[DjFonti]

Hi all, like the subject says I can't seem to access the display properties on my computer. Recently I have had numerous problems with my PC, random restarts, having to reset a few times whilst booting for it to boot, switching it on and it just freezing on the initial start up screen (when it scrolls through the fan speed and hardware names etc), random BSODS and the picture scrambling completely (with some accompanying worrying bleeps) and others. Sounds very bad on paper, but when I manage to get it running it seems to work OK. Until recently, where it shut down and stopped responding entirely (not doing anything when pushing the on button), so I opened it up, fiddled around with the fans and blew on random bits and it started up again. Eventually it started in safe mode, I restarted it in normal, but most of the important drivers had dissappeared, so after re-installing the graphics card one and modem one, I thought I would be good to go, but not so. The computer now doesn't allow me to access the display properties so I can switch the colours and resolution back to normal, instead I get an error message about the desk.cpl file, so I looked it up on the net and the microsoft support site had a solution, and extracting said file and replacing the one I am using. I tried that, went through the entire process, but it still comes up with the same message when I try to access display settings. If anyone is wondering what exactly was the erroe message and what I have tried, it is all on this link (microsoft support). I tried to follow that as best as I could but didn't understand the bit about Diamond In-control and uninstalling it as I didn't have or couldn't find it on my computer or registry.

Anyway, if anyone has had a similar problem, or anyone has any clues as to what could be causing these problems, or better still a solution, I would be eternally grateful....... ...thanks alot.

Edited by DjFonti, 24 December 2006 - 03:45 PM.

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What's the manufacturer of your video card? It seems that the fix on the Microsoft site refers to video cards made by Diamond Multimedia. I don't know, perhaps these cards give this problem most often.

[ghetto_smurf]

What's the manufacturer of your video card? It seems that the fix on the Microsoft site refers to video cards made by Diamond Multimedia. I don't know, perhaps these cards give this problem most often.

[123Runner]

Your are having a lot of issues with the unit.
BSOD, random restarts, no restarts, won't turn on, missing drivers, etc.

You indicated you got it going by blowing on parts.

When was the last time it was cleaned out of dust bunnies?
Are all the fans working?
Could be heat related. If its ok, leave the covers off and see if symptoms change.
What are the specs on the power supply? wattage?
Have you tried reseating all the cards in the unit. Could be bad contacts.
How much ram do you have? Could be a bad ram chip.
Could also be a bad/ corrupted driver.

When was the last time you ran a full virus, malware, and spyware scan?

[DjFonti]

Thanks for the replies people, I will have to find out the answers to your questions, so I'll post back soon.