holy hell, my monitor developed narcolepsy

[brinstar]

part 3 in my ongoing computer problems saga

RECAP:

part 1: i related how i had an apocalyptic battle with the great satan known as Nail.exe and won-- but at what cost?

part 2: once the smoke cleared, i discovered that windows fax and picture viewer and windows media player were both casualties and would not work for beans any longer

sooo...

part 3:

flatten and reinstall time! i had an 80GB seagate still in its box from a phat rebate promotion best buy had back in november (after rebate, the thing ended up costing $40), and once i reclaimed my winXPpro disc from my associate Timini, i was ready to roll. before i popped open the case, i also burned a CD containing the latest mobo/video drivers i could download from nvidia just in case i hit a snag connecting to the internets.

format new drive...check
install windows XP...check
install mobo drivers...check
turned off messenger service and remote registry...check
windows update to service pack 2...check
install nvidia 71.89 drivers for geforce 5700ultra...che..

when i rebooted after reinstalling video drivers, i got to the windowsXP loading screen-- and no further. it SHOULD take me to the "welcome" screen and then proceed to the desktop, but the welcome screen never shows. instead, there's a brief hang, and my screen goes black and the monitor switches to standby.

i called BFGTech's support line, and the tech talked me through several different procedures in and out of safe mode over the course of an hour, but nothing fixed the problem. his final word boiled down to: your card is working fine, the drivers from the website work are certified, the problem is not the card or the drivers. he suggested a repair of XP or possibly another format/reinstall.

anybody here have any suggestions? here are my system specs (don't laugh ) :

duron 1ghz cpu
biostar m7ncd pro mobo
512mb pc3200 ddr ram (kingston)
BFGTech geforce 5700ultra
seagate 80gb 7200rpm barracuda
samsung syncmaster 753df monitor
logitech optical mouse
$10 keyboard
soundblaster audigy with front bay drive
sony cdrw
winXP pro

[smiley poster=sad]help[/smiley]

[brinstar]

bump, hurry up and help me because safe mode sucks ass

[horendus]

You need to boot to safe mode, uninstall the drivers, make sure you install Standard VGA drivers. Switch back to regular windows mode. Set resolution to 800x600 or something gay low res install the new drivers and reboot.

[WoWShaman]

If its a compaq or other cpu.. you have to turn off your on board videocard first which is what always fucking happens to me when I have to reformat.. I buy a really nice nvidia videocard.
but when I reformat my screen goes dead because the onboard fights for supremacy agaisnt the installed card... usally just have to go into options and disable your old shit in hardware spec's.

[horendus]

If its a compaq or other cpu.. you have to turn off your on board videocard first which is what always fucking happens to me when I have to reformat.. I buy a really nice nvidia videocard.
but when I reformat my screen goes dead because the onboard fights for supremacy agaisnt the installed card... usally just have to go into options and disable your old shit in hardware spec's.

This is also very true, I forgot about that. As a side note - it doesnt have to be compaq, anything that does have an onboard video card will do this.

[10sun]

If its a compaq or other cpu.. you have to turn off your on board videocard first which is what always fucking happens to me when I have to reformat.. I buy a really nice nvidia videocard.
but when I reformat my screen goes dead because the onboard fights for supremacy agaisnt the installed card... usally just have to go into options and disable your old shit in hardware spec's.

This is also very true, I forgot about that. As a side note - it doesnt have to be compaq, anything that does have an onboard video card will do this.

Some motherboards will autodetect.

-Adam

[brinstar]

update: the funny noise i was hearing six months ago that turned out to be the fan on the graphics card?

...yeah, that noise went away because the fan stopped working. i'm surprised the card took this long to get glitchy.

so here's my theory:

graphics card chip gets all wonky due to prolonged overheating. however, it still runs fine when it's not installed (i.e. there isn't an nvidia driver "waking up" the GPU) and in default "duhhh here's your fresh install of windows but i ain't gonna make things look pretty until you tell me how" mode, the drivers aren't there to push the card into areas that have become wonky since the overheating issues arose

is this plausible? or am i just making shit up?

regardless, the card came with a lifetime warranty so i'll be getting a replacement soon

[Captain Insano]

The gfx card probably isn't enabling any of the overheated or fried chips when its not installed. The minute you install it, it will go back to being bloody wonky.

You can try safe mode, uninstall and get the latest NVidia detonator drivers.

Hell if you have an extra fan around try zip tying it over the broken fan and connect it to an extra fan slot on your MOBO. I know this is mad niggerific but it will work.

If that fails I suggest Newegg.com. you can pick up a decent 128meg card for less than 40 bucks.

[brinstar]

what are you, some kind of foolman?

i'm not paying for another card when this one is still under warranty!

bought box and bubble wrap today, gotta figure out HOW DO I MAILED BOX

[kaharthemad]

make sure the card is in antistat and wrape it tight. place in out box if the fragile sign on it. Trust me on how to do this. If you dont follow thier rules they tell you to goto hell.

[brinstar]

ya word

i swiped an antistat bag from the IT geeks at work, then i put it inside one of those heavy-duty bubblewrap-lined envelopes and THEN i put it in the (very sturdy) box my cable modem came in (which says "FRAGILE - HANDLE WITH CARE" on it)

pretty sure it'll be ok

[kaharthemad]

you will be game man. good luck

[brinstar]

update: i got the replacement today, they sent me a better card (geforce 5700LE 256MB) than i had (geforce 5700u 128MB)

fuck yeah

[labbats]

Woot!

Now fix this

duron 1ghz cpu

[brinstar]

i tried!

dad gave me some birthday money so i thought damn i need a new cpu

so i founds an AMD 3200+ for $145, tossed $20 of my own cash on top of it and got a 512 stick of RAM from zipzoomfly.com, totaling $195 with free fedex shipping

i got home a day after i thought it would be there, thinking "oh i'll just have to go to the shipping center to pick it up since they probably already tried"

well i went inside and put in the tracking number at the website... it said "delivered at 11:31am" and i'm like WHAT

after making five different phone calls i discovered that on the day or two before mothers' day weekend, fedex does what's called a "blanket release" which basically means they can just leave your package there and go on their merry way

well i live in a pretty shady apartment complex, and it quickly became apparent to me that between its arrival at 11:31am and my homecoming at 5:21pm it was PILFERED from my doorstep

out of options, i filed a claim. fedex reimbursed zipzoomfly $100, then zipzoomfly reimbursed me $195. so at least i got my money back. well i went to reorder it, and the price on the cpu had jumped up to $220 and they wouldn't honor the original price i paid. fuck that! instead i spent the money on beer, cigarettes, and a kickass KGB watch

so i am still rocking the duron