Re-appearing Errors Created 18 years ago2006-04-18 09:03:03 UTC by Strider

Whenever i turn the computer on after being off for some time, i experience weird graphical anomalies. Weird shit, like a small multicoloured square in the corner and sometimes the boot up screen has green squares running through it. I searched up some tech sites and thought i had the problems solved, but eventually it just came back.

It seems every time i wipe the computer now i get some sort of re-occuring glitch or something just doesn't work properly. I now want to wipe it and start over again, but formatting the drives just doesn't do the trick. I heared there are some programs that can do a much thorough job of wiping files from the hard-disk, i'm hoping these can help me with whatever bug is on my system. Does anyone know of such a program? I've read it beding mentioned here before, though i don't remember the name.

If anyone knows a very thorough and reliable way of completely erasing my hard-drive can they please tell me. These re-occuring problems are shitting me off, my computer is in generally good condition, save for the desk fan i use to cool it.

ED: I forgot to mention that EVERY time i experience these graphical glitches, the compute decides to restart itself several times, it will get into windows sit there idle, and then restart. It will happen a few times and then just decide to work perfectly fine.

ok... uh.. .Get a new hardrive? Isnt that easy to do?
or get a new pc

KillDisk - Never used it meself, but it's supposed to completely empty the hard drive.

That sounds like a hardware error, though.

You have a very weird problem there stridey. It looks like a software problem to me. Maybe it's just your OS thaat is acting weird. Try installing it from other cd's. But i doubt that would help.

Sounds to me like faulty drivers.

Check your power supply, is it giving enough power?

Mr.Good Map: No its not, a new hard-drive or even a new PC is not going to happen for a while, and this PC cost alot at the time so i'm not just giving up on it.

ZL: Thanks for the killdisk link, it could very well be a hardware error, but i don't know what could be damaged, is there a good analysis program for checking hardware?

SpaG: Windows XP is an proper CD, not burnt or pirated, and is running perfectly fine on my fathers laptop without error.

Luke: I'm using the latest catalyst drivers, and i've tried rolling back several versions to correct my graphics errors, no luck. All games, programs and utilities run fine. I've used many programs to test my hardware, for viruses, my programs and everything and they come up clean.

DarkKilauea: 550 or whatever it is, quite high and easily my hardware, it has been tested/recommended by a pc specialist and is quite new.

ONE MORE THING
I do want to wipe my drives again, and start over properly but, i recently spent absolutely AGES downloading tonnes of service updates and Windows Service Pack 2. Is there anyway i can back those up? They seem to be directly applied to the pc, there are no installation files or such.

Overheating GFX card? Open the case and stick a desk fan in there and observe it. Google for and run Memtest to check if your RAM is borked. Update the drivers for your hardware and update your mobo's BIOS.

I've thought about the overheating issue. I already a desk-fan going at the Radeon, an i've tested it's heat and it's running within acceptable boundaries. That being said i need a new internal fan for the PC, but the desk fan will suffice until then.

I'll run the Memtest as you suggested and look if BIOS is out of date.

Now if anyone can help me with backing up SP2 and the Security Updates (If it's at all possible) i'll give you a great big hug.

Do you have a gfx card from an old computer you could try in yours? That's the first thing I would do.
About backing up the XP updates, I dont have a clue... I haven't formatted my drives in a long time for the same reason.

No, i don't have an old gfx card, good idea but. I suppose i could re-download SP2 and the updates if i'm getting broadband soon, still a hassel but, there must be some way to back them up.

Ok, my computer just decided to turn itself of again, this time i took a screenshot of the error report (the one that says send|don't send, and you click on technical info or something like that).Does this seem familiar to any of you? I have scanned those files for problems, even tried way's to fix them that other sites have suggested but still i get this problem.

i had a similar problem with my new comp's stability. I just updated some grpahics drivers. Double check what you have and make sure you have the latest version of the driver. That might fix it, but it might not. Or its some connection with your mother board. heh, it could be a lot of things. :

Yeah, it could be loads of things, problem is at some time or another whilst i've had this 'bug' i've probably checked everything i can think of. Oh well i'm going to scrap it in a few days. Now if i can just get SP on disk...
(Ta for the help )

If it's continued through several Windows installs and a fair amount of time with up-to-date drivers, it's a hardware issue. Could be overheating, or permenant damage from past overheating (not sure how common this is ? m0p?)

Now if anyone can help me with backing up SP2 and the Security Updates (If it's at all possible) i'll give you a great big hug.

I don't think you can back them up once they're applied if you downloaded them through Windows Update. If you're really desperate, I might be able to re-download them [not through Windows Update] and stick 'em on a CD for you.

By the way... what theme is that you have on your XP?

Seventh if you bothered with putting them on a CD for me and getting them over here, then you are the greatest webmaster ever! Though, i'm hopefully getting broadband soon and it wouldn't be so much of a problem re-downloading them, unfortunately it's recommended that SP2 is one of the first things you install after formatting the computer. :/

I've read about slipstreaming (?) SP2 with your current XP cd, though i'm not sure if i could do that, as it's not exactly my cd.

Could be overheating, or permenant damage from past overheating

Yeah, i had some overheating issues in the past before i stuck a ruddy-big desk fan in there, where the computer would turn itself of after a few minutes, but inspection of the devices suggest no damage (The computer would also turn itself off before any damage could be done).

And about my theme, it's a Windows Blinds 5 theme called Thallos by this guy here: http://www.studiotwentyeight.com/index2.htm
He does some good work, though he seems to favour Mac themes.

Bump.
Once i KillDisk my comuter drives i'm going to have to give it a huge clean out, make sure it's all as best it can possibly be. It's got so many friggin' wires inside it that i don't think they are all necessary. Infact i'm pretty sure some of them don't even lead anywhere! :

I've read some internet tutorials on slipstreaming Service Pack 2 with the Windows XP installation and putting it onto a new CD. But, big surprise, that needs the SP2 install file - the one i don't have and is a 266mb download!

GAH!

Slipstreaming is very cool. I made an SP2 install disc out of my, er, warezed first-release XP CD.

Nice themes, by the way; thanks.

Glad to help.
I'll try and slipstream my XP cd then and see if it works.