Hoopster81
Junior Member
Hi -
I recently got a new dell notebook and did a format/reinstall basically right out of the box. I had done this several times w/ my XP machines, but this was my first Vista experience.
So, I booted from the Vista installation DVD the same way I did with XP. I deleted the two partitions that were already set up and then tried to format the drive. The format only lasted a few seconds, whereas with XP I remember it taking a fair amount of time. I guess Vista does a "quick format" or something like that? Is there anyway to do a more complete format like I used to do with XP?
After Vista finished installing, everything seemed to work (i.e. I didn't have to install any drivers). Is this normal?
Everything seems to work fine except for one major problem. When the laptop comes back from screen saver mode or if I close the notebook and then re-open it, major screen flickering occurs. It's so bad that I can't see anything long enough to even shut down the machine properly. The flickering also starts on its own sometimes - but it always happens after the scenarios above.
I thought it was probably a video driver issue, so I downloaded/installed the driver from the Dell website, but it's no help.
I also upgraded the RAM right out of the box, but I ran Memtest86, and the RAM seems to be fine.
It's possible this problem existed with the machine when it came, but I used it for a little bit right out of the box and never had this issue.
It's my GF's machine and she thinks I messed it up. I'd appreciate any help to get me out of the doghouse. Also, I wasn't sure if this was the right forum, but feel free to move it if it's not.
Thanks in advance guys
I recently got a new dell notebook and did a format/reinstall basically right out of the box. I had done this several times w/ my XP machines, but this was my first Vista experience.
So, I booted from the Vista installation DVD the same way I did with XP. I deleted the two partitions that were already set up and then tried to format the drive. The format only lasted a few seconds, whereas with XP I remember it taking a fair amount of time. I guess Vista does a "quick format" or something like that? Is there anyway to do a more complete format like I used to do with XP?
After Vista finished installing, everything seemed to work (i.e. I didn't have to install any drivers). Is this normal?
Everything seems to work fine except for one major problem. When the laptop comes back from screen saver mode or if I close the notebook and then re-open it, major screen flickering occurs. It's so bad that I can't see anything long enough to even shut down the machine properly. The flickering also starts on its own sometimes - but it always happens after the scenarios above.
I thought it was probably a video driver issue, so I downloaded/installed the driver from the Dell website, but it's no help.
I also upgraded the RAM right out of the box, but I ran Memtest86, and the RAM seems to be fine.
It's possible this problem existed with the machine when it came, but I used it for a little bit right out of the box and never had this issue.
It's my GF's machine and she thinks I messed it up. I'd appreciate any help to get me out of the doghouse. Also, I wasn't sure if this was the right forum, but feel free to move it if it's not.
Thanks in advance guys
