Question : Problem: Nvidia Graphics card crashing system...

A friend's PC running XP SP3 Core 2 Duo 6300, 1.5GB RAM , nVIDIA 7600GS 256MB has developed a graphics problem.. he was playing Far Cry 2 as normal when the screen went blank except for some zig-zagging blue lines.

He tried rebooting but after the Windows screen with the progress lights it falls over.

I booted into VGA mode and then Safe Mode OK, then re-booted into normal Windows and it comes up but when I tried to start Age of Empires I got a message saying the graphics card had no memory/the drivers were corrupt/3D Direct wasn't installed/hardware acceleration was off.

I checked in Device Manager and the card was  disabled, I enabled it and I got a nice screen flashing with squares and zig-zagging lines.

I re-installed drivers but no change - it looks like it only works in disabled mode with resolution up to 1280 x 1024 - as soon as I enable it I get the crazy screen.

Any ideas please?

Answer : Problem: Nvidia Graphics card crashing system...

Hello chrisfixit,

A simple check is the easiest way to start troubleshooting. Try the card in a different system and see if it behaves the same.
This'll show you if the card is having hardware problems or if you should search for the problem on the current computer (underrated powersupply/drivers/misconfiguration/other OS issues)

Regards,

LucF