Ok, so I was just preparing some pictures for an upcoming car picture thread when all of a sudden my screen started playing crazy on me. I can't quite describe it but it looked like the color version of the "black and white ants" that you sometimes see on TV. My first thought was that this was a virus.

I've restarted my computer in Safe Mode a dozen times and then shut it down and restarted it in normal mode. My screen still was f-cked in normal mode and my computer extremely slow to respond to inputs. That is, if I could see the screen. In Safe Mode the computer worked without my screen going crazy, but in normal mode it was pure hell. Nothing would respond, my computer would freeze and the screen was pissing me off.

I then shut my computer down and restarted it and now the problem is gone. Then I got a pop up message that said:

Microsoft Windows XP has recovered from a serious error.

SEND REPORT / DON'T SEND REPORT

Now, is this for real? Or is this a virus that wants me to think this so I'll move all my files unto say an external HD and thus transfer the virus with it. The message looked like an "official MS" sort of message, but those can easily be faked.

It has to be said that this POS Dell M60 has been nothing but trouble. In fact this morning my CD-Rom drive failed me and I can't burn CD's of the party I attended last night (lots of hot babes! ) for all my friends (thankfully I backed up those pictures this morning).

All of our Dell's have been PIECES OF CRAP. My sister has had a Dell laptop that had over 10 HD failures in less than a year.


EDIT: Oh wait, it's happening again just now as I am typing this!

Screenshot of the problem!



There are a lot of files I need to back-up. Is it safe to do so or is this a virus?


If it is a virus, let me please say this:

F*** all of you god damn hackers and virus creators! Stupid bastards!

Computers are funny things believe me I know. I haven't had the prblem you explain here, but I can tell you the screen shot your posted doesn't look that normal. Have you got a virusscanner or spyware scanner that you can use? I would advise running that (but you probably already did that). I have norton internet security running on mine and for three years in a row I have had no problems whatsoever. Costs me about 45 euro/year but it's worth it. And btw mine's a dell too (inspiron 9300).
Good luck in solving the problem!

looks like a screen problem to me. have u checked the cables? are they properly fastened?

another option is, get someone's monitor, hook up to your CPU, and see if it has the same problem. if it doesn't, then it's surely your monitor.

This caught my eye because oddly enough the exact same thing happened to me about a week or two ago, but it hasn't happened since. The only thing I could think of is a possible registry error

Get a mac and these things won't happen, lol.

Doesn't have to be a virus, could just be a temporary thing. You should do a virues check though.

I got that type of messages when my graphics card was broken so it does not have to be a virus.

yes, thats very true. when i was using WIndows XP on a regular PC, it crashes almost 2 months once.

right now, since i got a mac, thank God for that, i don't have lots of troubles

Didn't you have memory issues some time ago?

Mostly likely this is your graphic card (graphic memory?, RAMDAC noise?, bus noise?, many other possibilities)... or general memory problem if you use an embedded graphic solution (since those use part of regular memory as graphic memory).

As Remy pointed out too, check your cables... especially if you are using DVI (digital signal) since those cables have major connector flaws. Although noise from them typically result in missing pixels, it's worth a try.

Thanks all for the replies!

So I used my computer last night and problem-free too. I ran a SpyBot check twice which came up clean and I had my Symantec Anti-Virus software do a comprehensive scan - nothing. Apparently this is indeed a problem with my graphics card. On this computer I've had my graphics card replaced twice already.


But I have some more bad news...

MY CD-ROM DRIVE MALFUNCTIONED THIS MORNING!


Anyway, the computer is working fine now but I still don't trust it. I realize my Dell M60 has been through a lot of problems and now I am really thinking of replacing it despite my despise for Windows Vista. Anyone know if you can still order a new computer with Windows XP? I hear Vista won't allow you to install many GAMES and that pisses me off!

bad news Wimmer. over here, they don't sell pc-windows XP anymore. so i guess it should be the same over there.

anyways, what about getting a new pc, un-install the vista and install XP on it? or worse case, just get an iMac bro, saves u all the hassle. here's the specs :

- ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER