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Hi,my father has an old IBM 300gl pc with a 450mhz processor,i've installed ME and things on it and it seems to be handling all the programs i'v eput into it really,better than expected,problem is now an engineer has been to his house fitting a Cable Broadband internet modem to his PC,i was up installing a firewall and antivirus software for my father after this engineer had been and before i installed the software i was just showing him around the internet,suddenly along the top of the screen there were thin green lines appeared right across the top of the screen?About 2 mm apart,4cm long(vertically),i cam off the internet and the lines disappeared?Is this RAM related or graphics,only time i've seen something similar was when a graphics card didn't get on with a motherboard,anyone any suggestions?He only has 128mb of ram at the moment and the tight old git won't cough up and buy more:-)Any advice appreciated,thanks.
lee, FWIW, my initial gut feeling is that a banner ad is not being properly defined and that accounts for the lines. My guess has to be that it is cable-related. Out of curiosity, you might try the Netzero freebie DIALUP and see if they are still there.
Another thing worth looking into is 'Trev's Tweaks ...' at : http://www.burzurq.com/forum/trevtweak.html
If you haven't done as suggested, highly recommended. (REALLY helped me)
FWIW, more RAM might be desirable, but 128 is enough to do the job. More would probably be faster/better but...( I've sucessfully run ME with less)
HTH.
Ed in Texas.
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Yes, it's more than likely RAM related.
Reseat the memory (RAM) stick(s) securely back into it's slot(s) and see if you that clears the fault.
While you've got the stick(s) out of it's seating just quickly double check the metal pin contacts running along the bottom for grime or dirt, you can get a build up of greeny oxide-y type gunk sometimes messing with getting a clean contact area between stick and slot.
If it's still there then run a memory diagnostic test like DocMemory v1.45a or Memtest86
It's also worth checking over and reseating the graphics card if it doesn't clean up.
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I had this on my machine twice ages ago.
I restarted the PC by pressing CTRL ALT & DELETE and the machine fired up OK.
I don't remenber what caused it but there was no lasting damage and it was not a virus.The machine was unstable before it happened.
This I do remember.A friend suggested I use Norton System Works,
'One Button Check-up' as this finds and corrects problems in the registry. NSW did the trick for me and I haven't seen that problem since.NSW also runs off of the disc if you don't have it installed, but you don't get the option to reverse any changes it does if needed.
So far, I have never needed to reverse anything. Norton is my friend.
I'm not much help here but it may inspire you somehow.
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we had the same problem and a guy that works with my husband and is supposed to be a computer wiz :) said that it was memory related. We put another memory card in and haven't seen those lines since.
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I had the same problem about a year or so ago. It seemed to get worse as time went by, but I had the exact same green lines as you describe, only my came on at boot up and the screen remained black with just these lines Windows did NOT load. I would have to restart the computer by pressing the on/off button, sometimes it would work normally, sometimes the green lines and black screen came back. The ONLY solution was to re-load Windows. I did that and the problem went away for good.
I found out later that my video card files got corrupted somehow and was causing this problem, no amount of defragging or fixing the registry helped.
If it only happens every now and then, I wouldn't worry about it.But, it is defintely your video card or video card drivers that are causing this problem.
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It's not "defintely" your "video card or video card drivers" that are causing this problem.
There are a two "usaul" circumstances where this situation can arise, and those suspects usually are:
1) your memory
2) your graphics card
Check both first with the above information and then post back detailing what happens.
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Aren't video card and graphics card one and the same?
If they aren't, I stand corrected and will say "It is defintely your graphics card or graphics driver".
This problem was diagnosed by a friend of mine who is an IT specialist for a big corporation. I also thought it had something to do with the memory, but he told me this rarely is the problem, memory very seldom gets corrupted. Every time you reboot your machine your memory starts off fresh. The graphics card files or driver got corrupted somehow and if you know which ones they are you could copy over the existing ones and probably fix the problem. Just reload windows on top of itself and I think the problem will go away.
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"Aren't video card and graphics card one and the same?"
Yes, same terminology.
"It is defintely your graphics card or graphics driver".Yes but there is a huge difference between a piece of hardware (the graphics card) and the piece of software that connects the graphics card to the operating system (the driver).
Either one could be "misbehaving"
Memory (RAM) goes bad all the time depending on many variables - everything has a life span.First thing you do is "reseat" the memory (RAM) and "reseat" the graphics card back in there relevant slots, checking it's status in the device manager. Making sure you have a tight connection between every connecting (touching) interface.
You also make sure, when you have the memory stick out, and in your hand, that you check it over for anything that could disrupt that "contact", eg: dirt / crap. (check the pins over).
If it's still not cleared, then you need to be looking further down the line. Start running a memory (RAM) diagnostic test. Get that out of the way.
"The graphics card files or driver got corrupted somehow and if you know which ones they are you could copy over the existing ones and probably fix the problem."Yes, can happen, but you'd normally get different symptoms before green lines showing up with a corrupt driver file.
"Just reload windows on top of itself and I think the problem will go away."That's the laziest piece of crap advice I've heard. That's the last resort anyone says because they have no f---ing clue what's going on and/or, are too lazy to give a walk through.
People at the ground floor in corporations are usually poorly trained and can't think for themselves and certainly aren't payed to think independently. You have to move on up through the food chain to get someone who does (not always true).
Now that's a 2.15 am (sat morn) reply and Im stuffed full of drink. ....and about to execute dirty thoughts. Laters.
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Michael2 - If your interested in the whys and hows of whats been put down, then get yourself down to the local library and get hold of a copy of something like ....
A+ Certification bible by Ed Tetz.
That pretty much gives you a half decent spread of the fundamentals. No need to buy it. Just have a browse.
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 Plase helpme out of this
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system all screwed up
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