Objects on desktop look smeared... Has anyone encountered something like this?

[IgoByte]

I'm having this problem on an older Dell Inspiron 3800 machine. It has an XGA screen and resolution is set to 1024x768.
The problem is that objects such as the icons and whichever windows I open look "smeared." Things basically have a sort of blue trial to the right (I don't know how best to describe it)...

Has anyone seen this kind of thing before? I'm hoping that this might be a software issue rather than something with the screen itself...

I'd appreciate any help...

 

[gentobu]

It really sounds like a hardware problem. If its still under warranty call dell tech support and they will probably replace your screen. If your warranty is up then I guess you could try a reformat reinstall, reinstall drivers etc. If that doesnt work then you could try reseating the lcd cables. Dell's website has guides on how to dissassemble all of thier laptops. link (you have to register, or use your service tag to get in)

 

[WarCon]

N/M

 

[IgoByte]

Originally posted by: gentobu
It really sounds like a hardware problem. If its still under warranty call dell tech support and they will probably replace your screen. If your warranty is up then I guess you could try a reformat reinstall, reinstall drivers etc. If that doesnt work then you could try reseating the lcd cables. Dell's website has guides on how to dissassemble all of thier laptops. link (you have to register, or use your service tag to get in)

That's very useful...

Thank you.

 

[IgoByte]

Dell's website has guides on how to dissassemble all of thier laptops.

Could you tell me which section this is under?

 

[Shalmanese]

Hmm... is it running XP? if it is, it might be a problem with Cleartype being enabled. Basically, most laptop screens have lines which are RGB (I think), but some are BGR or something. So when Xp tries to cleartype it, you get blue on one side and red on the other. try turning off cleartype and see if it helps. If it does, there is a fix out for this.

 

[IgoByte]

Originally posted by: Shalmanese
Hmm... is it running XP? if it is, it might be a problem with Cleartype being enabled. Basically, most laptop screens have lines which are RGB (I think), but some are BGR or something. So when Xp tries to cleartype it, you get blue on one side and red on the other. try turning off cleartype and see if it helps. If it does, there is a fix out for this.

Nope. It's running Win98FE. It only recently started happening.

 

[IgoByte]

Also, that computer had several infected files coinciding with this screen stuff...

Just a thought...

 

[gentobu]

Originally posted by: IgoByte

Dell's website has guides on how to dissassemble all of thier laptops.

Could you tell me which section this is under?

It should be under something like: reference>systems>inspiron>3800. The path is probably not excactly like that, but I think you'll get the idea.

 

[zepper00]

I have heard of several viruses that cause screen strangeness--dripping, smearing, jumping icons etc.
I would check for that before blaming hardware.
.bh.

 

[Commoner]

I had the same thing happen on my Win98SE machine a couple of years ago. My final conclusion was that it was some sort of prank-type virus. I'd be interested to hear if your conclusions are similar, or if you find out something else!

 

[IgoByte]

Thanks folks. Sure seems like a virus to me too...

I'll LYK once I go through with a frech [win2kp] install, but it'll take a bit, because I'll need to get some memory for it.

Thanks again for the help...

BTW, I found the Dell instructions...They are very useful. Do all OEMs have instructions like that?