Vista - Screen freezes, needs reboot

I've had some trouble with my computer and I'm not sure if it's ram problems or graphics or anything. I've had the following problems:

Vertical very thin pixel lines that show up random places
nvlddmkm has stopped responding and recovered

And within the last 2 days it's done it 3 times, I'm having my screen go blank with random colors. Green, White, and then the last is black that goes away and comes back like the monitor is trying to reset itself. Always black tho. I have to restart in order to get it to reboot.

So I'm thinking I have bad ram, my monitor is a Westinghouse 17" Flat panel I got in 2005. My graphics card (8800GT) is about 11 months old.

I've only had these three problems come up in the last month.

Lines about a month ago
nvlddmkm problem for about 2 weeks
Screen going blank about 2 days ago.

I'm thinking something is failing. Monitor, RAM, or GPU.

When playing WoW, the screen will freeze, but the mouse will still move and can still do things, just can't see them.

Please help. >.<

Either RAM or Graphics card. Could be drivers. Before you start to get desperate, run a RAM test
There are two ways you can access this tool:

• Accessing the Memory Diagnostic Tool from boot menu
• Accessing the Memory Diagnostic tool within Window Vista

How to access Memory Diagnostic Tool from boot menu

1. Power up your computer and keep pressing F8 key until you see the Boot menu option
2. Now use your TAB key to select memory diagnostic tool in the bottom of the screen.
This method is applicable if your computer has only Windows Vista installed. If you have a dual boot system then you would be automatically presented the boot menu once you power up your computer. Once you are presented with Boot menu you can access the memory diagnostic tool by pressing F8 key.
How to access Memory Diagnostic Tool from within Windows Vista

1. Go to Control Panel by Start Menu > Settings > Control Panel
2. In the Control Panel select the “Administrative Tools”

3. Select the Memory Diagnostic Tool from Administrative Tools

4. The Memory Diagnostic Tool will offer two options to select. You can choose immediate restart of your computer or schedule to run the memory diagnostic tool to run at next reboot.

What are the various options that Memory Diagnostic Tool provides?

The memory diagnostic tool provides three options to choose from:

• Basic: MATS+, INVC, and SCHCKR (cache enabled)
• Standard: LRAND, Stride6 (cache enabled), CHCKR3, WMATS+, and WINVC
• Extended: LRAND, Stride6 (cache enabled), CHCKR3, WMATS+, and WINVC, ERAND, Stride6 (cache disabled), and CHCKR8

By default the memory diagnostic tool uses the Basic option and 2 passes to choose.
After the tests are completed the resulted would be presented to you after booting into Vista.

http://www.shivaranjan.com/2007/11/0...agnostic-tool/
Next, if the ram passes, download the latest drivers for your card and install them

Let's know how you go

Norm

Thanks Norm. I've actually got a confession. =X I forgot I was running 180.48 beta. So when I uninstalled it all and reinstalled it all the few times, I was using the beta over and over. So I've now gone to the most recent from EVGA's website and I'm hoping it fixes the issues. Thanks for the help tho, I'm going to run the ram test anyways.

Are the vertical lines red in color? I had that happen on a brand new computer, it turned out that it was the video card on the motherboard that locks up....returned and replaced, problem solved....if possible, do a stress test on your computer, and a report will show you what is going on....hope that helps!

Hi Kavoc,

It sounds as though your graphics card is failing. Check and make sure that it is seated properly in its slot (remove and reinsert it). Also check that the supplementary power is plugged in. Is the fan on the card working and free from dust? Clean it if necessary. Check that the monitor lead is securely connected at both ends, and that none of the pins are bent.
I am a bit puzzled by this:
This driver is the latest WHQL driver, and is the driver I am currently using on the same card as you without any problems.

178.13 is the one coming up on EVGA.com

Hi Kavoc,

Driver version 178.13 is an old driver, and has been superceded. It could be that EVGA.com haven't updated their downloads database to reflect this.