AMD athlon 2400+

512 mb RAM

Nvida geForce 4 Ti 4200 8x 128mb

windows XP SP2

asus A7V8X motherboard

my screen keeps randomly blacking out for 1-3 seconds.

everything on the screen freezes for 1-2 secs followed by blackness for -2-3 secs

it seems to be software related because after a blackout there are sometimes icons that dont look right or parts of a box that hasnt been refreshed.

i have flashed my Bios and reinstalled video driver and neither of these have worked.

Dani AI

Generated

A few focused checks to narrow this down, based on the thread so far (thanks to for the updates, and to and for the initial directions).

Boot-time/software isolation

  • Boot into Safe Mode. If the blackouts stop, the problem is almost certainly software/driver-related. Do a Clean Boot (msconfig: disable non‑Microsoft services and all startup items), reboot and re-enable groups to isolate a culprit. Also try a Linux Live CD (Knoppix/Ubuntu) — if the screen blacks there too, it points at hardware rather than Windows drivers.

Hardware and connection checks

  • Swap or reseat the video card and change the video cable and connector (VGA/DVI). Intermittent contact or a marginal cable can produce brief freezes + unrefreshed screen regions even if the monitor’s power LED stays on. Check the AGP slot/pins for dirt or damage and confirm the card’s retention clip is engaged.
  • Try the card in another machine, or try a different card in this machine. If the problem follows the card, the GPU/board is suspect.
  • Test RAM with memtest86+ (overnight) and monitor PSU stability — a failing PSU can cause short lockups. Check GPU and system temps with a hardware monitor utility; thermal/ fan failure can produce intermittent behavior.

Driver/logging/advanced

  • In Event Viewer look for Error/Warning entries in System/Application with timestamps matching a blackout; record the Source and Event ID. If driver crashes are suspected, consider Driver Verifier (advanced—will induce crashes to expose bad drivers) or perform a clean driver uninstall and reinstall.
  • Because the problem is intermittent, collect evidence: whether it happens in Safe Mode or under Linux, whether different cables/monitors show it, memtest results, and any System log entries. Those details are the fastest way to choose the next step (replace card, PSU, or hunt a misbehaving driver).

Recommended Answers

All 10 Replies

Have you tested the monitor on another computer to make sure it isn't just the monitor?

its not the monitor because the light is still green when it blacks out. and the open applications freeze

1. Does the problem occur when you are booted into Safe Mode?

2. Have you looked through your system logs yet for any pertinent error messages? If not, open the Event Viewer program in your Administrative Tools folder to do so.

3. Give us some history of the problem: when did it start happening, had you changed/added/removed any software/hardware at about that point, etc.?

i havent changed any hardware

and im not entirely sure when it started.

it was only a minor thing at the start but then it became more frequent.

im not sure how to turn on event logging...

ive found the event logging but i dont understand it

Look through the Application and System logs for events that are tagged with a red "exclamation point" or indicate "Warning" and see if the date/time stamp on those coincide with the time that the freezes occur. I f so, tell us what they are.

nothing is logged when it happens

OK then, let's go for this question I asked previously:

Does the problem occur when you are booted into Safe Mode?


If it doesn't occur in Safe Mode, that would be more indicative of a software problem.

i got a 15" LCD mitsubishi 159

and the problem has subsided

its weard

one day its frequent and the next it doenst happen once

IceSt0rm,

First of all- welcome to TechTalk!

We ask that members not tag their questions on to a thread previously started by another member (regardless of how similar your problem might seem). Not only does it divert the focus of the thread away from the original poster's problem, but it also makes it less likely that you yourself will get the individual attention that you need.

Given the above, I've split your posts into their own new thread, which you can find here:

http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/showthread.php?p=86544#post86544


Please continue with the troubleshooting of your problem in that thread. Also- for a full description of our posting guidelines and general rules of conduct, please see this page:

http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/faq.php?faq=daniweb_faq#faq_rules


Thanks for understanding.

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