Strange & Sudden GUI Lines on Screen/Issues - Windows 7 64

[luthor]

Just trying to see if anyone can help point me in the right direction before I completely rear down my PC, replace components and do a fresh install.

The other day, out of the blue with no prior issues of its kind, my screen just decided to basically distort itself with lines across the screen. At first, it distorted just a little bit, then all mouse & key functions stopped responding, then the screen would flash and black out like the monitor lost it's video signal from the PC and the monitor would then display a "no source input" message, then it would come back fully distorted and a few seconds later the system dumps to blue screen of death. I can reboot in safe mode, but the screen has these lines all over it as shown below.

I'm wondering if my video card is on its last legs because I don't think it's the monitor. I've had monitors go bad and they generally just stop working one day and have never caused any other issues like a blue screen.

 

[luthor]

Hmmmm.......so, I just viewed this page from my smart phone and clicked on the photo I posted and realized that the lines aren't there. Since the lines aren't visible in the desktop screenshot I made, does this mean that it has to be an issue with my monitor?

 

[shadow2201]

Have you tried a different monitor?

It seems that if the lines aren't there in the screenshot there is a good chance it is your monitor going bad. I would definitely try a different monitor straight away and see if that corrects it.

 

[luthor]

Thanks for the input! Yeah, going to try a different monitor as soon as I can get my hands on one.

What I don't understand is how a monitor issue could at all cause a blue screen?

 

[shadow2201]

Could possibly be a driver issue, or a heating issue with your video card. I'd say first try a different monitor, then if that doesn't solve the problem, uninstall your video driver and reinstall it.

Are the temperatures fine? Have you checked them out?

 

[luthor]

I have not checked any temps. I do not know how. Is that something I would do in general Windows or would it be a specific part of my NVIDIA software for my video card?

A driver issue would be odd. My setup has been essentially the same for several years and I have no recently added any software or done any kind of updates. I don't even allow automatic Windows updates.

 

[shadow2201]

You can check temps on a program called GPU-Z, install it, and go to the "Sensors" tab.

Download TechPowerUp GPU-Z v0.8.0 | techPowerUp

 

[luthor]

Downloaded the program. Min temp started at 56c/131f. After about 10 minutes it was up to 61c/141f

 

[shadow2201]

While those temps seem slightly higher than normal, I wouldn't think they'd have anything to do with your issues. Did you get a chance to try a different monitor?

 

[Alejandro85]

Before jumping into conclusions, I would check that the monitor cables are firmly plugged in at both ends, a loose contact might cause this.

Otherwise, are those "lines" visible before Windows boots? That is, at the BIOS setup screen or during boot?

 

[luthor]

Unfortunately, no, I haven't had an opportunity to try a different monitor. Not sure when I will be able to. I'll probably have to hit a friend up to borrow theirs.

I did indeed check all connections, etc.

No, the lines were not visible upon booting up, they all of a sudden appeared after a undetermined amount of time that the computer had been on/in use.

Another interesting thing that's occurred is after a good several hours of the PC being completely off I booted it up completely normally (aside from the boot screen telling me windows didn't shut down normally and giving me the options to boot into safe mode, safe mode with networking or normal being there) and I am currently using the computer right now with no distorted lines across the screen whatsoever.

 

[shadow2201]

Is it still acting fine?

 

[luthor]

So far, yes. I am currently running antivirus and malware checks to see if anything gets flagged.

 

[luthor]

I do take back a previous statement though. It was asked if the lines were visble during boot up and I said they weren't incorrectly. After the issue presented itself I did attempt a reboot before turning everything off for several hours and during the reboot process, before any Windows screen, the distortion was visible during the boot sequence