Problem Summary: Graphics Card Device Status reads "Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems. (Code 43)" and white lines display on screen. Limited resolution options and incorrect aspect ratios to my monitor also.
Hello.
I believe I have a problem with my graphics card. I'll explain my problem here, and list all steps I've taken to check into it, even if they seem silly or unrelated. More information is better.
The problem came on very suddenly, I would say; I was playing a game on my desktop computer, when suddenly my display turned to blocks, squares. I can't recall much detail since the problem only presented itself briefly in this form, but first it was squares. They weren't crazy rainbow colors or anything like that, perhaps just distortions of what was on my screen, or else whitish or grayish, something along those lines. They flashed across my screen briefly and I knew something was wrong (I'm very perceptive). This happened very close together, with my screen turning to squares like this then back to normal, so I shut off the game and restarted. Got the squares again. I thought maybe I need to give the computer a break or something (it's not in rough shape, just a 5 year old computer, but quite decent), but the display error wasn't restricted to the game as I'd thought, and the squares continued showing no matter what I happened to be doing. It was only a few minutes between the start of the problem and what seems now to be the place where it has settled.
I no longer see squares, as I stated, that was a brief period when the problem began. Now it's white lines across the whole screen. I've taken a picture with my camera of MS Paint, on a black background, because the lines are white and can be easily seen against that backdrop.
I've taken a screenshot as well (not shown here), and the lines do not show in screenshots. The display shows normally in screenshots, I should say. When I checked the Device Manager, the device status of my graphics card read "Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems. (Code 43)" Also, when I drag my cursor across the screen, it leaves a clear spot in its wake where the screen displays normally, only a path as big as the cursor. When you move the cursor enough the, the white lines return just the same.
Online I read that this was most likely a driver error. If not a driver error, possibly a hardware issue with the graphics card, and if not that, perhaps the power supply, though I haven't given much consideration to the power supply since it's all worked fine together for years now and I don't understand what the relation would be. I started first with the driver. I can say now that I have uninstalled and reinstalled the driver time and time again. I've used Display Driver uninstaller, as I saw recommended in a forum, and I've also gone the way of uninstalling the device through device manager. I have reinstalled the driver both by downloading it from the NVIDIA website as a file to my computer, and also by downloading and installing with GeForce Experience, which regularly checks for driver updates and lets me know whenever there is a new one.
I do not believe a have any integrated graphics card on the mother board, since only one is ever displayed in device manager, and the lines across my screen show up whether or not I have a driver installed for the graphics card. When the driver is not installed, the device manager displays the card as "Standard VGA Graphics Adapter" and, when the driver is installed, it's "NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570."
I don't have a way to test the graphics card that I know, but I have also pulled all of the connectors from the card, and moved it to a different PCIe slot. That didn't change anything, so I assume no motherboard problems involved.
The only other thing I have done, I believe, is the plug the monitor to my laptop, and of course it displays perfectly the same thing as my laptop is displaying. Though that does remind me that the monitor doesn't seem to display in device manager either. There is no section in device manager for Monitors, like there is on my laptop. Perhaps it just doesn't show if the graphics card isn't fuctioning properly.
Oh, and also the following: Trying to play a game displays the message "WARNING, your Video Card does not meet the minimum requirements (256mb) to play the game, it may not run. Continue?" On continue, displays message: "Your video card does not support alpha blending with floating point render targets (D3DFMT_A16B16G16R16F), which is required to run this game. Exiting..."
I think that's everything I've messed with to this point. If the card is actually dead, I don't know how it gets detected at all or still displays anything, bit of a mystery to me how the hardware all functions. Any input is, of course, appreciated, I've never had to deal with an issue of this nature and am unsure how to proceed in dealing with the problem. Thank you for your input.
Hello.
I believe I have a problem with my graphics card. I'll explain my problem here, and list all steps I've taken to check into it, even if they seem silly or unrelated. More information is better.
The problem came on very suddenly, I would say; I was playing a game on my desktop computer, when suddenly my display turned to blocks, squares. I can't recall much detail since the problem only presented itself briefly in this form, but first it was squares. They weren't crazy rainbow colors or anything like that, perhaps just distortions of what was on my screen, or else whitish or grayish, something along those lines. They flashed across my screen briefly and I knew something was wrong (I'm very perceptive). This happened very close together, with my screen turning to squares like this then back to normal, so I shut off the game and restarted. Got the squares again. I thought maybe I need to give the computer a break or something (it's not in rough shape, just a 5 year old computer, but quite decent), but the display error wasn't restricted to the game as I'd thought, and the squares continued showing no matter what I happened to be doing. It was only a few minutes between the start of the problem and what seems now to be the place where it has settled.
I no longer see squares, as I stated, that was a brief period when the problem began. Now it's white lines across the whole screen. I've taken a picture with my camera of MS Paint, on a black background, because the lines are white and can be easily seen against that backdrop.
I've taken a screenshot as well (not shown here), and the lines do not show in screenshots. The display shows normally in screenshots, I should say. When I checked the Device Manager, the device status of my graphics card read "Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems. (Code 43)" Also, when I drag my cursor across the screen, it leaves a clear spot in its wake where the screen displays normally, only a path as big as the cursor. When you move the cursor enough the, the white lines return just the same.Online I read that this was most likely a driver error. If not a driver error, possibly a hardware issue with the graphics card, and if not that, perhaps the power supply, though I haven't given much consideration to the power supply since it's all worked fine together for years now and I don't understand what the relation would be. I started first with the driver. I can say now that I have uninstalled and reinstalled the driver time and time again. I've used Display Driver uninstaller, as I saw recommended in a forum, and I've also gone the way of uninstalling the device through device manager. I have reinstalled the driver both by downloading it from the NVIDIA website as a file to my computer, and also by downloading and installing with GeForce Experience, which regularly checks for driver updates and lets me know whenever there is a new one.
I do not believe a have any integrated graphics card on the mother board, since only one is ever displayed in device manager, and the lines across my screen show up whether or not I have a driver installed for the graphics card. When the driver is not installed, the device manager displays the card as "Standard VGA Graphics Adapter" and, when the driver is installed, it's "NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570."
I don't have a way to test the graphics card that I know, but I have also pulled all of the connectors from the card, and moved it to a different PCIe slot. That didn't change anything, so I assume no motherboard problems involved.
The only other thing I have done, I believe, is the plug the monitor to my laptop, and of course it displays perfectly the same thing as my laptop is displaying. Though that does remind me that the monitor doesn't seem to display in device manager either. There is no section in device manager for Monitors, like there is on my laptop. Perhaps it just doesn't show if the graphics card isn't fuctioning properly.
Oh, and also the following: Trying to play a game displays the message "WARNING, your Video Card does not meet the minimum requirements (256mb) to play the game, it may not run. Continue?" On continue, displays message: "Your video card does not support alpha blending with floating point render targets (D3DFMT_A16B16G16R16F), which is required to run this game. Exiting..."
I think that's everything I've messed with to this point. If the card is actually dead, I don't know how it gets detected at all or still displays anything, bit of a mystery to me how the hardware all functions. Any input is, of course, appreciated, I've never had to deal with an issue of this nature and am unsure how to proceed in dealing with the problem. Thank you for your input.
