120571
Testing. 1, 2, 3... / Re: Display Problem
« on: August 22, 2005, 04:49:17 AM »
I don't like the sound of any of this. Though the good news, if you can call it that, might be that your original hard drive seems to have died from natural causes, meaning simple every day wear from use. No hard drive lasts forever, and the more one uses a computer, the sooner a hard drive is likely to fail. The best way to stave off a hard drive failure is to make sure you keep the interior of your computer as ventilated as possible. Never put your computer directly on a carpeted floor because that tends to block one of the case's primary vents. And make sure that fans are installed in every possible spot within the case. Today most cases have spots for at least two - one in back and one in front. Heat is the absolute worst enemy of hard drives.
As for the first replacement drive, well, if your computer's BIOS didn't detect it once it failed, chances are the problem was a physical one, meaning either mechanical or electronic. The main sign that a mechanical failure has occurred is if your hard drive makes a clicking or grinding noise. But electrical failures are sadly only too common, and they can occur just as easily on a new drive as with an old one. Heat is definitely an issue when it comes to electrical failures.
Your monitor is a bit of a puzzling situation. The reason the problem disappeared after you shut off the computer could be because the problem, whatever it is, doesn't occur until the monitor's circuits have warmed up. But it could also be that it doesn't occur until your computer's motherboard's circuits have warmed up. From your description of what's happening, it certainly seems as if it's some sort of physical rather than a software issue, but, unfortunately, the only real ways to figure out if it's the monitor itself or the motherboard's integrated video circuits is to 1) connect your monitor to another computer and work with it long enough to be absolutely sure there's no problem with it, or 2) connect a different monitor to your computer to see if it has the same sort of display issues. I really wouldn't recommend buying a new video card without knowing for certain that there isn't a problem with the monitor because that could easily be a waste of your money (though if it does end up that you need a video card, I wouldn't necessarily worry about warranty issues because any video card you buy is going to come with its own warranty).
As for the first replacement drive, well, if your computer's BIOS didn't detect it once it failed, chances are the problem was a physical one, meaning either mechanical or electronic. The main sign that a mechanical failure has occurred is if your hard drive makes a clicking or grinding noise. But electrical failures are sadly only too common, and they can occur just as easily on a new drive as with an old one. Heat is definitely an issue when it comes to electrical failures.
Your monitor is a bit of a puzzling situation. The reason the problem disappeared after you shut off the computer could be because the problem, whatever it is, doesn't occur until the monitor's circuits have warmed up. But it could also be that it doesn't occur until your computer's motherboard's circuits have warmed up. From your description of what's happening, it certainly seems as if it's some sort of physical rather than a software issue, but, unfortunately, the only real ways to figure out if it's the monitor itself or the motherboard's integrated video circuits is to 1) connect your monitor to another computer and work with it long enough to be absolutely sure there's no problem with it, or 2) connect a different monitor to your computer to see if it has the same sort of display issues. I really wouldn't recommend buying a new video card without knowing for certain that there isn't a problem with the monitor because that could easily be a waste of your money (though if it does end up that you need a video card, I wouldn't necessarily worry about warranty issues because any video card you buy is going to come with its own warranty).