My computer is (sort of) dead
August 26, 2010 5:50 PM Subscribe
Could defragging have killed my video card hardware?
I defragged the other day, and when the computer rebooted the screen had large bars running across it. I did a bunch of software stuff to try to fix it:
-Complete reinstall of video drivers
-Rolled the system back a day, and then 3 days
-Checked registry with CCleaner
I tried switching out the monitor (same result).
Finally I decided to unplug the video card, and use the regular VGA connection instead. It worked normally. Plugging the card back in and letting it run made the surface of the card heat up to almost untouchable temperatures. I think it's safe to say that the card is dead, right?
So I'm just curious: was it just coincidental timing, or could defragging have somehow killed the card? Computer specs available on request, but in general it's an upper-end store bought Gateway system.
I defragged the other day, and when the computer rebooted the screen had large bars running across it. I did a bunch of software stuff to try to fix it:
-Complete reinstall of video drivers
-Rolled the system back a day, and then 3 days
-Checked registry with CCleaner
I tried switching out the monitor (same result).
Finally I decided to unplug the video card, and use the regular VGA connection instead. It worked normally. Plugging the card back in and letting it run made the surface of the card heat up to almost untouchable temperatures. I think it's safe to say that the card is dead, right?
So I'm just curious: was it just coincidental timing, or could defragging have somehow killed the card? Computer specs available on request, but in general it's an upper-end store bought Gateway system.
Defragging per-se shouldn't cause that sort of problem, but it's obviously a drive intensive activity, which involves heat. Sounds to me like your card was on the edge and just happened to die around then.
posted by valkyryn at 6:14 PM on August 26, 2010
posted by valkyryn at 6:14 PM on August 26, 2010
Best answer: This just sounds like coincidence. Does your video card have a fan or a passive heat sink? If it's the former, check to be sure that the fan actually spins when the machine is powered on. If not, pull it out (if you're comfortable doing that) and be sure that it isn't all clogged up with dust and cat hair etc. If it is, you can used compressed air to blast it out, or even an old toothbrush to scrub it all out. Then give it another whirl.
If it's a passive heat sink then it just sounds like the card is pretty much shot. Depending on the card of course, but happily you can get a decent replacement for a very reasonable price.
Also I'm assuming you're using some iteration of Windows. When you're booting up, try hitting F8 a bunch of times until you are given the option to boot Windows in safe mode. If the video card works okay in safe mode then it's likely to be a software problem.
Also if the card uses supplemental power for the (potential) fan, rather than just drawing it from the PCI-E/AGP slot, make sure it's plugged in properly.
posted by turgid dahlia at 6:19 PM on August 26, 2010
If it's a passive heat sink then it just sounds like the card is pretty much shot. Depending on the card of course, but happily you can get a decent replacement for a very reasonable price.
Also I'm assuming you're using some iteration of Windows. When you're booting up, try hitting F8 a bunch of times until you are given the option to boot Windows in safe mode. If the video card works okay in safe mode then it's likely to be a software problem.
Also if the card uses supplemental power for the (potential) fan, rather than just drawing it from the PCI-E/AGP slot, make sure it's plugged in properly.
posted by turgid dahlia at 6:19 PM on August 26, 2010
Response by poster: It's a fan based cooling system. The fan spins, and seems clean just from looking at it, but it gets really, really hot when operating.
Even when booting into safemode the visual defects continued, making it pretty much impossible to do anything in it.
At one point I got a false positive, and it seemed like a system restore worked, but on review it was probably just because I hadn't used it in a day or so (compared to using it constantly trying to get the damn thing to work).
I might separate the card and heat sink to try and clean it, but I'm sort of resolved to getting a new one at this point.
posted by codacorolla at 6:34 PM on August 26, 2010
Even when booting into safemode the visual defects continued, making it pretty much impossible to do anything in it.
At one point I got a false positive, and it seemed like a system restore worked, but on review it was probably just because I hadn't used it in a day or so (compared to using it constantly trying to get the damn thing to work).
I might separate the card and heat sink to try and clean it, but I'm sort of resolved to getting a new one at this point.
posted by codacorolla at 6:34 PM on August 26, 2010
Long shot here but could you have maybe accidentally-on-purpose overclocked the card? That said, yeah, it's going to be easiest to just get a new one. I dunno what your specs are exactly or what you've been using the machine for but I've been kicking some life into an old HP Media Centre PC lately and I grabbed a non-brand GeForce GT240 1GB card and it's great. Cost me a hundred and something AU dollars which means it will be far cheaper just about anywhere else in the world.
posted by turgid dahlia at 6:49 PM on August 26, 2010
posted by turgid dahlia at 6:49 PM on August 26, 2010
Nvidia drivers? Beware of the 196.76 driver (March 2010), it causes fans to slow down and fry the cards. Found out about this the expensive way myself.
posted by Ness at 1:00 AM on August 27, 2010
posted by Ness at 1:00 AM on August 27, 2010
Response by poster: Ness: It's entirely possible that's what caused it. I think my drivers are set to auto-update.
posted by codacorolla at 6:23 PM on August 27, 2010
posted by codacorolla at 6:23 PM on August 27, 2010
I am not being facetious when I say this kind of problem, in my experience, is quite common in computers. Two or more completely separated, unrelated, and not-possibly-caused-by-the-same-thing, things will go wrong on a computer at the exact same time.
Your card went bad, or the fan on it did, at the same time you defragged. Pure coincidence.
That being said, it's possible that a driver was corrupted during the defrag. Or the heat and activity from the drive, as valkyryn suggested, pushed a card-on-the-edge over the edge. For all practical purposes, coincidence.
I've become somewhat superstitious about computers, having worked on them over twenty years. For example, I never, ever, put the case back on after working with hardware or replacing an item, until I have rebooted it to a fully operational state at least twice. You would be surprised how many IT guys I talk to that do the same thing.
Also, many problems are solved, not because we fix them, but because the Computer Gods simply want a sacrifice of time. You have to sit down and "beat on the thing", figuratively speaking, until you figure it out, or the problem mysteriously disappears. You don't know how many times I have had a machine in fail in W state, so I try X state, Y state, Z state, and in frustration, go back to W state, only to find the machine now works fine.
posted by Xoebe at 5:10 PM on August 29, 2010
Your card went bad, or the fan on it did, at the same time you defragged. Pure coincidence.
That being said, it's possible that a driver was corrupted during the defrag. Or the heat and activity from the drive, as valkyryn suggested, pushed a card-on-the-edge over the edge. For all practical purposes, coincidence.
I've become somewhat superstitious about computers, having worked on them over twenty years. For example, I never, ever, put the case back on after working with hardware or replacing an item, until I have rebooted it to a fully operational state at least twice. You would be surprised how many IT guys I talk to that do the same thing.
Also, many problems are solved, not because we fix them, but because the Computer Gods simply want a sacrifice of time. You have to sit down and "beat on the thing", figuratively speaking, until you figure it out, or the problem mysteriously disappears. You don't know how many times I have had a machine in fail in W state, so I try X state, Y state, Z state, and in frustration, go back to W state, only to find the machine now works fine.
posted by Xoebe at 5:10 PM on August 29, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
Did you check the fans?
Do the graphic problems appear immediately or only after the card has been running for a while?
Is it better if you leave the case open?
Defragging should'nt be able to kill the hardware, except for some weird firmware problem.
posted by Triton at 6:11 PM on August 26, 2010