Desktop failing to boot

[heavensords1]

I'm on my phone right now, since my desktop can't boot. Basically what happens is after it does the windows loading g screen for Windows 7, one monitor shuts off and the other displays blue and black vertical lines(picture attached).

The only noticeable change before this happened is that i installed inal fantady xiv. After a few minutes playing the game, my monitors started freaking own and changing colors. I restarted my computer and it not longer booted.
I've done startup repair, system restore to 3 days ago, ans windows memory diagnostic didn't comr up with anything.

Im trying to remember all the specs of my system off the top of my head but this is all I cab remember right now:
Asrock 870 extreme motherboard
Radeon hd 6870 graphics card
Amd phenom II processor
1 tb/7200 rpm samsung hdd
If any other information would help, i can go digging for it.

Any suggestions on what's wrong or how to fix it would be amazing. Im anticipating I'll have to buy something

 

[MarkW]

I suspect your video card died. Do you have another card you can put into the computer to see if it works?

 

[heavensords1]

Hm. I've got an old dell inspiron 4300...it might have a card I could use. Safe mode works by the way

 

[Chicano]

1. If you have normal video up to the Windows loading screen, it's probably the video card driver and/or Windows video settings.

2. Try connecting a monitor to a different video format port.. If the video card has VGA use that, if still nothing and it has HDMI and your monitor/s also have HDMI or you have a DVI to HDMI or HDMI to DVI try connecting the monitor to that.

3. If you have another PCIe Video Card replace it..

4. If you don't have another video card or access to one, press F8 right after the BIOS posts and from the Safe Mode options, select VGA Mode... and once in Windows, try updating the Graphics driver.. if that doesn't fix it, you will have to get the video card checked or replaced.

 

[MarkW]

Oh... thats interesting. Because what changes when you boot into safe mode is that the system uses its own drivers.

Try uninstalling the video drivers, and after shutting down, try booting to the desktop (without safe mode). If that works, install the latest video drivers.

 

[heavensords1]

The only other card i have is an old one that doesn't fit. I have a dual moniyor setup that runs one on vga and the other on hdmi. The hdmi one just shuts off whike vga goes to vertical bars. Rifht now im in safe mode trying to uninstall and reinstall the amd drivers

 

[heavensords1]

Ooh! This is promising! I uninstalled the drivers and now its actually getting to the desktop!

 

[Chicano]

Hm. I've got an old dell inspiron 4300...it might have a card I could use. Safe mode works by the way

If the Inspiron video card is AGP it will not fit.. a PCI card can be used on your motherboard though video drivers may not be found in your OS, or found for it... you'll have to try and see.

 

[MarkW]

Now lets see what it does with the new drivers installed.

 

[Chicano]

Yeah.... it's the Radeon hd 6870 graphics card drivers.. Download them fresh and that should work.

 

[heavensords1]

The fresh drivers crashed it...

 

[MarkW]

Can you download drivers from like 2 years ago?

I have a funny feeling they updated the drivers to support DX12 in Windows 12, and that might be affecting you.

 

[heavensords1]

I actually just found the driver cd that my card came with, so I'm gonna try using driver sweeper then install from the cd. Maybe that'll work

 

[MarkW]

Good idea.

 

[heavensords1]

Well, even the old drivers from the cd failed and it bluescreened on startup... So does that mean my card is fried?

 

[MarkW]

Something is definitely wrong there. Lets try that old card you have. I just want to see if you can get any driver working with a video card.

 

[heavensords1]

I pulled it out but it doesn't fit into the slot, so not really an option. I have no idea what else to try.

 

[MarkW]

Then we have hit a dead end... And the only thing that seems to be malfunctioning is the video card. Can you return it for a new one?

 

[Chicano]

I'd try reading the BSOD error codes... it should give a better idea of what the actual issue is. If the Bue screen goes to fast to read, make it pause in:
a) Control Panel / System and Security / system / Advanced System Settings / Startup and Recovery / Settings / disable Automatic Restart....
b) In the Safe Mode options screen: Press F8 right after the BIOS posts and from the Safe Mode options, select "Disable automatic Restart on System Failure"...

Write down the error codes from the blue screen and post them here.

 

[heavensords1]

Alright I'll try that. I'm not at home right now, but i will be in about an hour or 2. Also, sadly i dont think ill be able to return the card, considering its about 4 years old.

 

[MarkW]

Ouch.. yeah.. not likely. I think the longest warranty I have seen on a video card was 3 years.

I wish I had better news for you. If I can help any further, just ask.

 

[Chicano]

Alright I'll try that. I'm not at home right now, but i will be in about an hour or 2. Also, sadly i dont think ill be able to return the card, considering its about 4 years old.

All depends on what the error codes indicate a the issue, but I don't think it's the Video Card... if it displays video to some degree it's unlikely to be completely ruined... If it fails as soon as Windows starts loading it's likely to be a software issue. It would be simple to suppose that it fails when higher performance is demmanded from it but during boot, that is clearly not the case so to me that indicates a software issue. You first have to exhaust and discard all software related possibilities before giving up on it. Some driver and Windows fixes are still pending.

Something you can try is restoring the system to a day before installing the game that started it all, next from the evice Manager replace the video driver with windows default drivers, next delete the card drivers from the drivers folder at: C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository You will have to identify the Video Card drivers folder... usually named with the card name/model icluded in the long tittle. After that, restart the computer and update to the CD/DVD video drivers.

I'd also suggest you scan for virus and malware specialy if you downloaded the Final Fantasy XIV installer. Drivers can get infected and if that should be the case, all drivers you are installing for the card may be getting infected.

Another possibility is System files corruption. As you may know, drivers interact between hardware and windows system files, and Windows files can get corrupted or infected. So, run SFC /Scannow from Start / All Programs / Accessories / Command Prompt... right click and Run as Administrator.. and provide the Windows Disk or USB to supply fresh system files for SFC to replace them.

 

[heavensords1]

Currently doing a virus scan, but when I look in the filerepository for the drivers, there are a LOT of them that have amd or ATI in the name, any suggestions on which ones are the graphics card drivers?

 

[Chicano]

I can see the complication.. you could identify them but would take time so better leave them where they are just scan the drivers and driver repository folders directly just to discard infections in them.

 

[heavensords1]

Well, after wiping everything I could for drivers and reinstall g from the disk, it no longer bluescreened, instead I just get a blank black screen but the monitor is still on