Display shuts off, computer will not respond

[darknightz0117]

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!

 

[JaidynM]

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.
http://www.sevenforums.com/graphic-cards/1810-latest-amd-catalyst-video-driver-windows-7-a.html

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.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/101379-driver-verifier-enable-disable.html

 

[darknightz0117]

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.
http://www.sevenforums.com/graphic-cards/1810-latest-amd-catalyst-video-driver-windows-7-a.html

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.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/101379-driver-verifier-enable-disable.html

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.

 

[JaidynM]

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

 

[darknightz0117]

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.

 

[JaidynM]

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.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/100356-video-card-stress-test-furmark.html

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

 

[darknightz0117]

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.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/100356-video-card-stress-test-furmark.html

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?

 

[JaidynM]

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.

 

[darknightz0117]

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?

 

[JaidynM]

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/100356-video-card-stress-test-furmark.html

^ That's the link to run Furmark.

 

[darknightz0117]

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/100356-video-card-stress-test-furmark.html

^ That's the link to run Furmark.

Hello JaidynM

Sorry for my late reply. I finally got a new graphics card, a 6870, and I thought my problems were gone. But now, it's happening again. My monitor enters idle mode, and nothing is on the display. Later, when I turned the computer on again, i opened a few windows and everything froze. Is there anything I can do to fix all this?

 

[writhziden]

Do some more hardware checking.

• If you are overclocking any hardware, please stop.
  
  
• Monitor temperatures during the following tests.
  
  Use the following programs to monitor the temperatures.​
  • Real Temp is a good CPU temperature monitor.
  • Speccy - System Information - Free Download will monitor all hardware temperatures.
  • HWiNFO, HWiNFO32 & HWiNFO64 - Hardware Information and Analysis Tools can be inaccurate for CPU temperatures, but is a good program for GPU temperature monitoring.
  • Use FurMark: VGA Stress Test, Graphics Card and GPU Stability Test, Burn-in Test, OpenGL Benchmark and GPU Temperature | oZone3D.Net to test the graphics card GPU. Let it run until the GPU temperatures even out or until the GPU temperatures reach a dangerous level (you can find the max temperature for your card on either the nVidia or AMD sites; if you are not sure, ask us). The goal is to get a steady temperature, find out if the GPU is overheating, or to see if there are any artifacts present in the test itself: look for strange pixelated patterns on the screen or colors that do not look like they belong. Then use the |MG| Video Memory Stress Test 1.7.116 Download to test your graphics card memory. Let the memory test run for at least seven passes; the more the better.
    
    
  • Run http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/100352-hardware-stress-test-prime95.html to determine any hardware problems. Run all three tests for a few hours each. If you get errors, stop the test and post back here.
    
    
  • Follow the steps for doing a CPU stress test using IntelBurnTest
  
  
• Run the boot version of Memtest86+ paying close attention to Parts 2 and 3 of the tutorial. Also, in case Memtest86+ misses anything and comes up with no errors, run the extended version of the Windows Memory Diagnostics Tool for at least five passes. These you may want to run overnight since they take a long time to complete (run them an hour before bed each of the next two nights and check before going to sleep that they are still running).
  
  If you swap any memory components, follow these steps for ESD safety:
  1. Shut down and turn off your computer.
  2. Unplug all power supplies to the computer (AC Power then battery for laptops, AC power for desktops)
  3. Hold down the power button for 30 seconds to close the circuit and ensure all power drains from components.
  4. Make sure you are grounded by using proper grounding techniques, i.e. work on an anti-static workbench, anti-static desk, or an anti-static pad. Hold something metallic while touching it to the anti-static surface, or use an anti-static wristband to attach to the anti-static material while working.
  Once these steps have been followed, it is safe to remove and replace components within your computer.

 

[JaidynM]

Sorry for not replying, I must have missed your last post somehow.

Follow writhzidens excellent advice and see if you can diagnose any specific components.

 

[darknightz0117]

Do some more hardware checking.

• If you are overclocking any hardware, please stop.
• Monitor temperatures during the following tests.
  Use the following programs to monitor the temperatures.​
  • Real Temp is a good CPU temperature monitor.
  • Speccy - System Information - Free Download will monitor all hardware temperatures.
  • HWiNFO, HWiNFO32 & HWiNFO64 - Hardware Information and Analysis Tools can be inaccurate for CPU temperatures, but is a good program for GPU temperature monitoring.
  
  

  • Use FurMark: VGA Stress Test, Graphics Card and GPU Stability Test, Burn-in Test, OpenGL Benchmark and GPU Temperature | oZone3D.Net to test the graphics card GPU. Let it run until the GPU temperatures even out or until the GPU temperatures reach a dangerous level (you can find the max temperature for your card on either the nVidia or AMD sites; if you are not sure, ask us). The goal is to get a steady temperature, find out if the GPU is overheating, or to see if there are any artifacts present in the test itself: look for strange pixelated patterns on the screen or colors that do not look like they belong. Then use the |MG| Video Memory Stress Test 1.7.116 Download to test your graphics card memory. Let the memory test run for at least seven passes; the more the better.
  • Run http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/100352-hardware-stress-test-prime95.html to determine any hardware problems. Run all three tests for a few hours each. If you get errors, stop the test and post back here.
  • Follow the steps for doing a CPU stress test using IntelBurnTest
• Run the boot version of Memtest86+ paying close attention to Parts 2 and 3 of the tutorial. Also, in case Memtest86+ misses anything and comes up with no errors, run the extended version of the Windows Memory Diagnostics Tool for at least five passes. These you may want to run overnight since they take a long time to complete (run them an hour before bed each of the next two nights and check before going to sleep that they are still running).
  
  If you swap any memory components, follow these steps for ESD safety:
  1. Shut down and turn off your computer.
  2. Unplug all power supplies to the computer (AC Power then battery for laptops, AC power for desktops)
  3. Hold down the power button for 30 seconds to close the circuit and ensure all power drains from components.
  4. Make sure you are grounded by using proper grounding techniques, i.e. work on an anti-static workbench, anti-static desk, or an anti-static pad. Hold something metallic while touching it to the anti-static surface, or use an anti-static wristband to attach to the anti-static material while working.
  Once these steps have been followed, it is safe to remove and replace components within your computer.

Thank you! I shall follow these steps to the best of my ability, and report back!

 

[darknightz0117]

I've been monitoring temperatures with speccy (which is AWESOME by the way) and everything but the graphics card is usually under 30 C. Something crazy just happened though: I was on mozilla firefox when the screen turned white and was covered with vertical black lines, with maybe half a cm in between them. Not sure what happened there, because all of last week, I was able to play my games just fine. Is that a graphics card issue or something else?

 

[writhziden]

Those sound like artifacts that can occur due to a badly seated graphics card, a graphics card with dust on it, a bad graphics card driver, or a bad graphics card. Start by checking for dust and that the card is seated properly. To remove dust, use a can of compressed air and never use a vacuum on the inside of the case as vacuums cause electrostatic discharges to ruin electronic components. For re-seating the graphics card, follow these steps for ESD safety:

1. Shut down and turn off your computer.
2. Unplug all power supplies to the computer (AC Power then battery for laptops, AC power for desktops)
3. Hold down the power button for 30 seconds to close the circuit and ensure all power drains from components.
4. Make sure you are grounded by using proper grounding techniques, i.e. work on an anti-static workbench, anti-static desk, or an anti-static pad. Hold something metallic while touching it to the anti-static surface, or use an anti-static wristband to attach to the anti-static material while working.

Once these steps have been followed, it is safe to remove and replace components within your computer.

Follow the above steps to the best of your ability. You should also follow the ESD safety steps when blowing the dust out to be on the cautious side. For blowing the dust out, all power needs to be removed from the system at the very least.

 

[darknightz0117]

Hi again,

So I've run the recommended tests and I haven't seen any errors. Temperatures seem fine. But I still get that occasional blank screen after I open a program. This usually happens near start up (within the first 5 min or so). I'm at my wit's end. I'm pretty sure it's more than just the screen turning off because when it turns blank, I try to press the start key, and then the right arrow, and enter because that usually highlights the shut down option. But the computer won't shut down. I've also tried pressing my power button once to see if that will shut it down (if the display is working fine, this usually does the trick) but that doesn't work either. Do either of you have any suggestions?

 

[writhziden]

How did the memory tests go? Did Memtest86+ come up with any errors?

See if it possibly an application or service conflict. http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorial...ation-conflicts-performing-clean-startup.html

 

[darknightz0117]

How did the memory tests go? Did Memtest86+ come up with any errors?

See if it possibly an application or service conflict. http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorial...ation-conflicts-performing-clean-startup.html

memtest86+ came off without a hitch. It's weird because I can't really pinpoint when it will happen, or what causes it. It's totally random ><

 

[writhziden]

Alright, see how the clean startup goes and whether the problem occurs. Run it with the clean startup for twice as long as it normally takes for the problem to occur (use your best judgment as to the average time it takes since it is random).