My computer just died.

[nik0tine]

So I was busy typing up a paper a few minutes ago and all of a sudden I looked up and on my screen I could see what looked to be little pink ones and zero's moving about. Behind it I could still see all of my work, but i couldn't use the keyboard or move the mouse. Then, all of a sudden the screen goes black and every few seconds it would display wierd formations of pixelations and whatnot. Then it would go black and the moniter control panel thingy would flash and it would repeat. I turned the computer on and off, but to no avail. I still got a black screen and random pixelations. Prior to this I had no warning that something was wrong with my compute. Sure, it moved sluggish from time to time, but it's always done that. The only thing I can think of is that a few weeks ago I was playing DoD source and the moniter was being strange, but nothing happened so I thought nothing of it.

So, what do you think happened to my computer? Is it totally trashed? Is it just the moniter that is ruined? Is anything salvagable at all??

Edit: This may seem absurd, but it seems that perhaps I am having a bit of trouble with electronics or something. My sisters electric toothbrush won't turn off. I doubt the two incidents are related but... maybe?

[Samuraid]

When you restart the computer, does it boot up correctly?

(In other words, does it hang during startup and show wierd screen anomalies, or does it completely boot up to the windows desktop and show screen anomalies?)

[nik0tine]

It hangs during startup and shows wierd screen abnormalities. It never actually boots up.

[crono_logical]

My initial guess is the video card's gone, with that type of screen corruption, whilst the monitor still capable of displaying it's own control thingy without problem like when it's receiving no signal Or the card might just simply be dislodged and needs to be pushed back into it's slot securely

EDIT: Posted a bit too late Are you sure it doesn't actually boot? Can you tell that for certain with the screen corrupted e.g. it doesn't sound like it's loading or whatever? What sort of screen abnormalities does it show, or what does it show at all, and when/how far into the boot sequence?

[nik0tine]

Oddly enough, the computer just booted.

However, what do you think was the problem? I don't want this to happen again, and I don't want the damage to be permanent next time, either.

Edit: When the computer booted I got a message from my anti virus saying that "you're computer may be at risk". I lol'ed.

[Samuraid]

It technically could be a virus that got itself lodged in the boot sector of your hard drive.

Other than that, I would either blame your video card (possibly due to dying hardware or heat problems), or possibly faulty memory. (could be the CPU/mobo, but unlikely)

If you are still encountering problems, after updating your antivirus software and all, try this:

If you have a CD-RW drive, download memtest86 here:
http://www.memtest86.com/memtest86-3.2.iso.zip

After downloading the ISO, burn it onto a CD, then boot your computer from the CD. It will run a comprehensive check of your computer's RAM and report any hardware errors. If it finds any memory problems, then consider replacing your memory as it's likely the cause of unstable system operation and strange anomalies.

[Russielloyd]

I did hear of an virus before, that if it gets on to your system, it just restarts your computer over and over again every time you try to boot up.