Problem After MS Upgrade

[Tosh McCaber]

At the weekend, I downloaded the latest update for my Windows XP system. Since then, I have encountered a problem with my computer. I normally leave the computer on every night, during which time I back up my files. I leave the computer on, for the programme to back up my files to automatically kick in overnight, and switch off the monitor, to conserve power.

Since the upgrade, when I switch the monitor back on in the morning, I briefly see the screen saver for about a second, and then the screen goes black. i can switch off and then on again, with the same result. Even after waiting for 30 minutes, the screen still comes out black. Only when I use the re-boot button on the computer will the system come back to normal, after a normal start-up procedure. This in turn means that I have lost data on work that I had left the following evening, if I forgot to press the Save button!!.

Can you suggest what may be the problem?

[Jofm5]

I have seen this before with NVidia graphics cards, namely my 8800GTS can experience that.

Am on the move so will provide more comprehensive if you have an NVIDIA card as to how to get round this. My experience was on Vistal Ultimate but the problem I located could be on XP also.

A short term workaround is to switch off the energystar control of the monitor and in the power settings make sure it does not put your graphics card to sleep.

Will be back in a few hours if you could describe your system in a little more detail.

Cheers

[Parapunter]

Another option again, in the short term would be to boot into safe mode and uninstall the update and reboot normally. You won't be updated but your system should be working normally again.

[hellsbrink]

Tosh, did you download any drivers from Win Update when you did the update?

M$ drivers are a bit notorious for causing problems, so the solution may be to download the latest drivers for your video card from the manufacturer's site and install them.

And can you give us more detaills regarding the graphics card/monitor as it could be something simple like a driver issue

[Tosh McCaber]

Thanks for the heads ups. I'll try downloading the drivers and installing them.

[Tosh McCaber]

Downloaded the drivers and installed them. Switched off monitor last night, and unfortunately found the same problem this morning.

I'm going to try leaving the monitor on tonight, to see what happens.

I'll let you know.

[Tosh McCaber]

Tried leaving the monitor on overnight. Everything still working fine this morning. NVidia GeForce 6200 Turbocache video card. Any thoughts?

[green granite]

As an alternative, does your back up program have the option of turning off the computer when it's finished? If so tell it to turn it off so that you just re-boot in the morning.

Leaving unsaved work overnight isn't a good idea anyway, to easy for it to get corrupted by a power glitch.

[Gertrude the Wombat]

I normally leave the computer on every night
Er, "don't", perhaps? Never heard of global warming, climate change, energy efficiency, the oil running out, stuff like that?

When you're not using it turn the ****ing thing off, there's a good chap, for heaven's sake.

[bnt]

Or at least use the Standby facility, let the Power settings do that after e.g. an hour of inactivity.

As for the possibility of lost work... if you walk away from a keyboard with your work not saved, you deserve whatever happens. Ctrl-S works in most applications, including all Microsoft Office versions going back 15+ years, so try and make it an automatic reflex if possible. :=