[Sode no Shirayuki]

I'm pretty sure this is the driver I was using.

http://www.dell.com/...leId=2731098762

It has worked perfectly fine until the colored lines randomly appeared on the monitor.

I'm not sure what you mean when you say "generic driver". I reinstalled the operating system and so far, I've not installed any other video driver if that's what you mean. In this state, the graphics are very laggy (e.g. dragging windows) and greater resolutions are not correctly displayed.

Edit: I'm not quite sure if I answered your questions. I hope I did.

Edited by Sode no Shirayuki, 31 December 2011 - 01:18 PM.

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Generic driver is the driver the OS loads by default before you install the newest driver. I am thinking at this point it is the new driver causing the issue since the lines are not happening with Generic driver.
By resolutions I mean is the system set at like 800x600 or 1280x764 and is it at 32 million colors or at 16 colors.

[rshaffer61]

Generic driver is the driver the OS loads by default before you install the newest driver. I am thinking at this point it is the new driver causing the issue since the lines are not happening with Generic driver.
By resolutions I mean is the system set at like 800x600 or 1280x764 and is it at 32 million colors or at 16 colors.

[Sode no Shirayuki]

Let me check that real quick.

[Sode no Shirayuki]

800 by 600 32-bit

That's with a freshly installed OS. I've done nothing else so far (including installing Windows updates).

[rshaffer61]

OK is that good for you at that setting?

[Sode no Shirayuki]

Nope. Without installing another video driver, the graphics are very laggy (especially when dragging windows). Also, I prefer the 1280 by 1024 res.

Edit: I'm going to let my mother get on right now so she can check her work schedule. I'll check back a little later.

Edited by Sode no Shirayuki, 31 December 2011 - 02:35 PM.

[Sode no Shirayuki]

I'm back. I'm waiting for a reply from Keriver regarding a few questions I had about 1-Click Restore. Once I get a reply, I'll try it out on the laptop and make sure I can use it. After that, I'll install it on the desktop, create a backup, then install the video driver and see if I still get the colored lines.

[Sode no Shirayuki]

Hey,

Keriver replied to me. I'm going to ask a couple questions about Paragon Backup & Recover Advanced Free as well before I make my decision.

I'm going to clean my laptop and I have a few questions before doing so.

- Can I wipe the laptop's casing with a damp cloth?
- Can I clean the keyboard keys using a cotton swab and rubbing alcohol?
- How can I clean the touch pad?

I found a website that said I can do these things, however, the website also said I can use a can of compressed air and blow air through the vents which you advised against so I wasn't sure how much to trust the rest of the information.

Thanks.

[rshaffer61]

YOu can blow from the inside compartments out but blowing the dirt from the outside to the inside of the system is a waste of time. All you would be doing is blowing more airflow blocking dust inside the system.
The steps for cleaning the outside of the laptop are fine.
So at this point everything else is working with the laptop except for the correct video resolution right?

[Sode no Shirayuki]

"YOu can blow from the inside compartments out but blowing the dirt from the outside to the inside of the system is a waste of time. All you would be doing is blowing more airflow blocking dust inside the system."

Oops, sorry. I wasn't clear whether or not the website said to blow air through the vents from the inside or from the outside. The website said I could clean the laptop case openings by using a can of compressed air and it never mentioned taking the laptop apart and blowing from the inside to the outside. So, I wasn't sure whether or not I should follow the other advice.

"So at this point everything else is working with the laptop except for the correct video resolution right?"

That's right. The laptop's okay. I was just wondering whether or not it was okay to clean the laptop using the procedures I had mentioned. The problems with the video is occurring on my desktop, though. I'm still deciding if I should Keriver 1-Click Restore Free or Paragon Backup and Recovery Advanced Free. I got a reply from Keriver. Now I'm waiting for a reply to my thread on Paragon's forum.

[rshaffer61]

On the bottom of the laptop is compartments for the hard drive and the memory. Open those up and blow the system from there toward the vents.. This will blow all the dust out.
Cleaning the exterior you can use the steps you mentioned.

[Sode no Shirayuki]

I have some more information regarding the colored lines.

After reformatting and installing the operating system, I installed the NVIDIA video driver via the Dell Resource CD that came with my desktop computer. At the end of the installation process, I was asked to reboot my computer. I selected 'Do not restart computer' and finished the installation. At this point, the graphics worked just fine. There were no colored lines. However, after I restarted the computer, the colored lines appeared again.

[rshaffer61]

Have you tried adjusting the resolutions?

[Sode no Shirayuki]

I haven't. I'll try that now.

[Sode no Shirayuki]

I changed the resolution to the default 800 x 600 and the colored lines vanished. I changed the resolution back to 1280 x 1024 and the lines are still gone. I'll restart the computer to see if they return.