Athlon XP 1800+. Geforce2 GTS, Windows XP, 19" Mag monitor. This is a client's computer. The problem is that every now and then he gets this rippling effect on the lower righthand and lefthand corners of the monitor in the taskbar area. What's weird about it is that it will happen with, say, Outlook maximized and then you'll open AutoCAD and there'll be no rippling effect. Then you'll keep maximizing and minimizing the Outlook windows (same thing will happen with other apps as well, but not others) and it will go away. Then it will come back. If you reboot it goes away for a while. This is why it doesn't seem to be a hardware problem to me since it doesn't happen with every application but, confusingly, happens on more than one (but not all). No speakers or magnets are the problem, degaussing does nothing. He's running at 1280 x 1024, 32 bit, 75hz, the monitor should be able to handle that. Need someone who knows about monitors here, thanks in advance.

Forgot to mention he has DirectX 8.1, vid drivers are all up to date. Basically wondering if anyone's experienced this same symptom before and how they might have resolved it.

Try using a different monitor. If the problem is still present with a different monitor, you can suspect a video problem. If the problem is no longer present with the different monitor, then of course you can suspect a bad monitor.

There could be interference from other equipment close by... as an example.. I also had a rippling effect on the lower left side of my monitor... I could not figure out what was causing it. after several hours of troubleshooting... I moved my speakers away from the monitor.. because they were on the same pedestal.... no more rippling effect... just a suggestion... could just be some electronic interference Tank863

yeah, i also think it's some sort of electrical interference. Like in the computer labs in school, even though the monitors are a bit away from each other (we even have the computer cases separating the monitors)...if one monitor is degaussed, the other two monitors will have the same effects too. Not all speakers are shielded.... I don't see how it can be software related (other than drivers). I'd say either the monitor, its cable, or the video card is having problems.

Where is his mobile phone? Those things do a kinda "signal test" every now and then, and that may be causing it too! If he, like most of us, keeps his mobile with him, it will interfere with his screen! Just a thought.

thanks for all suggestions. Never considered a mobile phone, he does carry one on him, will have to think about that. Curiously, there is an old Acer in this same office with a similar looking video problem with the monitor only worse. My first job for them was fixing an electrical grounding issue but I fixed that long before I built the Athlon PC for them (outlets are fine, they had forced 3 prong pc power cords into 2 prong extension cables and that was causing the original grounding issue, buying new cables fixed the phase problem). Will go back and take another hard look at their electrical circuits. I'm really beginning to think there is some funky electrical problem here that wasn't completely resolved.