Red lines appearing on desktop

[starwolf1336]

I did a search and couldn't find anything close to what i have, so sorry in advance if this is posted somewhere else.

Basically sometimes when i bring a new window forward red lines will appear behind that window but not on the current window. I have the current (legacy) drivers for my video card. And its not my monitor because when i go to use the snipping tool or do a print screen, the lines will appear in the picture even if the lines weren't there when i took the shot.

I have tried changing my background image to different pictures as well as just solid colors.

My computer hardware specs are listed in the tab, but if you need more info please let me know.

Below are some screen shots of what they look like.

 

[torrentg]

Those screenshots make me think leaking or blown capacitors on the video card. Have a look at it inside. Pull it out if you have to. Look for any discoloration on the capacitors near the base and top. Make sure the tops are flat and not rounded.

If there are blown caps, you can easily solder in new replacements.

Or it could be a driver issue.

 

[smarteyeball]

Those screenshots make me think leaking or blown capacitors on the video card.

Or it could be a driver issue.

+1

Do you have any graphical corruption during BIOS etc, or do the lines solely appear in Windows?

If it occurs outside of windows, then you're h/ware is failing. If it's just within Windows then it's most likely a driver issue.

Try uninstalling your current drivers and see if the problem occurs with the default Windows VGA driver.

 

[torrentg]

My downstairs pc with NVidia 6200A-LE had blown caps. The problem was only evident when going to start a game. The screens would bug out and go crazy. Otherwise, everything else was perfect. I replaced the blown caps and the card plays games again well. So the lack of corruption outside of Windows doesn't mean a perfect working card. I wouldn't have known this if it didn't happen to me personally heh.

So I'm really leaning towards blown caps here too, especially because the card has probably been in use since like 2004 or 2005.

 

[starwolf1336]

Ok, i'll take a look at the card tonight when i get a chance. But no everything else is fine. There is nothing wrong during start up. I used to game with this but not anymore since my computer specs no longer meet the requirements. And i do have the latest drivers from amd.com

So i'll check all that tonight and get back with yall. Thanks for the input.

And just a side note, i was running xp before this. I installed the windows 7 RC on a virtual machine on top of xp and it did the same red lines but only in the windows 7 area.

But as of right now my machines OS is now windows 7 professional and not RC.

 

[starwolf1336]

Ok, i got home, checked out the video card. Everything seems in order. Nothing looks deformed or out of place.

I let windows look to see if it could find any drivers for my video card, and it surprisingly did. Even though i got the lastest drivers from AMD like 2 days ago. But it didint fix the problem.

 

[thefabe]

If it is not a software problem then it has to be a hardware problem. Do you know of anyone you could try a different card from? In my experience leaking caps are not that easily noticeable sometimes. It only takes a minor problem to create artifacting. and lets face it the card is getting pretty old and windows 7 is demanding more out of it. IMO. Fabe

 

[starwolf1336]

No, most of my friends have laptops and arnt into customizing. So i guess i'll just let it be till it actually dies. Not like its crippling my performance or anything.

Only problem is that my motherboard has a AGP slot. I know there is a radeon HD 4800 AGP card out there, but i think it would be a waste when i'll be building a new system sometime early next year.

So i'll just let it stay. If it dies, i'll replace it with a cheap one card till my next build.

Thanks for the help guys

 

[thefabe]

Your welcome. And good luck. Fabe

 

[DocBrown]

Leaving NO stone unturned ?

How about taking out the Video card, cleaning the edge contacts with a pencil eraser, then lightly cleaning them with rubbing alcohol & soft cloth. Let thouroughly dry. Re-install, reseat video card in AGP slot. Double check video cable between video card & monitor for loose or bad connection, or anything broken.

Maybe go into bios on boot up & check what that screen looks like for red lines.

Is bios setup, set to default to AGP slot ?

 

[starwolf1336]

I have taken the card out and cleaned it. Its pluged in good, so is the power cord.

And there are no red lines in the bios. It has to be a windows 7 thing. Maybe my video card just doesnt like aero.

 

[torrentg]

Actually, I had the All-In-Wonder 9800 Pro AGP in my main rig in specs here before I upgraded. It handled Aero well. Ironically, that card failed on me too. But it wasn't caps that time.

 

[starwolf1336]

Well, the problem def is the aero effect. I turned it off, and i havnet seen the lines yet. I can also take screen shots w/o the lines showing up. Below is a shot w/o aero turned on.

Atleast i found what was sort of the problem

But it sucks to me w/o the aero effects

 

[torrentg]

Ya. Aero is probably "pushing" the card to work, much like in my example of when I tried to start a game. Replacing that 9800 with something more modern in the HD series will benefit your pc immensely. I really like my 3850 a lot.

Your PSU is enough. All you need is a cheap converter to change 2 available molexes to either 4 or 6 pin. (4 only will work, leaving 2 unused on card and many HD AGP cards come with this converter. Mine from HIS did.)

If you don't have 2 available molex connectors from PSU, you can easily splice into two separate rails to provide power and attach to converter piece. Or if you only have 1 molex available to be used, you'd then only have to splice into one other rail.

If you would like to upgrade and need any kind of help with connections or what not, let us know.

 

[starwolf1336]

I dont plan on upgrading this machine. I'll just deal with it till my next build which will be soon. I dont game on it any more so i'm not expecting it to do much more then web browsing/ watching movies and email.

Thanks for all the answers and encouragement.

BTW, how do you rate people? i cant seem to find it.

 

[thefabe]

Well, the problem def is the aero effect. I turned it off, and i havnet seen the lines yet. I can also take screen shots w/o the lines showing up. Below is a shot w/o aero turned on.

Atleast i found what was sort of the problem

But it sucks to me w/o the aero effects

Glad to see you have found the problem. You can use the red triangle in the uppper right corner and click it and report the fix you found and the admin will mark the post fixed. Fabe

 

[DocBrown]

I dont plan on upgrading this machine. I'll just deal with it till my next build which will be soon. I dont game on it any more so i'm not expecting it to do much more then web browsing/ watching movies and email.

Thanks for all the answers and encouragement.

BTW, how do you rate people? i cant seem to find it.

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[starwolf1336]

Thanks very much DocBrown and TheFabe for the forum info