Monitor Woes

[Thomkal]

I'm having a problem with my monitor and I'm hoping the computer tech geeks here can help. :)

2 days ago, apparantly at random, I suddenly get four equidistant streaky transparent vertical bars of color, running from the top of the bottom of the screen. They aren't there when I turn on the computer, they just "pop-up" seemingly at random, and can disappear at random too. This usually happens going between various web pages.

The only things I have installed in the last few days were the demo for Far Cry, and Direct X 9.0b (up from the original 9.0). The monitor was fine after installing and using the demo, and had no problems after installing direct X either.

The real culprit I think may be a power outage I had with the computer on. But the color bars didn't show up after the power came back on. It was like the next day. It's also a very old monitor, an Optiquest Q115 I've had for a few years, so it simply could be dying.

Any suggestions? I have Windows XP on a Sony VAIO computer. I'm not very tech oriented, so explain in baby terms :)

Thanks!
Dan

[Bonegavel]

Without putting too much thought into trouble shooting and just going on your statement, whenever things act-up after installing something that is a huge red flag. Coincidences can happen, but the odds are POWERBALL-ESQUE. Can you roll back the direct-x update?

[Shepp]

I would look on the web site of your video card manufacturer and see if there are any updated video drivers before trying anything like rolling back DirectX. I know in Windows XP you're supposed to be able to roll back drivers and such but I don't trust that sort of thing at all.

You can also check and see if the plug from the monitor and the wall tight as well as the cable from the monitor to your PC. Not very likely that either of thos are the cause but stranger things have happened.

[WSUCougar]

Drat, I thought this was a thread about the Confederate Navy...

[Thomkal]

Thanks for the ideas guys. I just recently updated to the latest Catalyst (well latest at the time-there's a new version out now) drivers for my Radeon ATI 9700 Pro. That was several weeks ago and I haven't had problems since the update until this stuff hit a couple days ago.

Any utilities out there (easy to use and free of course :) ) that checks on a monitor's health?

[thesloppy]

I went through a massive battle with my monitor last year, and it was exhibiting similar problems to yours. I spent literally weeks trying to nail down the problem, researching on the internet, downloading new drivers and all that...as I'm sure you've discovered by now, wallowing through pages of results for a 'streaky monitor' Google search is somewhat less than fun. Hopefully, some of my suffering can save you some time of your own.

There is really only one thing you need to discover: Is it the monitor, or is it the video card? If you don't have more than one monitor or PC at your home, than lug one or the other over to work/a friend's and test the monitor on another PC (or vice-versa). Although it's a hassle, it sure beats the pants out of sifting through drivers for what turns out to be perfectly working piece of hardware.

Personally, my symptoms turned out to be par for the course for an nVidia card on it's last legs, and no set of drivers were going to bring it back. Coincidentally, it was done in by a power failure, and although a new ATI card got rid of my grey streaks, my much maligned monitor DID blow up on it's own a few weeks later.

Unfortunately, once you figure out whether the problem lies in the monitor or video card, whichever is feeling sick will probably have to be replaced.

[Thomkal]

Sloppy,

Hmmm thanks for the depressing but expected info. Not sure if I can test the monitor here or elsewhere, so may just have to go the new monitor route in any case. It's ancient (in computer years) and heavy as hell, so a new lighter one would be appreciated in more ways than one.

Thanks for the help.