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Gateway Boot Problem

post #1 of 3
5/10/06 at 7:16pm
Thread Starter 
Hi All:

I hope someone can help with my problem!! I have a gateway 700xl past warranty ...my problem appears to have started with the graphic card as I got small vertical lines where the mouse pointer is and the migrated to thin lines on the the full screen about 1 inch separation. After several re boots I can now not reboot to windows ..it attempts to ..that is i see the windows screen but then the monitor goes into power saving mode. I try to boot in safe mode but my password is not accepted. I tried to do a xp fix but at end of install it does the same thing!!


I have all voltages present on the Power supply ...any recomendations?? I thought I should try the hard drive??

Gejodi
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post #2 of 3
5/10/06 at 8:04pm
From the looks of your post, it seems that the lines are only when windows loads. But I will give you both scenarios, first with the worst.

If the thin lines are present during the bios flash screen (before Windows is loaded) then I am sorry to say that it is going to be caused by a bad graphics card. I am not sure of this particular laptop, but I can guess that it will need a motherboard replacement.

If it is not present before Windows starts, then my first thought would be to do a complete format, and reinstall Windows. This is most likely caused by a bad driver, and possibly some settings were messed up. I am unsure what is causing it go into the power saving mode in the Windows screen. Formatting will remove everything from the hard drive to I would look for a way to back up anything that you might need before formatting. Using XP's repair install will only rewrite some system files, though I thought it made me reinstall the drivers for my card, it may not for yours.

I would not think that it is the hard drive, if it is making any weird/loud noises though it should get replaced.
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post #3 of 3
5/10/06 at 8:16pm
1. tried another vidcard yet? anyone would do, just for test
2. i would also try another power supply
3. are u using any "access denied" software? strange that xp could not accept ur password - presuming that it is always the same - under safe mode
4. if 1 & 2 ok, then i recommend a XP re-install, try to save ur data by putting the current drive in an external or setting it up as a slave in a working unit.

nice (pc) machine though

cheers ...
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