I recently had a virus on my computer, shortly after i noticed it green lines began appearing across my screen, because i could not remove the virus with my anti virus software and the fact that my computer kept crashing, i reformatted my hard drive. I hoped that the green lines and the crashes would stop afterwards but they havn't, i read on alot of forum posts that these things are due to a fried graphics card, but when i switch to the onboard graphics card the lines still remain.

Before i go out and buy a new graphics card i just want to know whether that is really the issue or if it is due to something else.

Try using your monitor on another system to check whether it's not causing the problem. If the monitor is fine then it should be related to the GPU. However, since you say that it's also happening with the onboard video, it does seem a little strange. Just ensure that your system temperatures are not too high.

the second you turn on your computer, does the line already exist?

No the lines dont come up right away they start after like 10-15 minutes, and don't go away even after restarting unless I let it sit for awhile, so does that mean its a problem with overheating? and if so what do i need to do about it?

Hi bobert,
that sounds like,with the linited info we have, the memory on the GPU is overheating. the reasons are 'green' lines and it takes 10-15 min for it to happen. can you list your system specs?

Dell Dimension E520
Pentium 4 CPU 3.00 GHZ
2.00 GB ram
GeForce 7300 GT graphics card

I would take a can of compressed air and blast it out in there, re-seat the card, then open your case and put a fan on the card if you cant do what Ritwik recommended. I don't suppose you have another GFX card laying around?

No i dont, but ill try the compressed air and get a fan

cool, if that does not stop the green lines, it probably your GFX is on its way out. it sounds very much like overheating/damaged memory

red is right, typically when it's your LCD that's busted it would be immediately when you turn on your screen. i got similar issue with my old laptop.

oops, i miss the part where you said the problem exist with your onboard video.

does your seems like this?