problem with my PC (shimmering effect on areas of the screen)

I posted in the xp groups but maybe it is more of a video problem. I got a
few replies but mostly nothing useful.

There is a shimmering effect where colors fade from one to another. It is
almost as if it can't handle certain colors but I have no 256 mode on my
card/monitor to test my theory.

I cannot fix this problem and have tried soooooooooo many different things.
It hasn't happened in about 9 months or maybe even a year but now it is
doing it again for about a week now.


Here is what I have.

Windows XP Pro (SP2 or latest updates)
Intel P4
ASUS P4B533 motherboard (latest bios - version 1015)
nVidia GeForce MX440 64MB (AGP, latest drivers)
Sony SDM M81 monitor (using analog 15-pin connection, latest drivers but
they are the same I used when I first got the monitor and it has worked
fine)
512MB RAM
2 80-Gig HDs (C is the main one)


Here is what I know.

I installed a new CPU fan with thermal grease also and it is working fine.
CPU temp sometimes goes up to say 140 F but the fan I keep low due to noise
but even with the fan all the way up the shimmering never goes away.
(sometimes it has been absent after starting up but soon reappears (maybe
after 10 minutes) and I know that sounds like it could be heat but lately
always upon booting it IMMEDIATELY shimmers and it has nothing to do with
the CPU temp since I cranked the fan and measured the temp using the bios
meter - probably below 120F).

However, today it was gone at bootup for a few minutes and then back. i
reseated the video card last night so it's in there correctly.

I also got a new graphics card (identical model) from the place i got the PC
from and it did not fix the problem.

An interesting thing is that the shimmering also happens in the bios screen
and the logo upon booting up so it is not even a windows thing, I suspect
but I thought maybe to post here first. Reseating the graphics card seems
a waste since a new card did not fix the problem.

I thought it might be too many services or spyware/hijackware/viruses/etc.
but I ran McAfee on the whole C drive, I have the boot virus in bios
enabled, I ran ad-aware, spybot S&D, CWShredder and hijackthis and even
after deleting the spyware and removing all unecessary svcs from startup
there is still no joy.


I thought also that maybe dust had built up and maybe was shorting something
and I blew out all the dust and no joy.

I searched usenet and the web and couldn't find anything similar with any
real solution.

The main clues (IMO) is that the shimmering only happens in areas of color
that seem to be in between other colors (eg, red doesn't shimmer, yellow
doesn't but somewhere in the orange it will shimmer) AND it does it in bios
and the motherboard logo and windows startup logo.


So does it sound like a hardware or software problem? At this point I
am stumped.



Again I have the latest nVidia drivers (in fact tried both the latest and
previous versions) and nothing helps. One last thing, my monitor, which is
a Sony SDM M81 (flat screen) doesn't allow for a higher refresh than 60 hz
in XP due to the drivers not being updated by Sony since XP came out. But
even with the generic MS driver, it still shimmers. Could it be a prob in
the monitor? It worked for a few minutes today so I know it isn't a pixel
problem of the screen or direct damage to the screen.


Help if ya can.


Thanks,
Tim

"Tim Simmons" wrote in message
...
I posted in the xp groups but maybe it is more of a video problem. I got a
few replies but mostly nothing useful.

There is a shimmering effect where colors fade from one to another. It is
almost as if it can't handle certain colors but I have no 256 mode on my
card/monitor to test my theory.

I cannot fix this problem and have tried soooooooooo many different
things.
It hasn't happened in about 9 months or maybe even a year but now it is
doing it again for about a week now.


Here is what I have.

Windows XP Pro (SP2 or latest updates)
Intel P4
ASUS P4B533 motherboard (latest bios - version 1015)
nVidia GeForce MX440 64MB (AGP, latest drivers)
Sony SDM M81 monitor (using analog 15-pin connection, latest drivers but
they are the same I used when I first got the monitor and it has worked
fine)
512MB RAM
2 80-Gig HDs (C is the main one)


Here is what I know.

I installed a new CPU fan with thermal grease also and it is working fine.
CPU temp sometimes goes up to say 140 F but the fan I keep low due to
noise
but even with the fan all the way up the shimmering never goes away.
(sometimes it has been absent after starting up but soon reappears (maybe
after 10 minutes) and I know that sounds like it could be heat but lately
always upon booting it IMMEDIATELY shimmers and it has nothing to do with
the CPU temp since I cranked the fan and measured the temp using the bios
meter - probably below 120F).

However, today it was gone at bootup for a few minutes and then back. i
reseated the video card last night so it's in there correctly.

I also got a new graphics card (identical model) from the place i got the
PC
from and it did not fix the problem.

An interesting thing is that the shimmering also happens in the bios
screen
and the logo upon booting up so it is not even a windows thing, I suspect
but I thought maybe to post here first. Reseating the graphics card
seems
a waste since a new card did not fix the problem.

I thought it might be too many services or spyware/hijackware/viruses/etc.
but I ran McAfee on the whole C drive, I have the boot virus in bios
enabled, I ran ad-aware, spybot S&D, CWShredder and hijackthis and even
after deleting the spyware and removing all unecessary svcs from startup
there is still no joy.


I thought also that maybe dust had built up and maybe was shorting
something
and I blew out all the dust and no joy.

I searched usenet and the web and couldn't find anything similar with any
real solution.

The main clues (IMO) is that the shimmering only happens in areas of color
that seem to be in between other colors (eg, red doesn't shimmer, yellow
doesn't but somewhere in the orange it will shimmer) AND it does it in
bios
and the motherboard logo and windows startup logo.


So does it sound like a hardware or software problem? At this point I
am stumped.



Again I have the latest nVidia drivers (in fact tried both the latest and
previous versions) and nothing helps. One last thing, my monitor, which
is a Sony SDM M81 (flat screen) doesn't allow for a higher refresh than 60
hz in XP due to the drivers not being updated by Sony since XP came out.
But even with the generic MS driver, it still shimmers. Could it be a
prob in the monitor? It worked for a few minutes today so I know it
isn't a pixel problem of the screen or direct damage to the screen.


Help if ya can.


Thanks,
Tim


Can you try another monitor and see if that shimmering thing you talking
about happen onto another PC monitor?
Seeing shimmering in BIOS / Bootup prior to Windows and same problem accur
with another card, my look suspecious to monitor issue.

1 - Check if the cable of the monitor is bend.
2 - Try another monitor and see if the problem occur again.

CapFusion,....

"CapFusion" wrote in message
...

"Tim Simmons" wrote in message
...
I posted in the xp groups but maybe it is more of a video problem. I got
a few replies but mostly nothing useful.

There is a shimmering effect where colors fade from one to another. It
is
almost as if it can't handle certain colors but I have no 256 mode on my
card/monitor to test my theory.

I cannot fix this problem and have tried soooooooooo many different
things.
It hasn't happened in about 9 months or maybe even a year but now it is
doing it again for about a week now.


Here is what I have.

Windows XP Pro (SP2 or latest updates)
Intel P4
ASUS P4B533 motherboard (latest bios - version 1015)
nVidia GeForce MX440 64MB (AGP, latest drivers)
Sony SDM M81 monitor (using analog 15-pin connection, latest drivers but
they are the same I used when I first got the monitor and it has worked
fine)
512MB RAM
2 80-Gig HDs (C is the main one)


Here is what I know.

I installed a new CPU fan with thermal grease also and it is working
fine.
CPU temp sometimes goes up to say 140 F but the fan I keep low due to
noise
but even with the fan all the way up the shimmering never goes away.
(sometimes it has been absent after starting up but soon reappears (maybe
after 10 minutes) and I know that sounds like it could be heat but lately
always upon booting it IMMEDIATELY shimmers and it has nothing to do with
the CPU temp since I cranked the fan and measured the temp using the bios
meter - probably below 120F).

However, today it was gone at bootup for a few minutes and then back. i
reseated the video card last night so it's in there correctly.

I also got a new graphics card (identical model) from the place i got the
PC
from and it did not fix the problem.

An interesting thing is that the shimmering also happens in the bios
screen
and the logo upon booting up so it is not even a windows thing, I suspect
but I thought maybe to post here first. Reseating the graphics card
seems
a waste since a new card did not fix the problem.

I thought it might be too many services or
spyware/hijackware/viruses/etc.
but I ran McAfee on the whole C drive, I have the boot virus in bios
enabled, I ran ad-aware, spybot S&D, CWShredder and hijackthis and even
after deleting the spyware and removing all unecessary svcs from startup
there is still no joy.


I thought also that maybe dust had built up and maybe was shorting
something
and I blew out all the dust and no joy.

I searched usenet and the web and couldn't find anything similar with any
real solution.

The main clues (IMO) is that the shimmering only happens in areas of
color
that seem to be in between other colors (eg, red doesn't shimmer, yellow
doesn't but somewhere in the orange it will shimmer) AND it does it in
bios
and the motherboard logo and windows startup logo.


So does it sound like a hardware or software problem? At this point I
am stumped.



Again I have the latest nVidia drivers (in fact tried both the latest and
previous versions) and nothing helps. One last thing, my monitor, which
is a Sony SDM M81 (flat screen) doesn't allow for a higher refresh than
60 hz in XP due to the drivers not being updated by Sony since XP came
out. But even with the generic MS driver, it still shimmers. Could it be
a prob in the monitor? It worked for a few minutes today so I know it
isn't a pixel problem of the screen or direct damage to the screen.


Help if ya can.


Thanks,
Tim


Can you try another monitor and see if that shimmering thing you talking
about happen onto another PC monitor?
Seeing shimmering in BIOS / Bootup prior to Windows and same problem accur
with another card, my look suspecious to monitor issue.

1 - Check if the cable of the monitor is bend.
2 - Try another monitor and see if the problem occur again.

CapFusion,....


Yes, that seems to be a good idea. Maybe I can borrow a monitor just to
test that. hmmmm I have a bud who might loan me his for an hour.

If that doesn't fix it, I'll reply here just to say so.

Thanks,
Tim

Tim Simmons wrote:
"CapFusion" wrote in message
...

"Tim Simmons" wrote in message
...

I posted in the xp groups but maybe it is more of a video problem. I got
a few replies but mostly nothing useful.

There is a shimmering effect where colors fade from one to another. It
is
almost as if it can't handle certain colors but I have no 256 mode on my
card/monitor to test my theory.

I cannot fix this problem and have tried soooooooooo many different
things.
It hasn't happened in about 9 months or maybe even a year but now it is
doing it again for about a week now.


Here is what I have.

Windows XP Pro (SP2 or latest updates)
Intel P4
ASUS P4B533 motherboard (latest bios - version 1015)
nVidia GeForce MX440 64MB (AGP, latest drivers)
Sony SDM M81 monitor (using analog 15-pin connection, latest drivers but
they are the same I used when I first got the monitor and it has worked
fine)
512MB RAM
2 80-Gig HDs (C is the main one)


Here is what I know.

I installed a new CPU fan with thermal grease also and it is working
fine.
CPU temp sometimes goes up to say 140 F but the fan I keep low due to
noise
but even with the fan all the way up the shimmering never goes away.
(sometimes it has been absent after starting up but soon reappears (maybe
after 10 minutes) and I know that sounds like it could be heat but lately
always upon booting it IMMEDIATELY shimmers and it has nothing to do with
the CPU temp since I cranked the fan and measured the temp using the bios
meter - probably below 120F).

However, today it was gone at bootup for a few minutes and then back. i
reseated the video card last night so it's in there correctly.

I also got a new graphics card (identical model) from the place i got the
PC
from and it did not fix the problem.

An interesting thing is that the shimmering also happens in the bios
screen
and the logo upon booting up so it is not even a windows thing, I suspect
but I thought maybe to post here first. Reseating the graphics card
seems
a waste since a new card did not fix the problem.

I thought it might be too many services or
spyware/hijackware/viruses/etc.
but I ran McAfee on the whole C drive, I have the boot virus in bios
enabled, I ran ad-aware, spybot S&D, CWShredder and hijackthis and even
after deleting the spyware and removing all unecessary svcs from startup
there is still no joy.


I thought also that maybe dust had built up and maybe was shorting
something
and I blew out all the dust and no joy.

I searched usenet and the web and couldn't find anything similar with any
real solution.

The main clues (IMO) is that the shimmering only happens in areas of
color
that seem to be in between other colors (eg, red doesn't shimmer, yellow
doesn't but somewhere in the orange it will shimmer) AND it does it in
bios
and the motherboard logo and windows startup logo.


So does it sound like a hardware or software problem? At this point I
am stumped.



Again I have the latest nVidia drivers (in fact tried both the latest and
previous versions) and nothing helps. One last thing, my monitor, which
is a Sony SDM M81 (flat screen) doesn't allow for a higher refresh than
60 hz in XP due to the drivers not being updated by Sony since XP came
out. But even with the generic MS driver, it still shimmers. Could it be
a prob in the monitor? It worked for a few minutes today so I know it
isn't a pixel problem of the screen or direct damage to the screen.


Help if ya can.


Thanks,
Tim


Can you try another monitor and see if that shimmering thing you talking
about happen onto another PC monitor?
Seeing shimmering in BIOS / Bootup prior to Windows and same problem accur
with another card, my look suspecious to monitor issue.

1 - Check if the cable of the monitor is bend.
2 - Try another monitor and see if the problem occur again.

CapFusion,....



Yes, that seems to be a good idea. Maybe I can borrow a monitor just to
test that. hmmmm I have a bud who might loan me his for an hour.

If that doesn't fix it, I'll reply here just to say so.

Thanks,
Tim


I had a similar problem to yours and the solution is simple. If you have
your computer plugged into a power bar, turf it. I found that the line
quality of your electrical current can be the culprit. I went out and
plunked some money down on a UPS(Uninteruptable Power Supply) with a
built in line conditioner(this regulates the voltage from the outlet to
the computer) and the problem went away. Also, you could check your
power supply as well. Not all of them are the same.

Not trying to be a smart arse here but what country are you in?
If it's hot where you are, do you have a fan near your monitor?

The amount of people I get calling saying that there monitor is on the blink
because it's all wavy only to find that they have a fan near it.


Warty


"Tim Simmons" wrote in message
...

"CapFusion" wrote in message
...

"Tim Simmons" wrote in message
...
I posted in the xp groups but maybe it is more of a video problem. I got
a few replies but mostly nothing useful.

There is a shimmering effect where colors fade from one to another. It
is
almost as if it can't handle certain colors but I have no 256 mode on my
card/monitor to test my theory.

I cannot fix this problem and have tried soooooooooo many different
things.
It hasn't happened in about 9 months or maybe even a year but now it is
doing it again for about a week now.


Here is what I have.

Windows XP Pro (SP2 or latest updates)
Intel P4
ASUS P4B533 motherboard (latest bios - version 1015)
nVidia GeForce MX440 64MB (AGP, latest drivers)
Sony SDM M81 monitor (using analog 15-pin connection, latest drivers but
they are the same I used when I first got the monitor and it has worked
fine)
512MB RAM
2 80-Gig HDs (C is the main one)


Here is what I know.

I installed a new CPU fan with thermal grease also and it is working
fine.
CPU temp sometimes goes up to say 140 F but the fan I keep low due to
noise
but even with the fan all the way up the shimmering never goes away.
(sometimes it has been absent after starting up but soon reappears
(maybe
after 10 minutes) and I know that sounds like it could be heat but
lately
always upon booting it IMMEDIATELY shimmers and it has nothing to do
with
the CPU temp since I cranked the fan and measured the temp using the
bios
meter - probably below 120F).

However, today it was gone at bootup for a few minutes and then back. i
reseated the video card last night so it's in there correctly.

I also got a new graphics card (identical model) from the place i got
the PC
from and it did not fix the problem.

An interesting thing is that the shimmering also happens in the bios
screen
and the logo upon booting up so it is not even a windows thing, I
suspect
but I thought maybe to post here first. Reseating the graphics card
seems
a waste since a new card did not fix the problem.

I thought it might be too many services or
spyware/hijackware/viruses/etc.
but I ran McAfee on the whole C drive, I have the boot virus in bios
enabled, I ran ad-aware, spybot S&D, CWShredder and hijackthis and even
after deleting the spyware and removing all unecessary svcs from startup
there is still no joy.


I thought also that maybe dust had built up and maybe was shorting
something
and I blew out all the dust and no joy.

I searched usenet and the web and couldn't find anything similar with
any
real solution.

The main clues (IMO) is that the shimmering only happens in areas of
color
that seem to be in between other colors (eg, red doesn't shimmer, yellow
doesn't but somewhere in the orange it will shimmer) AND it does it in
bios
and the motherboard logo and windows startup logo.


So does it sound like a hardware or software problem? At this point I
am stumped.



Again I have the latest nVidia drivers (in fact tried both the latest
and previous versions) and nothing helps. One last thing, my monitor,
which is a Sony SDM M81 (flat screen) doesn't allow for a higher refresh
than 60 hz in XP due to the drivers not being updated by Sony since XP
came out. But even with the generic MS driver, it still shimmers. Could
it be a prob in the monitor? It worked for a few minutes today so I
know it isn't a pixel problem of the screen or direct damage to the
screen.


Help if ya can.


Thanks,
Tim


Can you try another monitor and see if that shimmering thing you talking
about happen onto another PC monitor?
Seeing shimmering in BIOS / Bootup prior to Windows and same problem
accur with another card, my look suspecious to monitor issue.

1 - Check if the cable of the monitor is bend.
2 - Try another monitor and see if the problem occur again.

CapFusion,....


Yes, that seems to be a good idea. Maybe I can borrow a monitor just to
test that. hmmmm I have a bud who might loan me his for an hour.

If that doesn't fix it, I'll reply here just to say so.

Thanks,
Tim

Interference can also be a mysteries culprit, too. Forgotten about that.
US now heading to Fall season, atleast in the Pacific zone.

CapFusion,...


"Warty" wrote in message
...
Not trying to be a smart arse here but what country are you in?
If it's hot where you are, do you have a fan near your monitor?

The amount of people I get calling saying that there monitor is on the
blink because it's all wavy only to find that they have a fan near it.


Warty


"Tim Simmons" wrote in message
...

"CapFusion" wrote in message
...

"Tim Simmons" wrote in message
...
I posted in the xp groups but maybe it is more of a video problem. I
got a few replies but mostly nothing useful.

There is a shimmering effect where colors fade from one to another. It
is
almost as if it can't handle certain colors but I have no 256 mode on
my
card/monitor to test my theory.

I cannot fix this problem and have tried soooooooooo many different
things.
It hasn't happened in about 9 months or maybe even a year but now it is
doing it again for about a week now.


Here is what I have.

Windows XP Pro (SP2 or latest updates)
Intel P4
ASUS P4B533 motherboard (latest bios - version 1015)
nVidia GeForce MX440 64MB (AGP, latest drivers)
Sony SDM M81 monitor (using analog 15-pin connection, latest drivers
but
they are the same I used when I first got the monitor and it has worked
fine)
512MB RAM
2 80-Gig HDs (C is the main one)


Here is what I know.

I installed a new CPU fan with thermal grease also and it is working
fine.
CPU temp sometimes goes up to say 140 F but the fan I keep low due to
noise
but even with the fan all the way up the shimmering never goes away.
(sometimes it has been absent after starting up but soon reappears
(maybe
after 10 minutes) and I know that sounds like it could be heat but
lately
always upon booting it IMMEDIATELY shimmers and it has nothing to do
with
the CPU temp since I cranked the fan and measured the temp using the
bios
meter - probably below 120F).

However, today it was gone at bootup for a few minutes and then back.
i reseated the video card last night so it's in there correctly.

I also got a new graphics card (identical model) from the place i got
the PC
from and it did not fix the problem.

An interesting thing is that the shimmering also happens in the bios
screen
and the logo upon booting up so it is not even a windows thing, I
suspect
but I thought maybe to post here first. Reseating the graphics card
seems
a waste since a new card did not fix the problem.

I thought it might be too many services or
spyware/hijackware/viruses/etc.
but I ran McAfee on the whole C drive, I have the boot virus in bios
enabled, I ran ad-aware, spybot S&D, CWShredder and hijackthis and even
after deleting the spyware and removing all unecessary svcs from
startup
there is still no joy.


I thought also that maybe dust had built up and maybe was shorting
something
and I blew out all the dust and no joy.

I searched usenet and the web and couldn't find anything similar with
any
real solution.

The main clues (IMO) is that the shimmering only happens in areas of
color
that seem to be in between other colors (eg, red doesn't shimmer,
yellow
doesn't but somewhere in the orange it will shimmer) AND it does it in
bios
and the motherboard logo and windows startup logo.


So does it sound like a hardware or software problem? At this point I
am stumped.



Again I have the latest nVidia drivers (in fact tried both the latest
and previous versions) and nothing helps. One last thing, my monitor,
which is a Sony SDM M81 (flat screen) doesn't allow for a higher
refresh than 60 hz in XP due to the drivers not being updated by Sony
since XP came out. But even with the generic MS driver, it still
shimmers. Could it be a prob in the monitor? It worked for a few
minutes today so I know it isn't a pixel problem of the screen or
direct damage to the screen.


Help if ya can.


Thanks,
Tim


Can you try another monitor and see if that shimmering thing you talking
about happen onto another PC monitor?
Seeing shimmering in BIOS / Bootup prior to Windows and same problem
accur with another card, my look suspecious to monitor issue.

1 - Check if the cable of the monitor is bend.
2 - Try another monitor and see if the problem occur again.

CapFusion,....


Yes, that seems to be a good idea. Maybe I can borrow a monitor just to
test that. hmmmm I have a bud who might loan me his for an hour.

If that doesn't fix it, I'll reply here just to say so.

Thanks,
Tim

Warty wrote:
Not trying to be a smart arse here but what country are you in?
If it's hot where you are, do you have a fan near your monitor?

The amount of people I get calling saying that there monitor is on the blink
because it's all wavy only to find that they have a fan near it.


Warty

I'm in Canada and no there isn't a fan near my computer. Plugging my
system into a UPS DID solve my problems. Most wiring in houses these
days is substandard, fair at the best.

"Tim" wrote in message
...
Tim Simmons wrote:
"CapFusion" wrote in message
...

"Tim Simmons" wrote in message
...

I posted in the xp groups but maybe it is more of a video problem. I
got a few replies but mostly nothing useful.

There is a shimmering effect where colors fade from one to another. It
is
almost as if it can't handle certain colors but I have no 256 mode on my
card/monitor to test my theory.

I cannot fix this problem and have tried soooooooooo many different
things.
It hasn't happened in about 9 months or maybe even a year but now it is
doing it again for about a week now.


Here is what I have.

Windows XP Pro (SP2 or latest updates)
Intel P4
ASUS P4B533 motherboard (latest bios - version 1015)
nVidia GeForce MX440 64MB (AGP, latest drivers)
Sony SDM M81 monitor (using analog 15-pin connection, latest drivers but
they are the same I used when I first got the monitor and it has worked
fine)
512MB RAM
2 80-Gig HDs (C is the main one)


Here is what I know.

I installed a new CPU fan with thermal grease also and it is working
fine.
CPU temp sometimes goes up to say 140 F but the fan I keep low due to
noise
but even with the fan all the way up the shimmering never goes away.
(sometimes it has been absent after starting up but soon reappears
(maybe
after 10 minutes) and I know that sounds like it could be heat but
lately
always upon booting it IMMEDIATELY shimmers and it has nothing to do
with
the CPU temp since I cranked the fan and measured the temp using the
bios
meter - probably below 120F).

However, today it was gone at bootup for a few minutes and then back. i
reseated the video card last night so it's in there correctly.

I also got a new graphics card (identical model) from the place i got
the PC
from and it did not fix the problem.

An interesting thing is that the shimmering also happens in the bios
screen
and the logo upon booting up so it is not even a windows thing, I
suspect
but I thought maybe to post here first. Reseating the graphics card
seems
a waste since a new card did not fix the problem.

I thought it might be too many services or
spyware/hijackware/viruses/etc.
but I ran McAfee on the whole C drive, I have the boot virus in bios
enabled, I ran ad-aware, spybot S&D, CWShredder and hijackthis and even
after deleting the spyware and removing all unecessary svcs from startup
there is still no joy.


I thought also that maybe dust had built up and maybe was shorting
something
and I blew out all the dust and no joy.

I searched usenet and the web and couldn't find anything similar with
any
real solution.

The main clues (IMO) is that the shimmering only happens in areas of
color
that seem to be in between other colors (eg, red doesn't shimmer, yellow
doesn't but somewhere in the orange it will shimmer) AND it does it in
bios
and the motherboard logo and windows startup logo.


So does it sound like a hardware or software problem? At this point I
am stumped.



Again I have the latest nVidia drivers (in fact tried both the latest
and previous versions) and nothing helps. One last thing, my monitor,
which is a Sony SDM M81 (flat screen) doesn't allow for a higher refresh
than 60 hz in XP due to the drivers not being updated by Sony since XP
came out. But even with the generic MS driver, it still shimmers. Could
it be a prob in the monitor? It worked for a few minutes today so I
know it isn't a pixel problem of the screen or direct damage to the
screen.


Help if ya can.


Thanks,
Tim


Can you try another monitor and see if that shimmering thing you talking
about happen onto another PC monitor?
Seeing shimmering in BIOS / Bootup prior to Windows and same problem
accur with another card, my look suspecious to monitor issue.

1 - Check if the cable of the monitor is bend.
2 - Try another monitor and see if the problem occur again.

CapFusion,....



Yes, that seems to be a good idea. Maybe I can borrow a monitor just to
test that. hmmmm I have a bud who might loan me his for an hour.

If that doesn't fix it, I'll reply here just to say so.

Thanks,
Tim
I had a similar problem to yours and the solution is simple. If you have
your computer plugged into a power bar, turf it. I found that the line
quality of your electrical current can be the culprit. I went out and
plunked some money down on a UPS(Uninteruptable Power Supply) with a built
in line conditioner(this regulates the voltage from the outlet to the
computer) and the problem went away. Also, you could check your power
supply as well. Not all of them are the same.


I have a $400 Furman power conditioner that performs voltage regulation
(will not be more or less than 117 at the output no matter what it is at the
input) and it also conditions the power (cleans it) and from that I run a
UPS which also regulates the voltage.

So go figure! hehehe I do get more from the wall than is good (about 125
vac). So, I can't understand how the power to my PC is at fault.



Tim

"Warty" wrote in message
...
Not trying to be a smart arse here but what country are you in?
If it's hot where you are, do you have a fan near your monitor?

The amount of people I get calling saying that there monitor is on the
blink because it's all wavy only to find that they have a fan near it.


Warty



Oh, no. But I do have my speakers fairly close. Say... 10 inches. I'll
try moving them but isn't magnetism though. I know what that does to
monitors.


Tim
"Tim Simmons" wrote in message
...

"CapFusion" wrote in message
...

"Tim Simmons" wrote in message
...
I posted in the xp groups but maybe it is more of a video problem. I
got a few replies but mostly nothing useful.

There is a shimmering effect where colors fade from one to another. It
is
almost as if it can't handle certain colors but I have no 256 mode on
my
card/monitor to test my theory.

I cannot fix this problem and have tried soooooooooo many different
things.
It hasn't happened in about 9 months or maybe even a year but now it is
doing it again for about a week now.


Here is what I have.

Windows XP Pro (SP2 or latest updates)
Intel P4
ASUS P4B533 motherboard (latest bios - version 1015)
nVidia GeForce MX440 64MB (AGP, latest drivers)
Sony SDM M81 monitor (using analog 15-pin connection, latest drivers
but
they are the same I used when I first got the monitor and it has worked
fine)
512MB RAM
2 80-Gig HDs (C is the main one)


Here is what I know.

I installed a new CPU fan with thermal grease also and it is working
fine.
CPU temp sometimes goes up to say 140 F but the fan I keep low due to
noise
but even with the fan all the way up the shimmering never goes away.
(sometimes it has been absent after starting up but soon reappears
(maybe
after 10 minutes) and I know that sounds like it could be heat but
lately
always upon booting it IMMEDIATELY shimmers and it has nothing to do
with
the CPU temp since I cranked the fan and measured the temp using the
bios
meter - probably below 120F).

However, today it was gone at bootup for a few minutes and then back.
i reseated the video card last night so it's in there correctly.

I also got a new graphics card (identical model) from the place i got
the PC
from and it did not fix the problem.

An interesting thing is that the shimmering also happens in the bios
screen
and the logo upon booting up so it is not even a windows thing, I
suspect
but I thought maybe to post here first. Reseating the graphics card
seems
a waste since a new card did not fix the problem.

I thought it might be too many services or
spyware/hijackware/viruses/etc.
but I ran McAfee on the whole C drive, I have the boot virus in bios
enabled, I ran ad-aware, spybot S&D, CWShredder and hijackthis and even
after deleting the spyware and removing all unecessary svcs from
startup
there is still no joy.


I thought also that maybe dust had built up and maybe was shorting
something
and I blew out all the dust and no joy.

I searched usenet and the web and couldn't find anything similar with
any
real solution.

The main clues (IMO) is that the shimmering only happens in areas of
color
that seem to be in between other colors (eg, red doesn't shimmer,
yellow
doesn't but somewhere in the orange it will shimmer) AND it does it in
bios
and the motherboard logo and windows startup logo.


So does it sound like a hardware or software problem? At this point I
am stumped.



Again I have the latest nVidia drivers (in fact tried both the latest
and previous versions) and nothing helps. One last thing, my monitor,
which is a Sony SDM M81 (flat screen) doesn't allow for a higher
refresh than 60 hz in XP due to the drivers not being updated by Sony
since XP came out. But even with the generic MS driver, it still
shimmers. Could it be a prob in the monitor? It worked for a few
minutes today so I know it isn't a pixel problem of the screen or
direct damage to the screen.


Help if ya can.


Thanks,
Tim


Can you try another monitor and see if that shimmering thing you talking
about happen onto another PC monitor?
Seeing shimmering in BIOS / Bootup prior to Windows and same problem
accur with another card, my look suspecious to monitor issue.

1 - Check if the cable of the monitor is bend.
2 - Try another monitor and see if the problem occur again.

CapFusion,....


Yes, that seems to be a good idea. Maybe I can borrow a monitor just to
test that. hmmmm I have a bud who might loan me his for an hour.

If that doesn't fix it, I'll reply here just to say so.

Thanks,
Tim

"CapFusion" wrote in message
...
Interference can also be a mysteries culprit, too. Forgotten about that.
US now heading to Fall season, atleast in the Pacific zone.

CapFusion,...




I am in West memphis Arkansas. It seems pretty constant this go 'round.
It doesn't come and go.

So I doubt it's any radio interference or satellite.


Tim
"Warty" wrote in message
...
Not trying to be a smart arse here but what country are you in?
If it's hot where you are, do you have a fan near your monitor?

The amount of people I get calling saying that there monitor is on the
blink because it's all wavy only to find that they have a fan near it.


Warty


"Tim Simmons" wrote in message
...

"CapFusion" wrote in message
...

"Tim Simmons" wrote in message
...
I posted in the xp groups but maybe it is more of a video problem. I
got a few replies but mostly nothing useful.

There is a shimmering effect where colors fade from one to another.
It is
almost as if it can't handle certain colors but I have no 256 mode on
my
card/monitor to test my theory.

I cannot fix this problem and have tried soooooooooo many different
things.
It hasn't happened in about 9 months or maybe even a year but now it
is
doing it again for about a week now.


Here is what I have.

Windows XP Pro (SP2 or latest updates)
Intel P4
ASUS P4B533 motherboard (latest bios - version 1015)
nVidia GeForce MX440 64MB (AGP, latest drivers)
Sony SDM M81 monitor (using analog 15-pin connection, latest drivers
but
they are the same I used when I first got the monitor and it has
worked
fine)
512MB RAM
2 80-Gig HDs (C is the main one)


Here is what I know.

I installed a new CPU fan with thermal grease also and it is working
fine.
CPU temp sometimes goes up to say 140 F but the fan I keep low due to
noise
but even with the fan all the way up the shimmering never goes away.
(sometimes it has been absent after starting up but soon reappears
(maybe
after 10 minutes) and I know that sounds like it could be heat but
lately
always upon booting it IMMEDIATELY shimmers and it has nothing to do
with
the CPU temp since I cranked the fan and measured the temp using the
bios
meter - probably below 120F).

However, today it was gone at bootup for a few minutes and then back.
i reseated the video card last night so it's in there correctly.

I also got a new graphics card (identical model) from the place i got
the PC
from and it did not fix the problem.

An interesting thing is that the shimmering also happens in the bios
screen
and the logo upon booting up so it is not even a windows thing, I
suspect
but I thought maybe to post here first. Reseating the graphics card
seems
a waste since a new card did not fix the problem.

I thought it might be too many services or
spyware/hijackware/viruses/etc.
but I ran McAfee on the whole C drive, I have the boot virus in bios
enabled, I ran ad-aware, spybot S&D, CWShredder and hijackthis and
even
after deleting the spyware and removing all unecessary svcs from
startup
there is still no joy.


I thought also that maybe dust had built up and maybe was shorting
something
and I blew out all the dust and no joy.

I searched usenet and the web and couldn't find anything similar with
any
real solution.

The main clues (IMO) is that the shimmering only happens in areas of
color
that seem to be in between other colors (eg, red doesn't shimmer,
yellow
doesn't but somewhere in the orange it will shimmer) AND it does it in
bios
and the motherboard logo and windows startup logo.


So does it sound like a hardware or software problem? At this point I
am stumped.



Again I have the latest nVidia drivers (in fact tried both the latest
and previous versions) and nothing helps. One last thing, my
monitor, which is a Sony SDM M81 (flat screen) doesn't allow for a
higher refresh than 60 hz in XP due to the drivers not being updated
by Sony since XP came out. But even with the generic MS driver, it
still shimmers. Could it be a prob in the monitor? It worked for a
few minutes today so I know it isn't a pixel problem of the screen or
direct damage to the screen.


Help if ya can.


Thanks,
Tim


Can you try another monitor and see if that shimmering thing you
talking about happen onto another PC monitor?
Seeing shimmering in BIOS / Bootup prior to Windows and same problem
accur with another card, my look suspecious to monitor issue.

1 - Check if the cable of the monitor is bend.
2 - Try another monitor and see if the problem occur again.

CapFusion,....


Yes, that seems to be a good idea. Maybe I can borrow a monitor just
to test that. hmmmm I have a bud who might loan me his for an hour.

If that doesn't fix it, I'll reply here just to say so.

Thanks,
Tim