computer or monitor?

18 years ago

I'm having some new issues with my computer or monitor.

First here is what I know about my computer: windows XP Media center Edition AMD Athlon 64 processor 3500+

2.21GHz 960MB of ram

Physical address extention Acer

300 GB harddrive

All of a sudden my taskbar at the bottom has shrunk up so I can hardly see what is there & it has a wide black streak under it. I also have some transparent looking lines going across the screen. They kinda vibrate.

What is going wrong? Is it my monitor or computer? MY monitor is at least 5 or 6 years old. I sure hope it is that & not the computer. If it is any help the monitor is a ViewSonic.

TIA for any help,

Dar

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Comments (9)

sugar_fl
Original Author
18 years ago
I tried dragging the taskbar holding down the left mouse button & now I also have a gray bar above it with the word DONE on the left. I can't seem to get rid of that either.
Dar
ravencajun Zone 8b TX
18 years ago
did any of the button on the front of your monitor get hit by accident and cause the settings to change possibly? IF there is an auto adjust button on the monitor try pushing it.

Are you having any other settings or anything at all that seem changed?
When did it happen? had you just done any updates or installed anything?

if trying the buttons on the monitor do not help I think the first thing I would try is a system restore to the date before this happened and see if maybe it will restore the proper settings, if it is your monitor going out it won't help but if it is something that scrambled your settings it could fix it.

Go to start, all programs, accessories, system tools, system restore, select go to a earlier date, in the calendar it shows select the date for just before this happened and have it go back to that date. it will reboot, it will take longer than normal, then it will tell you it is restoring, and that if you do not find this helped that you can go back to how it was before, they are always reversible. Once it is back booted up check and see how it looks.
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ravencajun Zone 8b TX
18 years ago
Dar do you happen to have another pc you can plug your monitor into and see if it appears normal on that pc, that could help us determine where the problem lies.
sugar_fl
Original Author
18 years ago
Raven,
This happened about 1 hour ago.. at lest that is when I noticed it. It is pretty noticeable too. I'm pretty sure no buttons got pushed. I know very little about adjusting this monitor.

The system restore really scares me. I have never done one.
Yes I have an older one here that I keep as a standby if my is in the shop. It is kinda an ordeal to switch out (for me) I"ll do that tomorrow as it is getting late here now. I'll sure try that before a system restore (I'm chicken LOL)I sure hope I don't lose the whole taskbar (or all my info)

BTW I'm not sure who was helping me but I did get a scan & defrag of both my drives. I should have posted that a lot sooner.. sorry.

I don't know what I'd do without this forum..I have no one else to depend on. I know more about a computer than most of my friends do... you can see they know nothing or very little.
Dar
owbist
18 years ago
Dar you will not lose any data with this problem so you can feel comfortable about that.

If it turns out to be the monitor you simply replace it. If it is the video card (also known as a graphics card) you simply install a new one and adjust the settings in the BIOS. Neither is a big deal other than the money aspect.

As you are nervous about doing a restore I suspect you will not replace the video card yourself but will use your tech guy. A new video card can be had for as little as $50 or over $500. Probably something in the $50 to $100 range would serve you well unless you are a high end gamer or do loads of photo editing.

If your tech is not too busy he could do that in just a few minutes while you wait or grab a coffee.
sugar_fl
Original Author
18 years ago
I called the shop where I bought this computer & they said at least the black across the bottom was the monitor & probably the other also. As soon as I get a chance I think I'll go ahead & get another one. They have a flat screen one they used for display I can have for $69 but I'm thinking I'm probably better off in the long run getting a new one.
For some reason both problem seems better today but it hasn't been on long. That black across the bottom is so thin today it could have been like this for sometime & I hadn't noticed it.. believe me I noticed it last nite.

Owbist,
NO I don't remove the cover on my computer... don't even know how.
Thanks again,
Dar
ravencajun Zone 8b TX
18 years ago
some people just don't really understand what a system restore is that is understandable it does sound scary, but really it is very simple and totally reversible, this is not like a reformat or anything like that, all it does is go back to an image of your pc how it was right before what ever went wonky, takes just a few seconds, and if it did not help you can just choose to go back to how it was it even offers this option. When it is something simple like changed settings I think trying a system restore is helpful that way it helps to learn what it could be or not be that caused the problem.

here is a little step by step instruction with pictures to show you just how simple it is.
How to Restore a Windows XP system to a previous State using System Restore
zep516
18 years ago
Usefull tool for testing Monitors and Lcd displays, see the link

Here is a link that might be useful: Monitor Test
sugar_fl
Original Author
18 years ago
I called the shop where I bought this computer & they said at least the black across the bottom was the monitor & probably the other also. As soon as I get a chance I think I'll go ahead & get another one. They have a flat screen one they used for display I can have for $69 but I'm thinking I'm probably better off in the long run getting a new one.
For some reason both problem seems better today but it hasn't been on long. That black across the bottom is so thin today it could have been like this for sometime & I hadn't noticed it.. believe me I noticed it last nite.

Owbist,
NO I don't remove the cover on my computer... don't even know how.
Thanks again,
Dar

computer or monitor?

Comments (9)

sugar_fl
Original Author

ravencajun Zone 8b TX

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computer or monitor?

Comments (9)

sugar_flOriginal Author

ravencajun Zone 8b TX

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ravencajun Zone 8b TX

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sugar_flOriginal Author

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GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

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