Video problem Gateway 450

[flyted]

If this is not the right forum, please point me in the right direction. Bought cheap from a friend this notebook and what happens is that the video just shows vertical lines and a bunch of other colors and the computer stops. Sometimes it does it on startup, other times 15 minutes later. I get a constant HD light when it locks up. Once the screen goes crazy, no input does anything except to turn it off. Any ideas or links to Gateway problem solving. Prior to this issue computer worked great.

Thanks

 

[Conroy9]

I had a problem similar to this on my dell inspiron, and it turned out to be the video card..

 

[fbrdphreak]

Definitely the video card. Desktop or laptop? You can try updating the drivers, but I'd say its a physical problem with the video card.

 

[jdiddy]

Could be overheating I had a 450x before and that think sucked in dust like no other. Its pretty easy to pull apart to clean out. Might want to run MEMTEST on the ram just in case.

 

[flyted]

It is a notebook and I don't think it has a memory caerd, believe its 32mb on-board. I ran every diagnostic I could find and it passed them all. I notice that if I tap on the top of the computer, it sets it off for the video to go crazy and I have to reset. If I keep the computer real still, it will run for hours. Sounds like maybe a loose connection internally or a bad solder joint? I hate to open up a notebook as they are such a pain to put back together.

 

[fbrdphreak]

If its a notebook just don't even bother with it, not worth your time or money