Video Problems after installing Power Nap on Windows7

Hi wla57,

Dell has not tested the system with windows 7 and the drivers for same are not available on the Dell support website.

You may try updating the video drivers for your system from the manufacturer’s website.

Also run the Video Stress Test to check for any issues with the video card from the link below.

The link is: http://dell.to/15vqoRn

Click on the link and select ‘Hardware’ to run the ‘Video Card Stress’ test. You may also run a full diagnostics.

Dell has tested the following video cards with the system.

NVidia GeForce 7300, NVidia GeForce 7900 GTX, NVidia GeForce 6800, NVidia GeForce 7800, ATI Radeon X600 XT, ATI Radeon X300 SE.

Please feel free to reply for any further assistance.

I have the most current graphics card drivers, as I have installed a brand new hard drive, and the card I have is the NVidia GeForce 6800. I will check the stress test and get back to you on the results

Hi wla57,

Glad to know that the issue is resolved.

It seems that there were some updates missing that caused the issue.

Please feel free to reply for any further assistance. 

Well....I guess it's not resolved. The monitor flashed out and back again a couple of times. It seems like it disconnects and reconnects to the computer because I can hear a Windows hardware disconnect and connect sound when it happens. Also whenever it does, any open windows resizes to a smaller size and is located in the top left of the screen, instead of larger in the middle where it was before. I tend to run the windows not maximized. So...any suggestions???

Hi wla57,

As the screen resizes itself after flashing out, the issue seems to be related to the Video card.

Also as you have mentioned that you can hear windows hardware disconnect sound, you may try removing the side cover of your system and check the video card functionality while the issue occurs.

The sound could be the video card fan stopping for a while and then running again, which may be the cause of the issue.

Also try booting the system to safe mode and see if the issue occurs in safe mode. The steps are:

• Restart or Power on the system.
• Tap at dell logo until ‘Advanced Boot Options’ appear.
• Choose ‘Safe Mode’ and hit ‘Enter’

Keep me posted with the results.

I opened the cover and checked the video card fan when the issue occurred. Fan did not stop. However the fan sometimes sounds like its laboring. When I replaced my hard drive a week ago, I did vacuum out a lot of dust especially on the video card. Note: I used a special vacuum attachment made for vacuuming computers. I am going to try to boot in safe mode and see what happens. Will keep you posted.

The issue did not occur in safe mode. I checked the monitor properties in the device manager and noticed two drivers listed. I am going to uninstall both and reboot. Then install one driver and see what happens. By the way, the disconnect sound is a windows notification sound, the type you get when you plug in or unplug a USB device. Again, will keep you posted on the results.

Now another issue, but I think I know the cause, when I open an email link in Outlook 2003, the browser window (IE 10) gets cut off at the top, with the close, minimize and maximize buttons missing. It may be compatibility issue with Outlook 2003

Just an update, I uninstalled all the monitor drivers, and related software, installed a new driver direct off the Dell website, instead of off the older disk. Did not install Power Nap. It's of no use to me and was probably causing the problem.

The monitor blacked out once, but I think it was before I installed the new driver. So far so good.....I'm crossing my fingers on this.

Hi wla57,

Do you face the issue only while opening a link from the Outlook to a browser or other windows are also exceeding the screen size?

You may try a different browser to see if that works fine.

You may reset the Internet explorer. Refer to the link below for the steps.

http://bit.ly/ry0f

Keep me posted with the results. I will be glad to assist you further.

So it does it also with another browser as well, but not as drastic. However, note this, if any browser is open at the time and I click the link from the email in outlook the issue does not occur. It only happens when no browsers are running or open. Also resetting IE didn't do anything, I didn't expect it would, since I did not customize it, since I have rebuilding my computer following a hard drive replacement and every program I have been installing have been clean installs.

Hi wla57,

It seems that the browser window that opens by default upon clicking the link is stretched.

Press the F11 key to resize the browser window if you are unable to see the close, minimize options.

Hope this helps. Please reply if you have any questions.