Screen goes blank with Vista + ATI Radeon

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Guest

I have a problem with my system. Randomly, my computer screen goes blank
while I am in the middle of something (typically writing a paper since I'm in
grad school). It happens as quickly as 2 hours back to back. Once the
screen goes blank, the computer does not enter hibernation or anything, nor
can I get the blank screen to go away by any combination of key pressing or
mouse movement. I typically have to manually shutdown and restart the
computer. Once I restart the computer, I start it in normal windows mode
again. Then I go to the Events Viewer to see what happened to my system
right before the screen went blank, and there is always a series of 4 error
messages relating to my ATI graphics card. Typically it involves the mom.exe
program, a missing file for a "skin", and two other ID errors. First I
researched the program "mom.exe" which has the same name as a keylogger file
(however I ran anti-virus and anti-spyware, and the one on my computer is not
the keylogger). It seems as though the mom.exe program has some issues with
Windows Vista in some of the older driver versions. So, I went to my
manufactorer's website and downloaded the newest driver available for my card
and my operating system. But the next time I used the computer, the blank
screen came back up. I called the technical support for my computer
(toshiba) and their solution was to turn off hibernation/sleep. The screen
still went blank.

So now, the technical support hotline people are telling me that I need to
send my laptop off for a diagnosis of the problem. I am in the middle of my
semester for grad school and I CANNOT afford to send my laptop off because of
school constraints, and I CANNOT afford to have my computer screen blanking
out and losing my work. So my question is, can I fix this problem without
sending my computer off??? Right now I have disabled my graphics card, and
my system isn’t slowed down too much, however I am afraid that the problem
will only worsen from here. But at least my screen isn’t blanking out and
I’m not losing work.

So, any solutions, ideas, suggestions????
 
By the way, here are my system specs:
Windows Vista 32 bit
Toshiba A215-S4757 laptop
ATI Radeon x1200 graphics card
ATI Display Driver for Windows Vista Version: 8.393.3
Processor: AMD Turion 64x2 1.80 Ghz
Memory (Ram): 1918 MB
 
Same problem here but I get a white square in random places when the rest of
the screen goes black. I too lose what I was working on. I also don't have
time for this and am in graduate school. This has been going on since I had
Vista Home Basic and then upgraded to Home Ultimate because the school's VPN
requires Ultimate - which of course was another $90. So I feel as if I'm
spending more money and time than I really have right now. How do I contact
Microsoft or would it be Dell.

Also, when I upgraded it lost the connection to my HP printer and sound and
I've tried all the ways I know how to reconnect to them.
 
Right now I have disabled my graphics card, and
my system isn't slowed down too much, however I am afraid that the problem
will only worsen from here. But at least my screen isn't blanking out and
I'm not losing work.
Click to expand...

I might just try what you did in the time being, that's good info. In
the event viewer, I'm seeing an error in the Kernel-WHEA section that
may be a RAM or CPU issue. Maybe has to do with graphics card
allocating memory? The other A215's where I took my laptop showed the
same error. (And referencing the other post, I've tried several
different ATI drivers, to no avail).

A lot of people are having the same problem. Toshiba is in the
process of trying to figure out how to fix. It could be as simple as
a BIOS update, but it could involve a hardware replacement. The guy I
took my laptop to said to hold tight until they come up with a fix.
It sounds ridiculous, but it is what it is. I plan to continually
call until this thing is fixed.

Good luck!
 
Sorry, I have the same problem and I have already sent my computer back to
Toshiba twice to get it fixed...but it is not yet fixed.
But my question is how do you disable your graphic card? Do you just close
ATI? I uninstalled ATI but the same problem still appears...

Thank you!
 
Do you have the latest graphic drivers from the Dell Website and not from
the ones from the ATI site?Laptop vendors often modify the drivers since
they are using onboard chips instead of a separate graphics card.
 
What are you trying to display Just PC desktop applications or TV? If TV
what kind SD or HD? If HD then the x1200 does not have the memory bandwidth
to display it full screen.
 
I was reading Amazon.com reviews of theToshibaA215-S4747
and came across this suggestion: "If you are running VISTA, try going to
the Power Options, advanced options, processor power management, and
change the value of the minimum processor state to 100%."
Click to expand...

I was crashing at least once a day, and after this change, I've gone
all day without a crash. Thanks for the tip! Obviously there is a
problem that needs to be fixed, at least until Toshiba can figure it
out, I have a usable laptop now.

Thanks!
 
I think it is a problem with Vista. I looked at a forum online where people
were talking about this same problem and most of them had HP's. It is so
frustrating! I hope someone figures it out soon!
 
I also have the exact same problem! Did you ever get any help or
resolution of this problem?
 
redbird said:
I was crashing at least once a day, and after this change, I've gone
all day without a crash. Thanks for the tip! Obviously there is a
problem that needs to be fixed, at least until Toshiba can figure it
out, I have a usable laptop now.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
 
i have dell inspiron desktop 531//vista prem. amd 64x2 4400...2.3 ghz..2g
ram..i get the same prob since i upgraded my vid card to ati radeon
2600xt...when playing games my screen randomly goes black..pc stays on..but
keyboard unresponsive..im thinking its my stock 300watt psu..i oredered 1
600w psu yesterday waiting fo rit..i hope that is the prob or ill be
pissed..also..it crashes even at the lowest graphics settings and the
catatalyst settings..its eother my psu is too low and card heats up...
 
i kind of fixed mine a bit..turns out that my fan and heatsink on my vid card
were clogged with dust..so wasnt getting cooled enough ..so i cleaned it
up..but it still crashes not as much...only if i use high graphics app..so my
prob was the cooling..and probably the power supply also..maybe fan not going
fast enough...
 
I agree your new graphics card is probably overloading you power supply
during heavy loads which will cause the voltage to drop and the card will
freeze.
 
If it had been significantly overheating and for some time, it may well be
damaged. Keep it cool, and keep an eye out while you save up to replace it.
Then you'll be ready either way. You can always find other uses for the
money.
 
JW said:
I agree your new graphics card is probably overloading you power supply
during heavy loads which will cause the voltage to drop and the card will
freeze.
Click to expand...


OK i have received my new PSU 600w..and installed it..i played a game in
medium high graphics and my ati 2600xt still crashes what the hell..i was so
excited that this new psu wud fix it..but hasnt..now i have to try to see if
its the graphics card fan..i havent even played the game for 2 min and it
crashes...probably its damn vista...i heard the UAC..user access control
thing..causes the same prob when some security thing is going on...has to be
vista..cant be my card..
 
i have a vista desk top and mine does the same thing, but i can hit the
windows key on the keyboard and it goes back to my screen, I'm still trying
to find a way to remove it.
Carol H.
 
I have the same problem. My laptop is a Dell 1501 w/ATI Radeon x1200
Graphics card. I installed the latest graphics drivers from Dell which only
made the problem worse. After my screen went blue with scrolling white
boxes, I rebooted and could no longer load the OS (Vista Home Premium). I
then had to restore my system from the disk. This problem has happened many
times on my system. So, I think others are correct: This problem is not
unique to Toshiba computers.
 
So excited to see these posts. I just tried all of Trevor's "tricks" I just
bought at Toshiba Satellite A-215-S5818 and my husband wants me to bring it
right back because of this issue. My desktop just stopped working today &
this is our only computer! Thankfully, I transferred most of everything
over, just the photos are currently lost & those had been printed. I think
it's just the power supply, but just don't want to deal with it. (It's an old
HP Pavillion Desktop & I hate to pay HP for one) I have spent hours online
today looking at toshiba & online for help for this.
 
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