Having several different problems with Windows, probably of common origin.

[Gravemind]

Monday night after returning from work, several problems cropped up on my computer all at the same time after I restarted it. My computer had been running somewhat slow before then, but virus scans didn't detect anything wrong. Here are the problems that I've been having since I restarted my comp:

• The first thing I noticed was that my monitor's resolution changed from its standard 1024x768 to 800x600, which made everything appear big and wouldn't fit my wallpaper properly. Also, all my icons were reset to their default positions. I managed to fix these problems and my screen resolution and icon arrangement has stayed normal, except from when I tried a system restore.
• My computer has been running very slowly, far more so than before Monday night. It seems like it takes five times as long to load anything (programs, web pages, etc.). It also takes far more time than normal to restart my computer (it even failed to reboot once, and I was forced to unplug and replug my computer to get it to start up).
• Whenever I scroll down the page in any window (in IE, Word, Frontpage, or any other program, it does so slowly and there's this weird "ripple" or "wave" effect to the scrolling motion. It does this whether I use a window's scroll bar or my mouse's scroll wheel. Also, a similar problem happens whenever I drag a window across the screen.
• Real Player has been playing video files slowly, and the picture was all pixelated. (This was the first program I used after restarting my computer.)
• Whenever I tried to fix the previous two problems, I started by consulting Window's Help & Support as well as several websites. The most common solution given (including by WH&S) was to uninstall my video controller/driver (via Device Manager) and then reinstall it (via Hardware Wizard). My video controller is the Intel 82845G/GL/GE/PE/GV graphics controller/Intel Extreme Graphics driver, which came as my computer's preinstalled graphics hardware.
  
  Whenever I try to reinstall it, Hardware Wizard said the following:
  

  Cannot Install this Hardware There was a problem installing this hardware: Intel® 82845G/GL/GE/PE/GV graphics controller An error occurred during the installation of the device The I/O operation has been aborted because of either a thread exit or an application request.

  The Properties of the video controller says the following under the General tab: "Windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware. The driver may be corrupted or missing. (Code 39)."
  
  Every time I try unistalling and reinstalling the driver, the Hardware Wizard keeps saying the same thing as above, and the video controller's properties keep saying the same thing after each attempt to reinstall.

Each of these problems happened simultaneously, so I'm assuming they have a common origin. I ran another virus scan after the problems started Monday night, but again, no problems were detected (another scan started automatically yesterday, and no problems were detected then either). I've also ran AdAware, and deleted all threats, but it did nothing to solve my problems. I'm guessing it's a hardware problem. I don't really know much about computers, and using all the advice of all the help, support, and troubleshooting guides I've seen has been unable to resolve the problem. I tried performing a system restore to a point before these problems occurred, but that didn't work either. I even asked on other forums, but I haven't had any help yet. It's been almost a week already since the problems started, and I'm getting really frustrated. If someone here can help me out, I would be truly appreciative.

Thanks ahead of time. Later.

[bozo]

You could try a couple of things, but these are long shots. Open the case (powered down of course)...pull the video card out & reinsert it making sure it is seated good, startup & HOPE!

Go to the video card's web site & DL the latest driver for your device.

I say these are long shots, but worth trying. My guess is that you need a new video card.

[jamesrpm]

Uninstall the drivers for your video(control panel>system>device manager ,scroll down to video controller) then reboot and try to reinstall them when the hardware wizard asks.Old and new installs may be conflicting with each other.I think your video is built on the the board so no way to remove it. If you need to add a video card you can disable it though , see motherboard manual for how .

[Gravemind]

Well, I tried uninstalling the video driver, rebooted the computer, and used Hardware Wizard to reinstall it, but it keeps saying the same thing, except now it simply calls it "Video Controller (VGA Compatible)" instead of by its Intel designations. In fact, it isn't even signed by Intel anymore. And my computer won't let me install a new video driver that I DLed from Intel. I'm really and . I simply don't understand what happened to my comp. It's running slower than an Apple IIe now (it takes almost a minute for any new window to pop up). Is that related to the video driver? I'm guessing the slow scrolling in Windows and picture problems in Real Player are related, though.

[Spaz06]

Originally Posted by Gravemind Well, I tried uninstalling the video driver, rebooted the computer, and used Hardware Wizard to reinstall it, but it keeps saying the same thing, except now it simply calls it "Video Controller (VGA Compatible)" instead of by its Intel designations. In fact, it isn't even signed by Intel anymore. And my computer won't let me install a new video driver that I DLed from Intel. I'm really and . I simply don't understand what happened to my comp. It's running slower than an Apple IIe now (it takes almost a minute for any new window to pop up). Is that related to the video driver? I'm guessing the slow scrolling in Windows and picture problems in Real Player are related, though.

After you uninstall the video driver and reboot, you will get the "video controller" That windows default graphics driver installed. Try installing the intel drivers now. Are you running an updated adaware version? Also run spybot search and destroy.

[jamesrpm]

Have you tried to install the drivers while in "safe mode"? Try rebooting and tapping the f8 key while system boots up ,choose safe mode and install drivers from there , then reboot and let us know what happens.

[Gravemind]

Well I ran another virus scan, AdAware, and SpyBot, and everything still checks out OK. When I restarted in safe mode, I tried reinstalling the graphics driver, but it still keep giving me the same error message. What's going on? Could it be damaged? Should I (can I?) get a new video card?

[glc]

Do a system restore back even farther.

[Gravemind]

I tried doing a system restore again to the earliest available point, but it didn't fix the problem. For some reason, the earliest point it'll let me do a system restore to is the first of this month. It won't let me go back to December or earlier. I don't even have the option of selecting the initial restore point from when I first got the computer.

[jgis19]

It sounds like you have a pre built system ie: Dell,HP Gateway,etc. If so try to use your system restore disc that came with the computer,you will lose all of your self installed programs but it should get you back to where it was when you brought it home.