Display shuts off, computer will not respond

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  1. Posts : 179
    Windows 7
       #1

    Display shuts off, computer will not respond


    Hello all,

    I'm having a rather strange issue. For some reason, when I turn my computer on, there will be times when I will get past the start-screen, load a few programs, and then my monitor will not show anything. The monitor is still on, but nothing shows. Sometimes, I can hold down the power button (this is a desktop) and the computer will power off, but recently, even that will not do. The turn offs happen at random, so even now, I'm not sure if the computer will shut off on me.

    When holding down the power button does not suffice, I resort to pulling out the power cable. When I turn the computer back on, there's the usual "windows did not shut off properly screen" and the options to start in safe mode and etc. I skip past this, and log on again, but no Windows error window pops up. Nothing about a blue screen, nothing about an unexpected shut down. That usually happens with a blue screen, but with this scenario, that does not happen. Thus, there is no minidump file to record these actions.

    I've noticed that this happens when I open a particular link, but when I tried opening that link in my laptop, the laptop is fine. I looked in the Event Viewer and found several "The driver detected a controller error on \Device\Harddisk3\DR3". Not sure if that's any help. I've attached the minidumps but again, I don't think those relate to the errors I had today (March 4, 2012). I also put the performance log in the zip file.

    Thanks for everything!
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 8,398
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64/Windows 8 Consumer Preview x64/Ubuntu 11.04
       #2

    atikmdag.sys may be the cause of your problem. It is a system driver related to ATI Radeon graphics cards. Update your graphics driver from the below link.
    Latest AMD Catalyst Video Driver for Windows 7

    Enable Driver Verifier. Enabling this should hopefully crash your system and then point to the faulty driver that is causing problems. However before you do, it is advised that you create a system restore point and backup first.
    Driver Verifier - Enable and Disable
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 179
    Windows 7
    Thread Starter
       #3

    JaidynM said:
    atikmdag.sys may be the cause of your problem. It is a system driver related to ATI Radeon graphics cards. Update your graphics driver from the below link.
    Latest AMD Catalyst Video Driver for Windows 7

    Enable Driver Verifier. Enabling this should hopefully crash your system and then point to the faulty driver that is causing problems. However before you do, it is advised that you create a system restore point and backup first.
    Driver Verifier - Enable and Disable
    Thank you for your reply! I will try this solution, but the only thing is that I am not using a dedicated ATI card anymore. I had the catalyst drivers installed previously, but now I'm using my onboard graphics.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 8,398
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64/Windows 8 Consumer Preview x64/Ubuntu 11.04
       #4

    When did you switch to onboard graphics? The dumps indicated that you were using ATI drivers.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 179
    Windows 7
    Thread Starter
       #5

    JaidynM said:
    When did you switch to onboard graphics? The dumps indicated that you were using ATI drivers.
    I switched back to onboard graphics around February 12th. That's why I can't figure out what's wrong with my computer haha. When the problem occurs, there are no dumps.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 8,398
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64/Windows 8 Consumer Preview x64/Ubuntu 11.04
       #6

    Okay. You said that the latest BSOD occurred on the 4th of March? There doesn't seem to be any dump files for it.

    Test your video card using Furmark. Watch your machine's temps and stop the test if it starts to overheat or artifacts appear on the screen.
    Video Card - Stress Test with Furmark

    Try running Furmark on both your integrated graphics and your ATI card.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 179
    Windows 7
    Thread Starter
       #7

    JaidynM said:
    Okay. You said that the latest BSOD occurred on the 4th of March? There doesn't seem to be any dump files for it.

    Test your video card using Furmark. Watch your machine's temps and stop the test if it starts to overheat or artifacts appear on the screen.
    Video Card - Stress Test with Furmark

    Try running Furmark on both your integrated graphics and your ATI card.
    Will Furmark mess up my integrated graphics? I no longer have the ATI card since I returned it. I think the problem is my integrated graphics. Twice today (March 06, 2012), my computer would turn on, i would load a few programs, and the display would turn black, stay on and then say "out of range". Again, no dumps, which is rather frustrating.... Do you have other suggestions, or should I just wait until I get a dedicated graphics card to see if that fixes the problem?
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 8,398
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64/Windows 8 Consumer Preview x64/Ubuntu 11.04
       #8

    Furmark shouldn't mess up your graphics if it is used correctly. All it will do is stress test it to see if anything is wrong.
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 179
    Windows 7
    Thread Starter
       #9

    JaidynM said:
    Furmark shouldn't mess up your graphics if it is used correctly. All it will do is stress test it to see if anything is wrong.

    Where can I find the stress test with instructions on how to run it? Sorry it took so long to respond; I've been bogged down with midterms.

    Things were going okay after I updated the driver, but now it's starting to happen again. I also had that weird one where the screen just turns black, but is still on.

    I'm not sure if this error will help, but I saw it in event manager:

    The driver detected a controller error on \Device\Harddisk3\DR3.

    But that was right after the screen turned black. Do you know anything else that might help?
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 8,398
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64/Windows 8 Consumer Preview x64/Ubuntu 11.04
       #10

    Video Card - Stress Test with Furmark

    ^ That's the link to run Furmark.
      My Computer


 
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