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Tom's Hardware > Forum > Laptops & Notebooks > General Discussion > [Solved] Display problem on Vista laptop

[Solved] Display problem on Vista laptop

Forum Laptops & Notebooks : General Discussion [Solved] Display problem on Vista laptop

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buggaby   01-15-2012 at 05:24:32 AM

Hey everyone

I have an old Asus F8 laptop running Vista and suddenly, yesterday, the screen decided that it wanted to be stupid. :) The screen shows 6 desktops at the same time each with really poor resolution. Restarting did nothing.

This is a photo of the screen.

I suspect this is something that would require a hardware fix and considering this is a 4 or 5 year old laptop, it probably isn't worth it to repair. Any thoughts?

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hang-the-9   01-16-2012 at 07:22:46 PM

Have you tried Safe Mode? Does this happen only after Windows loads?

------------------------------ Recommended Video Cards: http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] ,3085.html
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buggaby   01-16-2012 at 07:28:42 PM

Thanks hang-the-9. Good questions. I didn't think of them

I've tried it in Safe Mode with no difference. And it happens from the very beginning, as in, even while the start up dialog is displayed.

Also, I attached an external monitor. I didn't see the 6 replicated screens, but I was unable to change the monitor resolution higher than 800x600. And everything was unusably fuzzy. It looks like 1 of those screens.

It doesn't seem to be software, or even the laptop monitor itself. Has to be the video card? If so, that's probably a fix more than the value of the laptop itself, right?

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hang-the-9   01-16-2012 at 07:48:31 PM

By startup do you mean the BIOS? Or the Windows startup?

If this is only happening when using the LCD screen, you may be able to fix it by re-seating the cables for it. If this was from the video card, you would see this on an external monitor as well. If re-seating the cables does not work, any other likely fix would cost enough that it's probably worth looking or a new laptop.

------------------------------ Recommended Video Cards: http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] ,3085.html
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buggaby   01-16-2012 at 07:56:40 PM

I mean the Windows startup. I didn't try loading the BIOS. Anyway, it sounds like it's a video card thing. Thanks for the help.

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hang-the-9   01-17-2012 at 03:38:02 PM

buggaby wrote :

I mean the Windows startup. I didn't try loading the BIOS. Anyway, it sounds like it's a video card thing. Thanks for the help.



You don't need to load the BIOS, it does it at boot up anyway before Windows loads. If it was a hardware issue with the video card, it will display this all the time, not just in Windows. Or if it was an issue with the cable connection or something with the display.

If it's a driver or Windows issue, it will only come up once Windows gets to loading the drivers which is after the splash screen.

------------------------------ Recommended Video Cards: http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] ,3085.html
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buggaby   01-17-2012 at 05:03:09 PM

Gotcha. It shows that behaviour all the time (BIOS and Windows). So it's not an OS thing.

It also shows similar behaviour when I attach an external monitor. So it's not a display thing.

Then it must be a video card thing. Right?

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hang-the-9   01-17-2012 at 05:07:35 PM
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buggaby wrote :

Gotcha. It shows that behaviour all the time (BIOS and Windows). So it's not an OS thing.

It also shows similar behaviour when I attach an external monitor. So it's not a display thing.

Then it must be a video card thing. Right?



Correct, if an external monitor does this, and it shows in the BIOS, video card is crapped out. Have not seen this exact issue that I can remember though, usually when the video card goes it just distorts the display, not show up smaller copies of the display. The only time I have seen this is when using a non-dual-link DVI connection with a display that requires dual-link. Then you see copies of the same desktop on the monitor. This may be something similar electronically that is causing what you are seeing, but coming from the video card itself not an issue with the cable type.

------------------------------ Recommended Video Cards: http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] ,3085.html
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