broken 8800 gts

[average650]

I believe my card is broken. all of the sudden my computer won't boot past the windows loading screen. It will boot in safe mode but not in normal mode. I reinstalled windows and at first it runs fine. Then I install drivers for the card, and again it will not boot past the windows loading screen. It doens't matter what drivers i use it does the same thing. Am I right ot conclude that it is bad?

[ski]

If you did not format the HD and do a clean Windows reinstall, then press and hold the F8 key during startup, and select "Enable VGA Mode". Doing that loads the standard Windows VGA driver for the video card. If Windows loads ok, then make sure your monitor is correctly selected in "Display Properties". If it's not, then select the correct make and model, and restart normally.
If that does not work, or your monitor is already correctly selected, then your system may br trying to start with a resolution and refresh rate that exceeds your monitor's specs. Start with the VGA driver again(if required), and see if you can specify a lower resolution and refresh rate for your monitor in "Display Properties".
If that does not work, or it's not possible to do that with the VGA driver loaded, then with the VGA driver loaded uninstall the old video card drivers from "Add/Remove Programs", and install the new drivers.
If still no luck, then either see if the card works in another system, or have it tested. If it does not work elsewhere, then it's probably bad.

PS- also check for viruses and spyware.

[average650]

I already did a clean install of windows after backing up my files. It works fine at first, until it iinstalled the drivers. I don't have a vga mode option so I tried boot in low resolution mode, and that didn't work, though safe mode does. Where could I go to get it tested?

[ski]

Which O/S are you using?

[average650]

vista

[ski]

Did the system ever work with the drivers that are now giving it problems, or are you installing them for the 1st time?
After you reinstalled Windows and your system worked with the Windows default video drivers, were they satisfactory for your applications?

[average650]

it's been workign for like a month with these drivers. And i tried others too. no the windows default drivers were not at all satisfactory

[ski]

If your system is only a month old, then you see if you can RMA the video card for a replacement.
If the system is older than that and it's warranty has expired, then try the drivers that it was using over a month ago, assuming these current problem drivers are different. If these drivers are not different, then the card can be tested at a computer shop.

[shadowpr]

are you trying to instal beta drivers?

[average650]

no i've tried three different drivers. one of them might have been beta, but the other two were not.

[average650]

I resolved the issue, but i'm not 100% sure how i did it. Basically i unplugged the dvi cable and plugged it back in. strange

[ski]

You got that right. Computers are strange.
Glad to hear that you fixed the problem, and thanks for posting back with the solution.