Virus issue.

Darkshore · Jun 5, 2011

Every so often my laptop will crash. It will blank out to the color of whatever I was viewing, then it will just be a solid screen of that color and freeze up till I power it down. Norton isn't catching the culprit. Advice?

kuwisdelu · Jun 5, 2011

That's not quite enough to diagnose it as a malware problem. That could also indicate hardware malfunction or a low-level software bug somewhere. What OS are you running?

Are there any steps you can take that reliably reproduce the problem? Are there any other strange problems you've been having? Have you made any changes to your system lately?

firedrake · Jun 5, 2011

Darkshore said:
Every so often my laptop will crash. It will blank out to the color of whatever I was viewing, then it will just be a solid screen of that color and freeze up till I power it down. Norton isn't catching the culprit. Advice?

i don't think it's a virus issue.

I have the same problem. First I thought it was an overheating issue but it's not. Then I thought it was too much going on behind the scenes, as it were, but it's not. I started keeping a record of when it happened. I can go for a few days without it happening and then it will happen in clusters over a short period.

I asked our IT guy and he reckons it's a Vista thing. I know it's a pain in the arse.

kuwisdelu · Jun 5, 2011

It's been forever since I've used Windows. Does Windows send you crash reports when you reboot it after a failure? Something that'll tell you what thread crashed and where?

Matera the Mad · Jun 5, 2011

It does, but that won't help most Windwoes users.

It sounds to me like a "ticklish hardware problem". That's what I call it when the malfunction is hardware related but only triggered by certain software circumstances. For instance, my new sound card caused a BSOD every time Internet Explorer 8 was run. IE 7 & 9 don't bother it. I usually use something else, anyway, but I also crash if I plug a microphone in the front jack.

The trick is finding out what makes it happen, and which bit of hardware is involved. Keeping notes helps. Then...either you avoid tickling it (easy for me, I uninstalled IE 8 and keep my hands off the mic jack) or....

I would see if there were updated drivers available for the graphics card.

"Vista thing" is an admission of ignorance, nothing more.

Williebee · Jun 5, 2011

There was a series of PC' models earlier in the year that exhibited video freeze/crash issues, caused by a conflict between the video card drivers and a Windows update. Was it me I'd be going to the support website for the video card (not just Windows or the PC manufacturer) and looking for the latest updates.

AmericaMadeMe · Jun 5, 2011

Malware? Umm.....if you have to ask, you probably don't have a paid internet security software suite. But no, it doesn't sound like malware. Worst case scenario, you might have a failing graphics card. Do you have a NVIDIA video card from a few years ago? If so, that might be your problem. Still, go through the all of the normal steps before you panic. Update your graphics drivers from the PC manufacturer's website, or failing that, from Device Manager or the graphics card manufacturer's website. Do you have a NVIDIA GPU? If you do, check out the class action lawsuit website.

Darkshore · Jun 6, 2011

Well, I do have Windows Vista, Nvidia Graphics Card, but I do have an anti-virus though it feels like more of a virus itself, Norton. Theres no real warning to this, it seems to happen most during things like youtube videos though.

:Edit: Terrible grammar there...but it's early for me right now so bear with me

.

AmericaMadeMe · Jun 6, 2011

Darkshore said:
Well, I do have Windows Vista, Nvidia Graphics Card, but I do have an anti-virus though it feels like more of a virus itself, Norton. Theres no real warning to this, it seems to happen most during things like youtube videos though.

:Edit: Terrible grammar there...but it's early for me right now so bear with me .

It all makes sense at last. NVIDIA produced a lot of defective GPUs during the Vista era. A number of laptop computers are being replaced in a class action settlement. If you have a decktop, it also seems likely that NVIDIA might be at fault, although the litigation focused on notebooks. The bottom line is that graphics card issues are annoying, and until the GPU checks out for good, you've got an intermittent issue. If you avoid video content, you might prolong your misery and you can keep on exploring driver issues. Just keep in mind that if you have a laptop, you can't replace the GPU without replacing the motherboard. With a desktop, it isn't hard swapping out a dedicated GPU, assuming you have a free expansion slot. It gets a little complex sometimes.

Matera the Mad · Jun 6, 2011

If it happens most during videos, that's a pretty good indicator that it's a video problem.

WriteKnight · Jun 6, 2011

I vote graphics card problem. As others have said - update your drivers, and check the web for any info on failures and replacements.

AlexPiper · Jun 9, 2011

AmericaMadeMe said:
It all makes sense at last. NVIDIA produced a lot of defective GPUs during the Vista era. A number of laptop computers are being replaced in a class action settlement. If you have a decktop, it also seems likely that NVIDIA might be at fault, although the litigation focused on notebooks.

It was the G84 and G86 GPUs that were affected, so any GeForce 84xx or 86xx were potentially faulty. However, the fault occurred at high operating temperatures, so in the end desktops would fail only rarely. (Though my desktop GeForce 8600 did die due to this fault.) Laptops, however, were far more affected... and the first post in this thread explicitly says this issue is on a laptop.

I'd go to your display settings and see what your card is. If you have an 8400M or 8600M, you pretty likely have a faulty GPU. Unfortunately, the GPU class action lawsuit settlement already closed for claims back in March.

Darkshore · Jun 10, 2011

Thanks everyone, I haven't had any trouble after updating my drivers.

Virus issue.

Darkshore

Stranger

kuwisdelu

Revolutionize the World

firedrake

practical experience, FTW

kuwisdelu

Revolutionize the World

Matera the Mad

Bartender, gimme a Linux Mint

Williebee

Capeless, wingless, & yet I fly.

AmericaMadeMe

Darkshore

Stranger

AmericaMadeMe

Matera the Mad

Bartender, gimme a Linux Mint

WriteKnight

Arranger Of Disorder

AlexPiper

Wayward Wordsmith

Darkshore

Stranger