no video after xp loading screen

[stringcheeseincident]

i restarted one day, and when windows loaded again, something went wrong with my video card. in the device manager, it couldn't recognize that i have a (sapphire) radeon 9600np, and it definiatly didn't load the drivers correctly. my resolution was stuck at 1024x768, not what i normally use. i uninstalled the drivers and downloaded the new ones. when i went to install, it told me the vga [something] was already in use. dumb move on my part: i went into the device manager and disabled something about the video. it told me to restart, so i did. now, i can't get video after the windows xp home loading screen. i tried with my 9600np, i tried with onboard video, and i don't know what else to do. booting to safe mode doesn't work, either. i see the bios and the loading screen fine, but nothing after that. anyone have ideas? what can i do!?

 

[mechBgon]

What happens if you press F8 and choose the "Enable VGA Mode" option? If that doesn't help, your computer is busted and what I'd do is plunk the hard drive into another system as a slave and get a copy of your data files for safekeeping, then go ahead and boot from your WinXP CD.

Windows Setup will ask if you want to do a Repair or a fresh installation. Pretend you want a fresh installation. It'll get started, and after a couple of minutes it will ask where to install to and you aim it at the C:\ partition. It will see the existing Windows installation in C:\WINDOWS and offer to repair it, and now you choose Repair.

If your system's not protected by a firewall (cable/DSL router, etc) then unplug it from the network cable, because this Repair will leave you with a "raw" installation of WindowsXP that'll need patching before it can hold off worms like Sasser and Korgo. If your CD is at SP1 level already, then here's a patch kit from Microsoft: link and it wouldn't hurt to have ZoneAlarm on hand to install, too.

Hope that helps

 

[ectx]

It is odd that the safe mode does not work either. Did the onboad video work (at least in vga mode or safe mode)?

 

[stringcheeseincident]

i've tried safe mode and vga mode using my 9600, onboard video, and a pci video card from an older computer. after the xp loading screen goes away, the monitor stays blank for a few seconds, then the computer restarts. what could possibly be wrong? what component is busted? i was planning on an upgrade soon so i'm wondering what i need to replace.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: stringcheeseincident
i've tried safe mode and vga mode using my 9600, onboard video, and a pci video card from an older computer. after the xp loading screen goes away, the monitor stays blank for a few seconds, then the computer restarts. what could possibly be wrong? what component is busted? i was planning on an upgrade soon so i'm wondering what i need to replace.

My working theory is that your Windows installation is what's busted, so maybe try that Repair approach after you've stashed your data somewhere safe.

 

[stringcheeseincident]

if i have an extra ~20gb harddrive, can i just throw it in my system as the main disk without the 80gb i have now, install xp on the 20gb, and try to start fresh, and see how that works? i don't have a good way of backing up all my data so just not even messing with the harddrive would give me a greater piece of mind.

 

[mechBgon]

That sounds like a good approach. If it does work, then you can copy your files onto the 20GB for peace of mind, and then tackle the 80GB's Windows installation if you want to do a fresh install or a Repair. If the video won't run with a different drive & Windows installation, then something must be Seriously Messed Up

 

[stringcheeseincident]

you don't think this could be a problem with my video card? i was thinking it might be if i got problems out of nowhere, but wouldn't i have noticed something different before i restarted?