 GTX disabled by using the Device Manager
            Why?
            We'll have to sort it out.
            Can you operate laptop normally from Safe Mode?

            joefido



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              Re: Graphic card doesn't work
              « Reply #12 on: December 09, 2008, 05:42:50 PM »
              If you haven't done so yet, uninstall the Old Game. Re-enable the graphic adapter and then re-install the drivers from the recovery disc that has the drivers.

              Kalenden

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                Re: Graphic card doesn't work
                « Reply #13 on: December 10, 2008, 07:03:23 AM »
                @Broni

                I have to disable the graphic card, because if it is enabled my laptop won't successfully start up.
                I can operate it normally from Safe Mode

                @Joefido

                I've already uninstalled the game.

                To fully re-enable my graphic adapter ( same as a graphic card I assume? ) I'll have to restart my laptop. Something I can't do with the graphic card enabled ( except in Safe Mode, but I assume safe mode doesn't start the card up so it is the same? ).

                Is reinstalling the drivers from the recovery disc the same as downloading the drivers from the Dell site Carbon Dudeoxide gave me?
                If not, where should this disc be and what does it look like? All my not needed laptop stuff is a big mess, heck I don't even know where the box is  :-[ , so any help would be appreciated.


                Thanks for the replies.

                P.S Is it normal I have a lot of difficulty accessing this site? It's mostly offline for me, and I've got to refresh a couple of times.
                « Last Edit: December 10, 2008, 12:31:20 PM by Kalenden »

                Broni


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                Re: Graphic card doesn't work
                « Reply #14 on: December 10, 2008, 05:09:11 PM »
                Quote
                I did exactly what you said, and enabled the graphics card, it said to restart to enable the graphic card, but than my laptop won't start up
                No, you didn't do exactly what Carbon asked you to do.
                He said:
                Quote
                I would go and enable the graphics card in Device Manager and then travel here:
                http://supportapj.dell.com/support/downloads/index.aspx?c=hk&l=en&s=gen
                Enter the service tag which should be on the bottom of the machine.
                Then look for the appropriate drivers.
                Did you go to Dell site? Did you download video driver? Did you install it?