Laptop display issues --only text type content

[MuleShack]

I've been trying to get a friends laptop back up to date after years of not connecting to the web for updates etc.

(Insprion 1500 with Windows XP and Office XP Pro.)

I've gotten everything installed as far as windows/office updates and in that process it upgraded to IE8. It only seems to display text on a white background with a few scattered picture slices. I have compared all the settings in Tools/ Options with my laptop and all seem to match. I updated the java console as well so not sure what the issue is.

On a related note there is issues with powerpoint and access with display issues too. If i open a blank power point and choose a design template that has a colored back ground...it doesn't display the color in the file, just the text boxes. Same goes with access, on any form that has a color or picture for a background it wont display it.

any ideas where to start?

The ATI control panel seems to be working with the normal settings.

[upnorth]

What is the color set at in display settings. I am thinking you may have display/video driver issue. If you pulled down the Microsoft updates it may have brought in a funky video driver. You may need to go back to the original.

[MuleShack]

1280 x 800 and highest 32 bit

I tried to have it check for a different driver but it said there were no better options.

[MuleShack]

Another thing I noticed is that in the display settings where you can choose a picture for your desktop...It would only show bitmap images on the desktop, any jpg would not show up. It would show as available to choose but if selected it would not display.

Is this a windows thing or do you think it is the graphics/video card?

I never saw anything behave like this before.

[upnorth]

That sounds like a windows thing and I have not seen it before either. But that would explain why pics aren't loading in your web browser. Did it work OK on the older version of IE?

[BoxMN]

I bet it's a driver issue. Anytime you hear of "white spots" or "white on the screen" or something like that, good indicator.

Don't use the Windows Driver update, go to manufacturers site (of video card normally, or the laptop manufacturer if a laptop) and get it from there. I believe Dell has a tech support tool that lets you plug in the serial number, and it lists links to all the drivers needed. If you have not tried that, that would be next step.

Good luck!

[MuleShack]

That sounds like a windows thing and I have not seen it before either. But that would explain why pics aren't loading in your web browser. Did it work OK on the older version of IE?

Yes, the original IE worked fine, but had the problem from the start when I installed the office XP professional a few weeks ago. I thought it was an issue with the licensing of the software because we installed it on her PC and registered it and it worked fine. Then I installed same disk on the laptop and it said only one license etc but right from the get go it was a crappy display. Then she called microsoft and they said you can actually use same software on 2 of your personal computers...so they registered her laptop with the same software licence and the display didnt change. So there went my theory on Office causing the problem.

See for what ever reason whe was running office 97 on a laptop she got in 2006...(I didn't ask why), so that is why we are finally upgrading to the Office XP Pro.

[MuleShack]

I bet it's a driver issue. Anytime you hear of "white spots" or "white on the screen" or something like that, good indicator.

Don't use the Windows Driver update, go to manufacturers site (of video card normally, or the laptop manufacturer if a laptop) and get it from there. I believe Dell has a tech support tool that lets you plug in the serial number, and it lists links to all the drivers needed. If you have not tried that, that would be next step.

Good luck!

I only tried doing the driver update from the PC, so I will look for it on the ATI site.

Everything says it is working with no conflicts.

Can a video card be half bad and only display certain things or when they die you get no graphics at all? Or when they die you get no high end graphics and just the basics?

If the driver check doesn't work tomorrow, i may have to have the geeks look at it to tell me if I just need to put a new (upgraded) video card in?

[BoxMN]

Go here for first check for driver. I will bet you anything it is just a video driver issue.

Just follow the directions:

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/index.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

Good luck.

[MuleShack]

Update:

Well after another morning of pulling my hair out...

I uninstalled the ATI panel and the AMD video drivers and reinstalled from a file I downloaded from Dell. Still no luck.

I took it down to best buy and had a geek guy look at it. He couldn't figure it out at first and then he went into the other user account by accident and discovered that IE was displaying properly. Then we opened access and that worked to an extent. We checked the start up account for the main account and Office wasn't even fully installed on the main account. He didn't charge me for the diagnosis

It turns out the main account that I was doing all of the set up on was corrupted some how along the way probably before I started working on it.

I created a brand new admin account, then deleted both original accounts. Next I uninstalled the Office XP Pro product and then I cleaned the registry and restarted. I was able to reinstall office and everything seems to be working normally with no issues and a little faster to boot.

I never even thought to check the other user account to see if it worked there. I guess you cant see the forest thru the tree's some times.

Thanks for all the help.