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General discussion

Monitor flashes off and on after windows loads constantly

Aug 25, 2010 7:30AM PDT

My old Dell computer has started flashing off and on constantly after windows loads. I've checked the cords and the video card and the hardware troubleshooter and can't figure it out. In safe mode it works fine. The flashing has gotten worse over time and the screen icons start to deteriorate. I have disabled the display driver for now and don't have any problems. I have also used different monitors with same results and updated the driver. Is it a bad video card? This is running xp with a gforce card.

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(NT) Looks like the video card indeed.
Aug 25, 2010 7:32AM PDT
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Video correction
Aug 25, 2010 11:57PM PDT

In such cases, swapping the monitor/video card usually is the quicx test provided you can do that.

If you've recently updated the video drivers, the result is a corrupted driver and/or old/new drivers in conflict. What, I have done is totally delete all driver for effected video card and registry clean them out. Re-use the on-board video and then reboot to install the video card again. The video card, MUST be removed prior to using the on-board video. Once done and ready, shutdown and install the video card and re-install. Hopefully, that clears the issue and ot makes it settle down. Otherwise, if the problem repeats, its a h/w fault and more attention int hose areas need looking into.

tada -----Willy Happy