Laptop running on VgaSave has colored stripes (is it fixable?)

I got a blue screen error with error code 016 (I've read that it is a graphics card failure) and I've been trying to troubleshoot my way around using the safe mode (starting it regularly caused the same blue screen error; since safe mode uses the VgaSave hardware, the error doesn't appear there). But it appears I have these pinkish vertical stripes all over my screen when the computer uses VgaSave. And it is very hard to view stuff with this problem. VgaSave is not supposed to produce these normally, right? What could be causing it, howmight I get rid of the stripes?

Edit: I assume VgaSave is both hardware and a driver. Am I wrong? Can it work, for example, in a computer without a graphics card? If it is only a driver, I guess my problem is explained by a major problem with my graphics card, I suppose.


(Here, the computer is on regular mode; I managed to start windows normally after disabling my main graphic driver on device manager in safe mode)

VGASave is a video driver. Windows uses it when the regular video driver won't work.

A bad video card could be causing the driver not to work. To see if the driver is the problem, try reinstalling the video driver. If that doesn't fix the problem, then it is likely a bad video card.

One way you can test the video card is to run a program which checks the computer's internal temperatures. Download and run Speedfan (http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php). If the graphics adapter is really hot, then it is bad.

Another thing which can cause video problems is dust in the computer. It is not easy to remove the dust from inside of a laptop, but if you can't fix this another way, you might need to open the computer to blow the dust out of it. The key thing to remember when opening a laptop is to go really slow and careful when you do it. Take really good notes of everything you do, so that you can put it all back together correctly. And keep the various screws labeled, so that you don't mix them up. What I do is get a white posterboard and put the screws on it as I remove them. I write a note by the screws (where I removed them from, etc), and I then draw a rectangle around the screws and the notes I wrote. This will be a lifesaver when you are putting it back together.

It is no easy task to replace the video card in a laptop. In fact, it may be impossible. But you may be able to simply use an external HDMI monitor - your laptop probably has an HDMI video port - rather than the internal monitor. In fact, the easiest way to fix a video hardware problem in a laptop is to convert it to a desktop by using an external monitor, and maybe an external mouse and keyboard.