ahhh! whats happening to my computer?!?!

[Tifa's Real Lover(really]

my computer started going crazy today

so i was minding my own business when all of a sudden a black square got on the upper left screen, then it started growing bigger and faster, then my screen went back to normal, i was relieved, then the screen went weird again, the text and graphics started looking really messed up for no reason, and the computer went unresponsive for about a minute or 2

what the hell is happening to my computer?!?! and how can i fix it?!!?

here is a picture of how it looked like when the graphics and text went weird

[Kanshisha]

It prob has something to do with your graphics card...

[Tifa's Real Lover(really]

why would there be a problem with it? its been fine for years, nothings happened to it

[Kanshisha]

Hmmm i guess but im not really a computer technician so i wont know any other way for that problem to occur...

[Dreddz]

That sounds pretty bad, run a virus scan, probably wont help but its worth a try.

[Tifa's Real Lover(really]

yeah thats the first thing i tried, didnt find anything, i really hope a virus isnt a cuase, symantec antivirus didnt find anything

any other recommendations? im in need of serious help im like freaking out =/

[o_O]

Were you trying to do anything that would have taken up the full screen at the time, like playing a game or watching a movie full screen?

A reboot would most likely fix it, but if it is indeed a virus, you'll want to update your virus definitions to the latest re-run a scan.
It may also have something to do with your graphics drivers, so you might need to update them. Hopefully your graphics card isn't dying.

In my best opinion, it would have been a software glitch that will probably seem to fix itself soon, if not already.

[Tifa's Real Lover(really]

nope i was IMing people and web browsing myspace and such, ill try updating my virus definitions

umm how do i check my graphics driver? or update them, how do i know its dying? sorry im a noob at computers, especially when im in panic

[rubah]

It's kinda hard to tell what's "weird" apart from the little purple square at the top from such a resized screenshot.

[o_O]

Have you tried rebooting your computer yet? I wuld definitely recommend that before anything else.

To update your graphics driver your first need to find out what graphics adapter or card you have.
To find that out, click Start > Control Panel > System > Hardware > Device Manager > Display Adapters, and note down what appears after the last step.

Then you need to find the appropriate graphics driver from the internet. Post the display adapter that you find above, and we can check the driver from there.

[Tifa's Real Lover(really]

i have not tried rebooting ill try it in a bit since i have to log off the computer =/

my graphics card is ATI Technologies, Inc. RAGE XL 2X

and my friend also says that my virtual memory may be running low too, is this true?


and rubah, ill have a bigger picture in a while by tomorrow atleast.

[o_O]

It's possible that virtual memory is running low, but it's not likely to have caused this problem.

I don't think you should update your drivers until you've rebooted, since updating them can cause your display to do weird stuff.

Nevertheless, your card is a legacy ATI card, legacy meaning that ATI are no longer producing new drivers for it. You can get the drivers <a href="http://ati.amd.com/support/drivers/xp/legacy-xp.html">here</a>, and you need to choose the last driver on that page.

[Kanshisha]

Have you tried rebooting your computer yet? I wuld definitely recommend that before anything else.

To update your graphics driver your first need to find out what graphics adapter or card you have.
To find that out, click Start > Control Panel > System > Hardware > Device Manager > Display Adapters, and note down what appears after the last step.

Then you need to find the appropriate graphics driver from the internet. Post the display adapter that you find above, and we can check the driver from there.

Yes prob rebooting would help but its a huge downside...like things would be deleted...and you will need to get your INTERNET installed...

[crono_logical]

I haven't seen that since using Win98 (good 5 years ago now), and never worked out the cause since it happenned very sporadic for me Seemed to disappear when I installed WinXP, but it looks like you're already using WinXP

[ValiantKnight]

Have you tried rebooting your computer yet? I wuld definitely recommend that before anything else.

To update your graphics driver your first need to find out what graphics adapter or card you have.
To find that out, click Start > Control Panel > System > Hardware > Device Manager > Display Adapters, and note down what appears after the last step.

Then you need to find the appropriate graphics driver from the internet. Post the display adapter that you find above, and we can check the driver from there.

Yes prob rebooting would help but its a huge downside...like things would be deleted...and you will need to get your INTERNET installed...

?
Rebooting is just turning the computer off then on...
Reinstalling is letting windows fill in files that have became corrupted and typically needs some of your programs reinstalled.
Reformatting is clearing the hard drive of EVERYTHING and starting from scratch.