* Power the PC and monitor off
* Unplug everything from the monitor except for the power cord. Disconnect it from the PC
* Power the monitor on. You should see a floating (red/green/blue/white) dialog box on a black background. How does it look?
A flashing Red/Green/Blue rectangle with white border appeared with "Check signal cable" message.Screen perfectly clear, no lines etc.
Further developments since earlier post:
I went into display settings and changed refresh rate from 60 to 72 - screen went temporarily blank then came back as normal with no vertical lines etc - perfect. I then reset back to 60 and all still ok - surfed web/loaded game and all seemed well as I went to bed last night - apart from a very small square comprised of several horizontal lines now appearing in bottom left hand corner of each desktop shortcut - most strange.
My daughter tried PC before I arrived home tonight and vertical lines were back again! I tried the change refresh rate trick to no avail but then clicked onto internet explorer and hey presto the lines all disappeared - have currently left refresh rate at 70. Little squares still on desktop icons though.
I then powered off and tried your suggestion and having just started up again all well (no lines appeared and no need to try refresh rate trick!). Little squares still appearing......
Very strange.... any ideas what may be causing this and how I could get rid of the "squares" on desktop icons would be most welcome. Fingers crossed that the squares are my only problem going forward.
Even worse tonight when I arrived home and switched on. Screen was covered in small flashing squares (not unlike space invaders) as machine booted up and then the vertical banding appeared across my desktop. A further adjacent 4 bands were now present which seem to flicker when pc is processing. Tried adjusting refresh rate and logging onto internet explorer but no luck this time in clearing problem.
I have tested monitor by unplugging connector to computer a, powering off the pc and then switching monitor on. A flahing red/gree/blue rectangle with a white border appears, as expected, and is crystal clear. Could the problem be with :
video card/driver?
possibly electrical interference from proximity of monitor cable to power cables?
a malicious virus of some sort (although my pc is protected by regulalry updated Mcafee firewall and virus scan?
Any suggestions to identify and hopefully resolve the problem would be most appreciated as its driving me mad.....
Hi, did you ever solve the problem because I have the exact same issue with my dell8300. After leaving the computer on for a while and changing the screen picture it sometimes goes but next day is back again, I have tried reinstalling the video card drivers (catalysts) reseating the video card, changing the motherboard battery but no luck, really annoying as computer is only 3 years old, will DEFINATELY NOT be buying a dell again!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes - problem solved by getting dell to provide replacement video card and send engineer to fit it and relocate the sound card.
Seems to be a fairly common problem caused by Dell installing audigy sound card in slot next to the video card when they built the system - both get hot and video card eventually goes - usually after circa 2 1/2 yrs! Poor initial build in my view and something Dell should avoid in future. How many people would think to open up a new computer to see if the manufacturer had placed video card in slot next to the sound card.
All working now and pc also seems to be quieter as well.
Main problem I encountered was actually convincing the call centre people that he card had gone and should be replaced - my phone call took 45 mins. Apparently this is a "known" issue particularly with 8300 systems like mine.
DELL-Chris M
Community Manager
•
56.9K Posts
0
April 20th, 2006 13:00
* Power the PC and monitor off
* Unplug everything from the monitor except for the power cord. Disconnect it from the PC
* Power the monitor on. You should see a floating (red/green/blue/white) dialog box on a black background. How does it look?
haffy
136 Posts
0
April 20th, 2006 18:00
ChrisM,
tried your suggestion with following outcome:
A flashing Red/Green/Blue rectangle with white border appeared with "Check signal cable" message.Screen perfectly clear, no lines etc.
Further developments since earlier post:
I went into display settings and changed refresh rate from 60 to 72 - screen went temporarily blank then came back as normal with no vertical lines etc - perfect. I then reset back to 60 and all still ok - surfed web/loaded game and all seemed well as I went to bed last night - apart from a very small square comprised of several horizontal lines now appearing in bottom left hand corner of each desktop shortcut - most strange.
My daughter tried PC before I arrived home tonight and vertical lines were back again! I tried the change refresh rate trick to no avail but then clicked onto internet explorer and hey presto the lines all disappeared - have currently left refresh rate at 70. Little squares still on desktop icons though.
I then powered off and tried your suggestion and having just started up again all well (no lines appeared and no need to try refresh rate trick!). Little squares still appearing......
Very strange.... any ideas what may be causing this and how I could get rid of the "squares" on desktop icons would be most welcome. Fingers crossed that the squares are my only problem going forward.
Haffy
haffy
136 Posts
0
April 21st, 2006 18:00
Even worse tonight when I arrived home and switched on. Screen was covered in small flashing squares (not unlike space invaders) as machine booted up and then the vertical banding appeared across my desktop. A further adjacent 4 bands were now present which seem to flicker when pc is processing. Tried adjusting refresh rate and logging onto internet explorer but no luck this time in clearing problem.
I have tested monitor by unplugging connector to computer a, powering off the pc and then switching monitor on. A flahing red/gree/blue rectangle with a white border appears, as expected, and is crystal clear. Could the problem be with :
video card/driver?
possibly electrical interference from proximity of monitor cable to power cables?
a malicious virus of some sort (although my pc is protected by regulalry updated Mcafee firewall and virus scan?
Any suggestions to identify and hopefully resolve the problem would be most appreciated as its driving me mad.....
many thanks
Haffy
strath
1 Message
0
May 11th, 2006 06:00
Hi, did you ever solve the problem because I have the exact same issue with my dell8300. After leaving the computer on for a while and changing the screen picture it sometimes goes but next day is back again, I have tried reinstalling the video card drivers (catalysts) reseating the video card, changing the motherboard battery but no luck, really annoying as computer is only 3 years old, will DEFINATELY NOT be buying a dell again!!!!!!!!!!!
andrew
haffy
136 Posts
0
May 11th, 2006 23:00
Yes - problem solved by getting dell to provide replacement video card and send engineer to fit it and relocate the sound card.
Seems to be a fairly common problem caused by Dell installing audigy sound card in slot next to the video card when they built the system - both get hot and video card eventually goes - usually after circa 2 1/2 yrs! Poor initial build in my view and something Dell should avoid in future. How many people would think to open up a new computer to see if the manufacturer had placed video card in slot next to the sound card.
All working now and pc also seems to be quieter as well.
Main problem I encountered was actually convincing the call centre people that he card had gone and should be replaced - my phone call took 45 mins. Apparently this is a "known" issue particularly with 8300 systems like mine.
Good luck.
haffy
136 Posts
0
May 11th, 2006 23:00