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Hi,

I have read all the "vertical line" posts and can't find one that is just like mine so I joined DaniWeb and am posting this question. The general problem is that when I boot my Windows XP Prof machine the Samsung 910T flat panel monitor hanging off the digital cable goes into a patchwork or vertical multi-colored lines. Then, once the boot process reaches the point where you select the user for log in the picture is restored. However, the icons are larger and I can't pick any settings in the display control panel to get a finer resolution. Also, hanging a monitor off the VGA port shows the whole boot process with no colored lines.

I was playing Tiger Woods EA Golf when this happened for the very first time. I had pressed the Windows key and the Tab key I think in an attempt to escape out of the game. I am not sure of the key combinations as I was just experimenting trying to escape back to the desktop without stopping the game. (There was no obvious way to minimize the game). Anyway, some magical key combination resulted in a full screen of vertical, multi-colored lines. At that point I did a hard shut down and then started experiencing the display problems during boot.

Thanks,
Scott

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Dani AI

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A short expert summary and practical checklist based on 's thread: the colored vertical artifacts that show up early in the boot sequence but disappear once the OS loads most commonly point to a timing/handshake or connection issue between the graphics card and the panel (digital link timing, EDID/read failure, or a flaky cable/connector), or a transient graphics-driver/video-BIOS state caused by the forced shutdown while a fullscreen app was running. Since the display later returned to normal, the problem is likely intermittent rather than a catastrophic hardware failure, but it can still recur.

Troubleshooting and prevention steps to try (ordered from easiest to more involved):

  • Power-cycle the monitor and PC: fully power off both, unplug the monitor for 30s, then reconnect. This clears the monitor scaler state.
  • Reseat and replace the digital cable: swap the DVI/other digital cable for a known-good one and inspect connectors for bent pins or loose shielding.
  • Reinstall/update graphics drivers and monitor/driver entry in Device Manager: uninstall the monitor entry so Windows re-reads EDID on next boot; update the GPU driver from the vendor.
  • Force native timing and standard refresh rate in Windows display settings (avoid custom/overclocked timings).
  • Test with another monitor or another digital-output on the card (or try the suspect monitor on a different system). If the artifact appears in BIOS/POST screens, suspect GPU/monitor hardware; if it appears only during boot modes before the driver loads, suspect timing/EDID/handshake.
  • If it recurs, record when it happens (POST vs. boot loader vs. Windows), capture a photo, and try Safe Mode or a Linux live-USB to isolate driver vs. hardware.

Cautions: avoid opening the monitor and be careful with power connectors. If artifacts become persistent or appear in BIOS/POST, prioritize hardware tests (different GPU or monitor) or contact a service technician.

Member Avatar for scottrif

Mysteriously this problem seems to have disappeared. The monitor is normal during the boot process and I can now set the resolution to 1280 by 1024.

Scott

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