white rectangle on the Screen

Does the cursor disappear when you mouse over that white rectangle, or can you still see it?  What happens if you open an application?  Does the problem show up on an external monitor (assuming a notebook) or a different monitor (for a desktop)?

Chisale, welcome to the community forums

Always best to give as much information as possible, otherwise replies tend to request more info

Hence the “narrowing-down” type questions from Larry to reduce the guessing game

I.e. does white rectangle appear all the time or just when moving the mouse over a certain area of screen, same or what part of screen, on desktop screen only or just when web browsing etc…

In the absence of more information – so it’s a long shot guess:

There is a graphical user interface (GUI) feature called ToolTips (bit like a pop-up) normally initiated by mouse “hover” movement & there are a number of different alternative GUI software suppliers

Some ToolTips software causes a rectangle box to appear empty & remain behind or partially displayed

Some GUI software suppliers provide a ToolTips disable type option

If you haven’t installed such 3rd party GUI software it could be MS Windows ToolTips?

If it is then try the following

Right click on any empty area on desktop screen > select Properties > Appearance tab > Effects button

Uncheck the enable box “Use the following fade effect for……tooltips”

Click OK twice

If the above doesn’t fix your problem, please provide more information

Chisale,

I hope that white rectangle is clearly defined.  The last time I saw a white rectangle on an Inspiron 1525 display, it was bad news.  The rectangle was a broken display caused when a small Bible was placed against the top of the laptop while being transported in a soft nylon carrying case. 

Tony

My pc was fine last night and I have been using it frequently. Today I opened it and there is a tall solid white rectangle in the top left corner with black smudge at the bottom of it. My curser is hidden behind it. It does display normal on the television when I hook up with hdmi cable. I am guessing that the screen is irrepairable since it looks fine on the tv and not on notebook.

Hi rossr1016,

It appears to be an issue with the LCD. If using a Dell laptop, you may follow the steps below to run self test on LCD :

• Power off your computer
• Press and hold 'D' button on laptop keyboard and press Power button to run the tests.

If the black patch is visible during the self test as well, then it points towards a hardware failure and the LCD might need a replacement. Please check the LCD screen for any accidental damages. Please post a picture if possible.

Please reply with the findings. Will take it further from there.

I have a similar problem . Small white rectangle top left of desktop.  194x55 pixels width x height. Sits 205 pixels down and 149 pixels from the left. RGB colours are 240,240,240

Stays  on top. Cant click or double click it. Cant put another icon in it's place if you try the mouse changes to no entry sign. Mouse icon goes over the top of it. Icons placed there before it arrives are hidden beneath it.

I have this on an Alienware M17x r4 with 3d screen. I think it appears after I leave the machine and the screen / machine goes to standby but not certain about this.

What is it?:emotion-42:

Forgot to put the picture of the screen in... here it is...

Hi kandoDell,

Does it appear in BIOS?

Restart the comuter and tap F2 at Dell logo.Check the the display is same.

You may also check in Safemode with networking. Restart the computer and tap F8 at Dell logo and select Safemode with networking.

Also, run diagnostics on the computer. Refer the following video to run diagnostics:

Awaiting your response!

Hi Rajesh,

The rectangle appears seemingly random I think after hibernate but not certain.

It does not appear in the Bios

Running the f12 diags shows a perfect machine.

It appears to be a process of some sort as when it is there and I shut down it disappears like the icons do.

I will have to wait to get it back on the screen to find out more info for you.

Hi, Rajesh

Nvidia sent me notification to upgrade my GE force graphics driver to version 327.23 Which I did.

I have not had the problem since.

I hope that is the end of that!

Thought you might like to know.

Hi kandoDell,
Glad to hear that the computer is working. Should you require any further help kindly private message me.

Have a nice day

Did you try to restart the explorer ? It worked for me...

Ctrl-Alt-Del, Task Manager : locate Windows Explorer and right-click for restart !