Black side bars on monitor

ray qualls · Post by **ray qualls** » 14 Sep 2008 10:09 am

My sister downloaded the microsoft updates automatically and her computer restarted and she had black side bars on her monitor. I tried the buttons on the monitor to stretch the picture out but that didn't work. I hooked up another monitor and the same thing-black spaces on the sides. I system restored it back to Sept 1st and they're still there. It has to be something on the OS! Any ideas from anyone? Ray

Wiz Feinberg · Post by **Wiz Feinberg** » 14 Sep 2008 10:33 am

The video card, or its drivers are causing the problem.

Did you by any chance accept a video driver update from Windows Updates?

ray qualls · Post by **ray qualls** » 14 Sep 2008 12:13 pm

Hi Wiz, all I know is that windows downloaded the new updates and she restarted it and the bars were on it when it came back on. I don't know what the new updates were. Wouldn't system restore back to Sept. 1st take off the updates? Also she has windows XP. Ray

Ron ! · Post by **Ron !** » 14 Sep 2008 12:19 pm

One of the reasons why I do NOT accept updates from windows.
I have heard so many people that return with an unstable system.Weird...how come so many people have problems?

Ron

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 14 Sep 2008 2:34 pm

Either the Video drivers or something changed the resolution setting and is causing it.

Microsoft Device Driver download should be avoided. Their OS updates are fine, just that the drivers they have, many times, are actually older drivers. A couple of months ago they pushed down an IDT Codec driver (driver for SigmaTel integrated audio - IDT purchased SigmaTel and is rebranding it to IDT) and it corrupted the Audio on many PC's and the only way to get it corrected was with System Restore.

Wiz Feinberg · Post by **Wiz Feinberg** » 14 Sep 2008 8:52 pm

ray qualls wrote:Hi Wiz, all I know is that windows downloaded the new updates and she restarted it and the bars were on it when it came back on. I don't know what the new updates were. Wouldn't system restore back to Sept. 1st take off the updates? Also she has windows XP. Ray

Not always. Sometimes, when new driver gets installed, it deletes the old one, or replaces it. That driver then gets backed up in the System Restore folder and in Prefetch. When that happens System Restore won't return the old driver.

There is another way to rollback updated drivers.Open Device Manager, find the Video Adapter, go to the Driver tab and select Rollback, to restore the previous/replaced driver. Reboot and report back.

ray qualls · Post by **ray qualls** » 23 Sep 2008 4:30 am

Hi Wiz, I finally had a chance to go to my sisters and tried the roll back on the video card but it wouldn't let me roll back. Kept getting a pop-up saying nothing to roll back to! I'm going to run her anti-virus programs today and see if its a virus. Any other suggestions let me know! Thanks, Ray

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 23 Sep 2008 6:30 am

I doubt that it's a virus or malware. It's most likely a setting in the Video parameters. Either the screen size or screen resolution.

Sometimes uninstalling a device in the Device Manager then restart the PC and when Windows starts it will "find new hardware" and reinstall the device. This fixes many device problems. Give it a try too.

To access the Device Manager, hold the Windows key down and press the Pause/Break key.

Also, even if there are no "updated" drivers, reinstalling the existing drivers can also fix devices.

ray qualls · Post by **ray qualls** » 23 Sep 2008 6:42 am

Jack, are you saying uninstall the video card in Device Manager and restart? Ray