Screen goes black randomly... but remains backlit?

[Edea]

Hey there, i know this is going to sound like a generic problem, but A) I am stubborn and am sure this can be fixed one way or another, and B) The problem has a few differences compared to what i have noticed in other posts.

Basically, for the last month or so, my laptops screen has been freezing...

So far it has three different ways:

Screen goes Black (remains backlit), no sound, no CTRL + ALT + DEL, only way to escape is to manually shutdown (hold down power button).
Screen goes White, no sound, no CTRL + ALT + DEL, only way to escape is to manually shutdown (hold down power button).
Screen goes a random colour with dark vertical lines going through it, no sound, no CTRL + ALT + DEL, only way to escape is to manually shutdown (hold down power button)

So far, i have cleaned the computer out, replaced drivers, ran multiple virus scans using various scanners (not all installed at the same time lol).

My last attempt to correct this was to uninstall windows completely, and re-install it. (although i did go from win7 x32 to win7 x64)
For a while it seems to have worked, and i was even able to play games that hadn't worked previously.
Now the problem has started again... so far it only happens after i have played Oblivion for a few minutes, whereas before it was about 5-10 minutes after booting up XD

The problem disappears entirely when i run the PC in safe mode, so have a feeling this is some kind of software problem.

I also considered overheating issues but it doesn't feel physically hot, and as far as i can remember from the last time i checked the temperature readings were within parameters.

My current specs are:

Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 (7601.win7sp1_gdr.110622-1506)
System Manufacturer: Acer
System Model: Aspire 5536
BIOS: Ver 1.00PARTTBL
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) X2 Dual-Core QL-64 (2 CPUs), ~2.1GHz
Memory: 4096MB RAM
Card name: ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics (Onboard)
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 6.01.7601.17514 64bit Unicode


If ANYONE has any ideas can you please let me know? Or if i've forgotten any details, again, please let me know lol

Thank you in advance, and sorry if this is posted in the wrong section... wasn't quite sure where to put it ^_^

[quaxo]

Does it do this at any particular time? (when watching videos, sitting idle, playing games, etc.)

How long does the computer usually run before the issue comes up?

This is going to sound weird, but trust me for a minute. Try uninstalling the graphics driver completely. Reboot, and don't allow Windows to reinstall it. Try running the computer without the driver for a while. Graphically it won't perform very well, but it will help test a theory.

When in safe mode, Windows won't load anything unnecessary, including the graphics driver. If you've done a fresh install of Windows and drivers and you still have an issue, it's possible the graphics chipset is having an issue. If this is the case, in a normal boot without the driver, it will use the graphics chipset much like it does in safe mode.

If it works fine, try reinstalling the driver with a fresh download from the laptop manufacturer's website. If you start having issues again, I would bet the chipset is probably malfunctioning.

Any chance this thing is still under warranty?

[Edea]

yeah already tried that a little while ago... runs perfectly fine in safe mode... and in standard vga mode... tried installing from Acer and from ATI but always crashes after playing a game for a while...

I am however just testing something that hadn't occurred to me until a little while ago... so far, i know it sounds weird... but the games that are playing up are 32bit??? ones that are specifically 64bit seem to be running fine so far :S

so for now i am continuing the tests, but there is a possbility that for some reason my pc doesn't like running 32bit software anymore :S

it only seems to happen so far when running games... HD video's, DVD's, all working fine under this 64bit Win 7, when running 32bit win 7 it was black/white/bar screening after about 5 mins of use :S

*EDIT* also from the original clean install... it was working perfectly... its something thats happened in the last day or two... dont ask me what, because i haven't actually installed anything (as far as i know) for about 4-5 days...

[quaxo]

If it works fine without the driver, but plays up when the driver is installed no matter where you get it from, then it's either overheating or the chipset is damaged/malfunctioning. I can't think of any other thing that would cause it to do that with the driver installed.

What games are you talking about specifically? There are only about 20 games ever made that have 64-bit specific versions (either natively or through an official patch).