Member Avatar for WhiteLeo

Hi there

I've got an Acer Notebook (The exact model escapes me, but when I get home I will post it) running Windows XP.

Anyway, it runs great. The one thing I noticed is it has trouble with images.
Particulary gradient images. A smooth gradient on my old screen is normal, but on my laptop it isn't smooth as a gradient should.

It was suggested that my drivers need updating. Anyone know if the solution to this is a small one, or does it need taking in.

If I haven't given enough information, just tell me. I'm not really a techie, more of a web developer.

Thanks.

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by Arieljkd

Dani AI

Generated

A few practical points to help separate software problems from hardware and get this fixed without guessing.

As and others describe banded gradients while reports a rollback fixed their case and reports vertical lines and shutdowns, treat those as two different symptom groups: visible banding/poor gradients (often driver, color-depth or panel/dithering limits) versus hard artifacts/lines and power/BSOD failures (usually hardware). As hinted, some panels simply have poorer color performance.

Quick, reliable tests

  • Take a screenshot (Print Screen) and view that file on a different PC. If the screenshot shows the same banding, the problem is upstream (driver/GPU). If the screenshot looks smooth elsewhere but your laptop still shows banding, the panel/cable or inverter is the culprit.
  • Connect an external monitor. Clean external output → panel fault. Same problem on both → driver/GPU fault.
  • Boot Safe Mode or a Linux live USB to check whether artifacts persist without the normal video driver.

What to try next (order matters)

  • Set color quality to 32‑bit and try different refresh rates.
  • Fully uninstall the video driver (clean uninstall), then install the latest mobility driver from the GPU vendor or Acer support (avoid generic Windows Update drivers).
  • Temporarily reduce hardware acceleration in Display Properties and check media player settings if a codec/player install coincided with the change.
  • Check cooling/overheating (fan, heatsink) and test again.

When to seek repair

  • Vertical lines, heat-related shutdowns or BSODs after warm-up usually mean failing GPU, bad solder or a loose panel cable — those require bench diagnosis or panel/cable replacement. If a software rollback helped someone here, aim for a clean driver reinstall rather than leaving an old system state.

Recommended Answers

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Member Avatar for WhiteLeo

It is an Acer Aspire 5100 running Windows XP.
I've tried updating the drivers, but it tells me there are no new updates avalible.

Member Avatar for jbennet

maybe the laptops graphics card is just crappy

Member Avatar for WhiteLeo

From another forum I was on the person said it happens to LCD screens. Does this happen to any other LCD screen? I don't have another, so I can't check.

Member Avatar for Pluckie

Hey i Have excatly the same problem the only way i found to fix it is to do a full system roll back i found it only happened after i got windows media player or some other media player program i also have the excat same laptop if u have found a way to resolve this issue please let me know.

Member Avatar for Arieljkd

Hello,

I have an Acer Aspire 5520, My laptop after about 10 minutes from being on start showing vertical lines and after a few minutes it justs turns off, or sometimes it would show me the blue screen.
I tested replacing RAM, because something similar happened once with a Desktop and replaced memory and it work , but my laptop did not have the same luck.

How could I diagnose a problem like this?

Appreciate the help!

Ariel

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