Genealogy Chat

Hi folks, I'm not sure which board to put this on - so here goes! For no apparent reason, this afternoon, when I logged onto the 'net my screen displayed grey & white streaks right across it. Since then, I have scanned for virus' using Stinger; used Adaware for the first time and deleted 5 quarantined thingys; de-fragged and re-booted three times. Checked all connections and nothing has changed. The only way I can describe the effect is "very bad ghosting". Is there anyone out there who has experienced something similar who might have an answer to the problem? Have to go out this evening, so am powering down. I shall return (in hope!) about 11.00pm! Jill

Jill Do you think that your monitor could be on it's way out? Margaret

Jill: It very well could be that your monitor is on it's way out but not necessarily. I had the same thing happen and there was a quick fix (I've also had the same problem with other monitors and the monitor was on it's way out.) I'm not sure what type of monitor you have. Does it have control buttons on the front? One round one and then two kind of oblong ones under the round one? If so, click on the round one and a menu should pop us....use one of the oblong buttons to scroll the menu until you highlight the icon that looks like an upside down 'U" with a slash through it.....then click the round button again. It should shake the screen....often correcting the problem you are experiencing. Also, try rebooting the computer. Judy

I think you might be right Margaret! Judy - Thank you. Have just tried that and it didn't have any effect. Got the buttons on the front. It certainly shook the screen but the problem is still there. Damn it! How long do you think I've got before I can't use this thing at all? Need to do a lot of work in the next 2 days - off to the Records Office in Yorkshire for the rest of next week! Anyone know the best place to purchase a new monitor? We got all this as a job lot from Tiny computers 3 years ago. Everything now out of warranty. We're not very well up with advances in technology! Appreciate your help - thanks. Jill

Jill: No way of telling how long you monitor will hold out. I've had ones that got no worse than what you are looking at now....viewing is just EXTREMELY annoying. It took me a few months to get out to purchase a new one and the old just stayed the way it was until replaced. An explanation, which I should have explained before, on what I had you do in previous post: Degauss Ever wonder what that "degauss" button on your monitor does besides make a buzzing noise and cause the screen to go crazy for a second? Though that's its main purpose, the degauss button has another useful feature. To understand it, you'll first need to know that the earth has natural magnetic fields. The magnetic charges from these fields can build up inside your monitor, causing a loss of color accuracy. Degaussing scares the bad magnetism out of the monitor and fills it with good karma. If your monitor doesn't have a degauss button, fear not -- many new monitors automatically degauss themselves. If you have a flat-panel display, there is no degauss button because magnetism doesn't build up in flat screen displays.

Judy, Many thanks for that. Yes, I do have a Degauss button - that's what I pressed to no avail! Nice to know what it is though. I hadn't got a clue. The screen is no better. Have just been using my census discs and didn't really notice anything untoward. Now I've got back onto here it's really bad. Colours sem a lot paler than they were before. Oh well - as long as I can read what is on the screen I can live with it! Have just splashed out on a decent scanner - hope the monitor lasts long enough for me to save up a bit. Thanks a lot for your support - it's really appreciated. Time for bed! Night night. Jill