Vertical green and yellow lines all over screen

[Lewis24]

Hi,

 

When booting my desktop PC (Advent T9307), the screen displays nothing but green and yellow vertical lines all down the screen, so it's basically un-usable at the moment. I've tried a few different monitors and get the same result. Can anyone shed any light as to what the issue might be? (I'm assuming it's a graphics card issue...?)

[Synapse]

If it does it from boot, and continues into Windows it probably is the card.

 

If you can see anything at all, you could try booting to Safe Mode, sometimes in the standard VGA setting a faulty card will run. You could then try a driver update, but to be honest I doubt that is the problem.

 

According to this link you have an ATI Radeon PCI-E card, swapping it for the exact or similar is your best option. Don't forget to uninstall/ reinstall the newest drivers.

 

UKT Support - Advent T9307 PC

[Lewis24]

Hi,

 

I can't see anything on there whatsoever.

 

I've just noticed that it's an ATI Radeon X1650SE card. Do you know how much this is likely to set me back? Also, I've installed extra RAM before but never a video card. Is it relatively straight forward to do or am I best off buying the card and taking it down to the PC World monkeys?

[Synapse]

If you have fitted RAM before, you should be ok with a video card. There will either be a screw securing the card, or a clamp built into the back of the machine. Either way, release the card, often they have a plastic clip at the front of the card that needs pushing to one side, then lift out the card.

 

Replacement is simple reverse procedure. Do make sure that before you start you take precautions against static - easiest way is to leave the mains plug in the wall, but switched OFF. That gives static electricity a route to earth.

 

As for the card itself, there was one on ebay for about £30 last time I looked. Any PCI-E card will fit, but I would try and stick with the same card to maintain the compatibility with the rest of your system. Sometimes swapping to a different card on prebuilt systems can mess up other settings, eg if you have TV tuners and the like.

[Lewis24]

It looks like £30 is about the going rate, and Ebay is the best bet I think.

 

I've installed RAM on a few computers so I'm hoping a graphics card isn't beyond my capabilities.

 

This might be a stupid question, but.........

 

If I was to download a driver for it here: http://support.thetechguys.com/layout.aspx?ID={3fb434f9-f9d3-4643-b35f-7fdf71836c66}&CatID={6a79b873-dd17-4ec9-90b1-e98f7f46cb1d}

 

Is there anyway of getting it to install on startup - bearing in mind I can't see the screen. So if for example I loaded it onto a CD/USB, is there any way of it automatically running upon booting the system without the need for me to do anything?

 

Cheers for your help!

[bugsy_]

Before shelling out for a graphics card you might want to do some basic checks first if you haven't already;

 

make sure the base unit is free of dust and grime

 

take out the RAM switch them about

 

take out the graphics card and re seat it correctly and firmly

 

make sure all connections are free from dust but be careful of touching things inside the base unit so be earthed. :)

 

should this fix your issue it is advised you only download the drivers from the manufacturer website or vendor.