Screen freezes with green sparkles showing through

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Screen freezes with green sparkles showing through Am I infected or is graphics card going bad?

#1 auntna

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Posted 01 December 2011 - 06:40 PM

Hi Everyone,

Please help me with this problem. My screen has been freezing up lately with no warning or error message. The mouse becomes inoperable and I can't get the control/alt/delete to do anything either. I have to shut it down by holding in the power button on the CPU for about 5 - 10 seconds. This has happened about 4 times over the past few days so far. I took the cabinet apart and cleaned out the dust and made some space for the vent holes on the side in case that is the problem.

My machine is a Dell Inspiron 546 MT running Windows 7 with 2 GB RAM. It is almost 2 years old. I would like to know if there is something wrong in the system and to make sure that it is not infected. Please advise.

Thanks!

#2 cryptodan

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Posted 01 December 2011 - 06:45 PM

Please perform the following, so that we can get the exact specs of your computer. This will better assist us in helping you more.

Publish a Snapshot using Speccy

The below is for those who cannot get online

Please take caution when attaching a text file to your post if you cannot copy/paste the link to your post, you will need to edit it to make sure that your Windows Key is not present.

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#3 auntna

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Posted 01 December 2011 - 07:06 PM

Hi! Thanks for quick reply. I downloaded Speccy from File Hippo and tried to run it but it keeps quitting on me. I even rebooted to see if that would help. Should I uninstall it or try to run it without Avira running?

#4 cryptodan

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Posted 01 December 2011 - 07:07 PM

any error messages?

#5 auntna

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Posted 01 December 2011 - 07:11 PM

"Speccy has stopped working" on first screen then "Do you want to send more information about the problem?" on second screen. Details are:

Files that help describe the problem:
C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Temp\WER109.tmp.WERInternalMetadata.xml
C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Temp\WER19B8.tmp.appcompat.txt
C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Temp\WER19E8.tmp.hdmp

Read our privacy statement online:
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If the online privacy statement is not available, please read our privacy statement offline:
C:\Windows\system32\en-US\erofflps.txt

#6 auntna

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Posted 01 December 2011 - 07:36 PM

I went ahead and uninstalled Speccy while awaiting further instructions.

Catch you later!

#7 cryptodan

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Posted 02 December 2011 - 02:19 PM

reinstall Speccy and disable avira.

The description of your issue pertains to a dying video card or severe over heating.

This post has been edited by cryptodan: 02 December 2011 - 02:23 PM

#8 auntna

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Posted 02 December 2011 - 06:33 PM

Hi again,

I disabled Avira, reinstalled Speccy and ran it but still no go. I was able to take a screenshot of most of the information that it analyzed right before the error screen popped up. Should I post the screenshot for you? You will have to instruct me on how because I don't see how to attach it. Thanks.

#9 cryptodan

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Posted 02 December 2011 - 11:18 PM

You can upload it to http://www.imageshack.us and post the link here.

#10 auntna

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Posted 03 December 2011 - 08:21 AM

Okay, Here goes. I guess you have changed the way you add attachments Posted Image

. This is the first image from last night after the computer had been left on all day but no activity except when we first got home. The second shot is from this morning after being shut down all night. Posted Image

#11 cryptodan

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Posted 03 December 2011 - 01:09 PM

Have you cleaned out the computer with a can of air?

#12 auntna

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Posted 03 December 2011 - 06:57 PM

I don't have a can of air but I did open it up and run the sweeper carefully in there. I blew some dust out manually too. I then made sure to leave at lease one inch of space where the vent holes are. I had it flush against the wall before but moved it out now. It may have been better but I left it on today with the internet screen up for about 8 hours today and when I came back I had a black monitor and I couldn't get it to come out of it until I manually shut it down and restarted. I never had that happen before. Usually the monitor will go to sleep after a certain time but then will come up when I jiggle the mouse.

I ran the Speccy again and took a new screen shot real quick (it still stops working) and the temp on the CPU was at 41 Celsius, the Motherboard at 39 C and the hard drive was at 30 C. Don't know if that helps.

#13 auntna

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Posted 08 December 2011 - 05:31 PM

Hi Again,

It's been 5 days with no problem but today it did it again! I shut it off, waited a couple minutes and started it up. I then started a program called CPUID Hardware Monitor and here is the screenshot.

http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/7505/puidhardwaremonitor.png

Can you tell me if if looks like it is overheating or are we to conclude that I need a new graphics card after only about a years worth of use? Or is there something else to check? I do have this computer connected to my flat-screen TV through a HDMI cable and an ethernet cable. And I have a usb hub with a wireless mouse cable in it. I just checked it and it gave me an electric charge. Maybe this is the problem. I am unplugging it now.

Let me know what you think.
Thanks