Unusual artifacts, can't figure out what's causing them.

vpwin7 · 11 Oct 2013

Screenshot example provided.

This happens very seldom, maybe a few times a month. Out of the blue I'll get the blocky artifacts shown in the attachment on my screen, almost always near the top/right region.

What I know: It's not the cables or the television, nor is it interference related. Oddly, these blocks do not appear on the desktop but only on foreground applications. Restarting the computer fixes the problem, there is nothing I've found to trigger the issue.

Is it possible it's an explorer.exe issue? Or would that not apply since it's appearing on all applications? Nothing unusual in the event viewer.

lehnerus2000 · 11 Oct 2013

Have you checked for driver updates for your graphics card?

I recommend creating a backup HDD/SSD image before installing a new driver.

Tutorials
Backup Complete Computer - Create an Image Backup
Imaging with free Macrium

I prefer to use Macrium Reflect.

vpwin7 · 12 Oct 2013

Yeah they're up to date. It's probably nothing of significance. Only seems to do it outside of games and on a very seldom occurrence. The tech in me is just baffled.

lehnerus2000 · 12 Oct 2013

I know what you mean (I used to be an electronics repair tech).

Maybe it's a connection problem.
Something heats up and flexes, which then cools it down, so it starts working again.

You could try replacing your cables and/or unplugging and reseating your cables and cards.

Unusual artifacts, can't figure out what's causing them.

Unusual artifacts, can't figure out what's causing them.

Driver Update