Google Earth suddenly will no longer run acceptably on my machine. Running it in OpenGL mode results in an unintelligible white image of planet Earth with mysterious white boxes around the periphery of the screen. I tried to switch to DirectX mode—no joy. I upgraded to DirectX 9—still no joy. I upgraded my vidio drivers (NVIDIA GeForce2 MX/MX 400), uninstalled Google Earth and reinstalled the latest version from Google. Nothing works. I don't know what could have changed. I have been using Google Earth successfully, although not very often, for a couple of years. Suddenly now it doesn't work. Has anyone out there had a similar experience? Is there some solution available?

I had a very simmilar problem with Google Earth and Win2K. It wouldn't play nice aor not played at all.
The only thing I had did to my PC was do the normal Windows Critical Updates.
Same as you I un-installed it, re-installed it, Upgaded DirectX just like you. Still same problem.
The only way I'm able to run it now is When it first opens, There is a dialog box that opens up (halfway hidden) that asks if I was to use DirectX (Recommended) or Not. I drag the box covering out the way and pick Not to open it the DirectX then it works fine.
It has to be something with one of the Windows Updated, but I don't which one or why. Maybe you can post a question to Google Earth's tech support or forum? See what they say. Maybe a "bug" or something.

Who knows, knows and who doesn't know, dosen't know jack!
El que sabe, sabe y el que no sabe, no sabe nada!

Thanks for your response.
Like you, I don't really know what it was that knocked Google Earth out on my machine — maybe a Windows upgrade, maybe something else, but I think I have found a solution to the problem. I loaded Google Earth in OpenGL Mode (not DirectX). I got the white globe and the cryptic peripheral boxes like before. Then in the Google Earth window I clicked on "Tools", then "Options". In Options I clicked on the "3D View" tab. In the "Graphics Mode" box I made sure that "OpenGL" was indicated and then I put a check mark in the "Use safe mode" box. Then I restarted the program.
Now the program runs and displays the earth as it used to with detailed images of features on the ground. It seems to run slower than it used to but at least it runs now.