I'm thinking its my harddrive.. not sure though

[Crypticflare]

It just recently started doing it, at first it wasn't that noticable but now its just crap. I reformatted and tried a
different OS, just to make sure, but its still the same thing. I also switched monitors but nothing AFAIK is working.. Any suggestions?

http://www.crypticflare.com/Images/picture.bmp

Notice: It will take a bit to load just to let you know.

Any help would be appreciated.

Would my thoughts be right to concluding its a harddrive problem?

[Edit: Added More Info]

[j0k3r]

Looks like video card to me, I believe I had the same problem, however I don't remember how I fixed it. Reinstall the drivers (make sure you download the right drivers, uninstall, install, reboot), and see if that works.

[MoNksBaNe_Agahnim]

I too am guessing its the video card. I would go to device manager and see if everything is ok (possible conflict with some program), check for the latest drivers, and check the card itself, my friend had glitches like that every now and then and did nothing and it kept getting worse and worse, one day he took it out to exam it and it was fried.

[Crypticflare]

[UPDATE]: I uninstalled the driver for my graphics card: Nvidia GeForce DDR Series, rebooted, my screen came up all clean and fresh.. so I was like.. ok.. I went ahead updated drivers, and went to windows update, noticed a driver update for my series card issued last month, so far I've been on the pc for a few minutes haven't had any issues with the screen redraw or viewing graphics. I'll keep this updated if anything else happens.

[Raven]

Stuff like that you'll get either if there are problems with your graphics card, something screwsup your settings, or you're running in safe mode. Chances are if it's working fine now, you won't have anymore trouble with it. What likely happened (atleast I think) was the new harddrive didn't have the drivers installed, and so your videocard wasn't functioning, or atleast wasn't functioning correctly.

[Crypticflare]

meh, after about 20 minutes it starting screwing up again, so I took out my harddrive cleaned/oiled it (thanks to things previous thread about it)  I also took out the graphics card to examine it and it seems to be in working order.

So then I unplugged my monitor cord from the back of the tower and noticed that the pins that plug in theres one mission and theres one bent, which leads me to think its possibe connection issue between the monitor and graphics card, or I just need to pick up a new graphics card since mine is about 4 years old since I bought it.. Anyways thanks for the help all.

[j0k3r]

... or I just need to pick up a new graphics card since mine is about 4 years old since I bought it.. Anyways thanks for the help all.

YYYYYeahhhhhhh... That's kind of scary. Does it go screwy after your computer has been on for awhile? Or only after you install the drivers? If it's the drivers then I don't know, probably a software conflict somewhere, if it goes screwy after your computer has been on for awhile then I'm guessing your video card is overheating or busted or something.

A new video card (geforce 64meg even) is about $50, or a high-end one is about $300.

[Crypticflare]

Since I have no reason for a high-end graphic card on the other PC, believe I'll go with something semi-cheap. I've been looking at www.newegg.com right now. Any suggestions for a card?

[Hitmen]

Since I have no reason for a high-end graphic card on the other PC, believe I'll go with something semi-cheap. I've been looking at www.newegg.com right now. Any suggestions for a card?

Radeon 9600, should be able to get it for ~$100 on newegg.

[hismajesty]

Since I have no reason for a high-end graphic card on the other PC, believe I'll go with something semi-cheap. I've been looking at www.newegg.com right now. Any suggestions for a card?

Radeon 9600, should be able to get it for ~$100 on newegg.

I beleive it's about $150-160 on newegg.

Edit: It's $153.50

[Raven]

http://www.pcrapids.com/home.asp?pw=y&pwl=search/productdesc.asp?lsskuid=VidGen128M02046

[Stealth]

If you're strapped for cash, newegg can hook you up with a highly-rated Asus V7100 PRO64 64mb GeForce2 MX card (which I've installed in at least 3 budget systems without issue) for $39, free shipping.

Edit: NewEgg product link

[Grok]

I just bought and received (Thursday) my ATI Radeon 9600 XT 128MB, and it's smokin'!  It was only $183, so if you're going to spend $153, you might as well throw in an extra $30 for the XT 128MB.  The next higher level is twice as expensive, so this is probably the best bang-for-the-buck.

[Naem]

I'm glad you didn't get the refurbished one Grok

[Hostile]

I agree with the Radeon 9600 XT, it is the best card for the money. Radeon 9800 Pro and then the Geforce FX 5700 (the release to counter the Radoen 9600 XT are not as good for the money). This is also because I recommended the card to grok, and as soon as he started using it and anyone else for that matter will agree on this. Also note that as said above, the Radeon 9600 Pro is about 155 where the XT is about 185, the XT is 100 Mhz faster. (+33% faster).