Hello BC!
I'm helping a friend of mine get his new homebuilt computer ready to use! We managed to successfully install Windows Vista Home Basic, and upon doing this, it successfully loaded!
However, about a minute or two later, the screen turned into a mess of thick, diagonal lines. It was like one huge psychedelic background with no GUI whatsoever.
So, we try CTRL+ALT+DELETE, and as I expected, nothing.
We thought it might just be since it was the PC's first time, so we manually rebooted it with the power button. This time, it locked up and CTRL+ALT+DELETE would not work, yet again.
The third time, the diagonal line problem occurred again.

He installed 512 MB of RAM into the PC, but it only recognizes 448 MB.
He has an integrated nVidia 6100 video card.

Any help would be appreciated!

This is normal - 64MB of system memory will be reserved as video memory.

As a start to determine if your problem is likely to be something in your new hardware, or a problem with the Windows installation, at boot-up, can you enter the BIOS setup using the appropriate key as shown on-screen? If you can, you should be able to check the operating temperatures and voltages to see if any indicate abnormal. If you can't see or enter the BIOS setup, if the system locks up or shuts off whilst displaying the BIOS, or if the same screen aberration happens, then we can help fault-find the hardware. If all the hardware reports in the BIOS setup indicate normal and the setup screen can be displayed continuously without any mis-operation, then we can turn our attention to the Windows installation.

A lot of this will depend on what hardware you've installed - and if it's Vista compatible. Let us know the specs of the system and it's attached hardware so that we can help out. You can use this free program to inventory what you've got: http://www.gtopala.com/

To Platypus, the diagonal lines/freezing only occur in Windows Vista. We have not had any trouble with regards to getting into BIOS. If I remember correctly, it said his internal temperature was 29 degrees Celsius. We didn't check the voltage out.

To usasma, I'll be sure to have him try gtopala.com and see if he can get a system report before the stupid lines pop up again. I know he has purchased additional fans.
For what it's worth, here's everything he purchased. I know he has purchased two additional fans, however.

Biostar GeForce 6100-M9 Motherboard: $59.99 ($10.00 rebate) @ TigerDirect.com


AMD Athlon 64 4000+ 2.4GHz CPU: $69.99 @ TigerDirect.com


Masscool/Socket 754,939,940 CPU Cooling Fan: $19.99 ($10.00 rebate) @ TigerDirect.com


160GB Western Digital Caviar 160GB SATA HD: $49.99 @ directron.com


512MB DDR RAM: $28.99 @ crucial.com (yes, I entered the motherboard type into Crucial.com and it told us the EXACT RAM we needed)

Have you updated the nForce chipset drivers and the nVidia video drivers to Vista compatible versions?

Haven't updated the drivers at all x_X. I know how to update a graphics driver, but what is nForce and how do I go about updating that? Thanks!
-Naive little me

biostar probably has one of the highest failure rates of any brand of new motherboards

make sure the video cable is connected well, does bios show any voltage or temperature values?

does it even stay running in bios?

manual from tigerdirect doen't even show anything for bios?????

Outside of Windows Vista, there are 0 problems. I don't think the motherboard is to blame, but I won't know until my friend installs the Vista-compatible video driver.

And Biostar's US website seems to be completely unresponsive at the moment.

As you have no problem when displaying the BIOS setup, seems likely your video frequency in Windows is going way off.

Definitely follow usasma's lead with updates for video and motherboard chipset (nForce) drivers.

The fact that Biostar don't seem to offer Vista drivers may not be a good sign:

http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en-us/mb/driver.php?S_ID=26

"OS SUPPORT Support Windows 2000 / XP / XP 64 "

http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en-us/mb/content.php?S_ID=26

Possibilities from nVidia:

GeForce 6xxx series video Vista 32bit:

http://www.nvidia.com/object/winvista_x86_162.22.html

nForce 410 with Integrated Graphics Vista 32bit:

http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_nf400_...sta_15.01G.html

Thank you, thank you!
Hopefully he'll get back to me today.

Well, the driver update resolved it well! I'm gonna bug Biostar to get a Vista driver for their motherboards. Thanks!

I'm glad you got a good result.

Motherboard manufacturers may not consider it necessary to supply their own driver update if the standard drivers from the chipset manufacturer serve adequately. Some provide links to these drivers (reference drivers), but a manufacturer may not wish to do so if they haven't tested each of their models to make sure the result is 100% successful.

I am having similar problem. I think it is a hardware issue. Not sure. PLease let me know what you find out. Thanks

It's unlikely that you'll see many manufacturer's adding to their Vista support at this late date - their focus has turned to Vista systems, so they're not likely to want to support systems that weren't designed for Vista (and won't give them a good return for their investment when providing the drivers).