Vertical lines and monitor not in device manager

HP Pavilion ZV5400 laptop
XP SP2
Nvidia GeForce4 440 Go 64M integrated graphics

The problem started when coming out of screensaver mode. The
desktop icons didn't look right. When I clicked one of them the
screen started blinking. I shut down by pressing the power
button for 5 seconds. When rebooted the LCD screen shows thin
vertical lines across it spaced about 1/4 inch apart and the PC
crashes when it gets to the desktop. I tried enabling VGA mode,
but it still crashes. It will only boot in safe mode, but it
still has the vertical lines. I uninstalled and reinstalled the
display drivers. Also noticed there is no monitor listed in
device manager. In display properties/settings/advanced/monitor,
it says default monitor is being used. Could a problem with the
video card cause the monitor to not show up in device manager?

tia,
rt

[davy]

I would try re-seating the video card for starters, pull it out and then re-insert it, the card is not being detected it seems. The connections are usually fine copper strips with gold plating on them and sometimes you get 'creep' due to these being soft and the tension of the spring contacts on them... as well as heat, they become 'pitted'.

Faulty video cards can cause boot problems as well as not being inserted properly... all you need for bios boot and be able to access bios set up screen is the CPU, RAM and graphic card.... all else can be disconnected.

Re-seating should be the first step, the card should be seen in device manager even with no monitor connected, you could try another video card or try the suspect elsewhere you won't need to install the drivers just to prove the card is guilty or not.

The first step is to get the card recognized in Device manager, having said that it could well be the bios needs a reboot or its back-up battery on the verge of going 'duff' seeing that you are having problems with booting, so this is worthy of consideration, doubt this is the cause so should be left as a last resort.

Note: When removing the battery for more than about three minutes will cause the bios to reset to it's default settings and you would have to run through the set up screen... there's usually some preset setting you can click if you don't want to go through manually.

Whilst delving inside keep an eye out for swollen capacitors with domed tops, there may be gunge leaking from them.

davy

davy <davy.2ulcth@no.email.invalid> wrote in
news:davy.2ulcth@no.email.invalid:

>
> I would try re-seating the video card for starters, pull it
out
> and then re-insert it, the card is not being detected it
seems.
> The connections are usually fine copper strips with gold
plating
> on them and sometimes you get 'creep' due to these being soft
and
> the tension of the spring contacts on them... as well as
heat,
> they become 'pitted'.
>
> Faulty video cards can cause boot problems as well as not
being
> inserted properly... all you need for bios boot and be able
to
> access bios set up screen is the CPU, RAM and graphic
card.... all
> else can be disconnected.
>
> Re-seating should be the first step, the card should be seen
in
> device manager even with no monitor connected, you could try
> another video card or try the suspect elsewhere you won't
need to
> install the drivers just to prove the card is guilty or not.
>
> The first step is to get the card recognized in Device
manager,
> having said that it could well be the bios needs a reboot or
its
> back-up battery on the verge of going 'duff' seeing that you
are
> having problems with booting, so this is worthy of
consideration,
> doubt this is the cause so should be left as a last resort.
> *
> Note:* When removing the battery for more than about three
minutes
> will cause the bios to reset to it's default settings and you
> would have to run through the set up screen... there's
usually
> some preset setting you can click if you don't want to go
through
> manually.
>
> Whilst delving inside keep an eye out for swollen capacitors
with
> domed tops, there may be gunge leaking from them.
>
> davy
>
>

Thanks. It's an integrated video card and can't be removed.
I've tried reseating the memory and the processor, but that
didn't clear up the problem. Sometime the computer won't start.
A few seconds after pressing the start button the screen
brightens slightly but nothing happens. If I shut down with the
power button and let it sit for a few hours it will usually
start. I wondered about the CMOS battery because sometimes the
clock settings change to default on boot up. The battery is
almost hidden under part of the laptop case. I asked someome
who sells used motherboards and he thought the battery is not
replaceable on a HP laptop, but he wasn't sure.
rt