Okai so, this started today, I was playing Zombie Master when suddenly everything got this pink/purple-ish light on it (Kinda like this, just way more pink/purple). After that, everything froze. Everything. So, I restarted the computer, started SpeedFan to check the temperatures, as I thought it was my gpu overheating. It was about 65c, and that's quite a lot for my 8400 GS. I got back in game like nothing happened, but after a few minutes, it happened again, this time it bluescreened, giving me some sort of error. I managed to write down "nvlddmkm", which is...what? I googled and found a few solutions, which were either "renaming the file" or shit like that. Great, how am I supposed to do that when my Windows doesn't even start!? I've tried formatting, repairing, recovering...yea, everything. It installs successfully, reboots and after that, it doesn't start. It either stops at the point where you only have that "_" flashing or after the windows logo has popped up. R.I.P my graphics card? Forgot to add, I also tried rolling back the driver.
You could try disconnecting the graphics card. If the system can't find one it should go back to software rendering and load fine, assuming it's your graphics card which is usually the case when you get graphics artefacts.
If you don't have an on-board GPU, your system won't even try to boot without a graphics card. @muffin: have u tried cleaning the fan of your GPU? It may sound stupid, but high temperature means bad cooling.
That's odd seeing as mine boots just fine if I disable it. You don't need a graphics card to run an operating system, just for fancy crap. Hell I can play openTTD without my graphics card, as well as a few old 2000-ish games. If he has a faulty component then the computer is probably crashing every time it tries to use it, and the graphics card is only used once windows starts, you certainly don't need it for DOS, so that would be consistent with the problem he's reporting. Memory would throw up errors at any time given that memory IS neccesary to run the computer, as would the CPU for the same reason.
Oh yeah... You don't have anywhere to plug the monitor in without the card... I assume you tried booting in safe mode?
Oh and nvkdlgkgskgsngmdll or whatever is part of the nvidia graphics card drivers as far as I know. If you have another compatible graphics card handy from an old PC you could swap them out, I think some of the really old ones would fit the PCI slots so you MIGHT be able to use that for basic monitor function. If it works like that it's probably the graphics card.
Yea. It worked after the first time I rebooted it. After having to reinstall Windows, I couldn't even start it up, since "windows can't finish installing in safe mode". Now, I'm stuck. Starting it in safe mode doesn't work due to the os install error and running it as normal makes it stop loading after the windows logo has popped up. *EDIT* Sadly, mine is the only graphics card I have. Other than this laptop.
Not entirely sure why a busted GPU would cause windows install problems, but if you broke windows as well then it kinda limits your options. Other than swap out as many components as you can and try to reinstall I can't suggest anything.
I think I encountered something to do with memory checking. I also think it crashed since it was stuck on 1% for an half hour.
id say you have a memory problem buy some new memory lats and plug em in, concider it an upgrade or bill your pc shop if its under guarantee graphical artifacts can show up when your memory is bust and your gpu makes use of this memory
@muffin: If it is a problem with your memory maybe just one dimm is broken, try booting with only one of those two (assuming you have two). If the problem is this there try the other one and try different slots. @chris: can u please show me a x86/x64 Pc system that boots without a graphics-card? On-board-graphic is a graphics card, and some of the new intel-processors have have On-chip graphics cards, but no PC system boots without a graphic accelerator.
I would recommend upgrading to an 8600GT regardless of whether it is broken or not, if you look at this benchmark you can see that an 8400GS is SLOWER than a 7300GT right at the bottom of the list. The 8600GT is something like four times faster than an 8400GS and a 512MB version is available for around £40 - £50 (if you can still buy them any more that is).
eh, im doing clean windows install right now. If you have laptop, you can try plugging the HDD to it, formatting in again.
Well that could explain mine, as I have a newish intel processor, but I really don't see why your computer needs a graphics card other than for the monitor outlet which I don't think my computer has otherwise. Certainly it runs exactly as I would expect it to without a card if I disable the graphics card, I lose some graphical options, none of the nvidia stuff on my PC shows up, and I can't run any games without it crashing, but the PC itself works fine, as have all my other PCs when I disable it. A few weeks ago my gpu was fried, kept artefacting all over the place and I couldn't use the PC for more than a few minutes, so I managed to disable it in device manager, at which point it ran absolutely fine, albeit with limited functionality. When I replaced the card it also ran fine except I could also run games. So certainly the PC doesn't need to run anything on the card.
TL;DR Same thing happened to me with my ATI x750 pro early summer. The card is most likely fucked beyond use.
If you don't have an MOBO GPU, it won't even have a VGA output on the IO panel. Unless its H55 chipset. i3s and most i5s have integrated GPUs on the CPU.
