Question for Computer Savvy FSUrs

Discussion in 'Off The Beaten Track' started by Garden Kitty, Jun 4, 2012.

  1. Garden Kitty

    Garden Kitty Tranquillo

    The last few days, my work laptop has been acting funny at home. It boots up, but the colors are all wacky and pink, and the screen can sometimes be pixilated, but it works fine at the office with no screen problems.

    My personal laptop, which is just an earlier version of my work one, works fine at home and no problems with the display. I still have wired, cable interent, and I use the same cable for both computers.

    I thought something might be wrong with the charge cord, so I tried the work computer without any charging cord, and it still had some problems.

    Any suggestions on what could be the problem? I wondered if it was some sort of electromagenetic interference, but thought it should impact both computers. I'm stumped.
  2. Gazpacho

    Gazpacho Well-Known Member

    First, are you using an external screen in either place?

    Can you do this test and report back?

    When at home with your work laptop, unplug everything that's attached to it such as printers, mouse, etc. Don't plug in the power cord. In other words, run it on battery with nothing attached. Is the screen still doing that?
  3. Garden Kitty

    Garden Kitty Tranquillo

    No external screens, just the laptop screen, and I'll do the test when I get home tonight. Thanks :)
  4. maatTheViking

    maatTheViking Now ubering Machida's hair

    Is it happening when you are runnign a specific program/application? Or a different number of them?

    Are you sitting differently with it at home (in your lap for instance)

    One guess is a graphics card/chip heating issue. If the graphics card is strained, it can sometimes turn pixilated, pinkish and freeze the screen, and possibly crash the computer (the driver crashes). It can happen if the fans can't operate properly to cool it down, or if it is overloaded (turning the graphics settings in a game too high, running many videos on websites, and other graphic intensive things)

    Make sure all drivers are up to date.

    Which operating system are you using?

    If you are using Windows 7/Vista, next time it happens try to go to Control Panel -> System and Security -> Action Center and see if any issues are reported. You can either use the in build help that will appear if you click on an issue, or try searching for the words in the error message if you find one.

    Can you take a screenshot of how it looks?

    also - if you worry about interference, what happens if you take the laptop around the ouse, outside...
  5. Garden Kitty

    Garden Kitty Tranquillo

    So I brought it home and booted it up stand alone with nothing plugged in, and it got all funny and wacky colors. I turned it off, took out the battery, and it seems ok now. But I've tried taking out the battery before and it didn't seem to fix it, but it worked this time.

    I had both laptops in the same position (on the bed), but when it does act up, the screen is pinkish, like you describe for the graphics system, but I don't do anything too graphic intensive on the work computer (a video at most).

    I'll see how this works now and if it acts up again, I'll try looking at the System and Security link.

    Thanks for the suggestions Maat and Gazpacho!