Computer Boots to a Screen full of Gibberish

[Wildnites]

9Problem: I just installed windows xp pro on a computer that crashed that had been originally been running Win98 for about 3 years. Yesterday, I bought a new in-box Maxtor HD and this time, installed WinXP pro. Installation seemed to go ok, I saw all the graphics that normally accompany an XP installation. But after the installation completed the PC restarted and the monitor just shows a bunch of colorful dots. I restarted again and again and each time the computer boots up to a screen displaying different colored dots, sometimes a colorful "crosshatch" style screen. In other words, just gibberish. The windows desktop does not appear and the mouse pointer is not visible. The PC is one that I built and while it is no speed demon, the parts I bought were all new in-box. This is my mom's PC and (at 73) all she does is surf, email and a play a few silly games.

Specs are as follows:

Award BIOS
ATHLON 1700+ Socket 462 (256k)
ASUS A7V333 (VIA K333)
256MB SDR RAM
MAXTOR 120G Diamond Max +9 Ultra-ATA/133
ATI RADEON GRaphics 64mb

[EzyStvy]

Have you tried Safe Mode so you can install the chipset and video card drivers?

[LaptopExtreme]

How old is your monitor? Maybe there is a resolution conflict. Have you tried a different monitor?

[Wildnites]

Originally Posted by EzyStvy Have you tried Safe Mode so you can install the chipset and video card drivers?

Yes,i forgot to mention that. I did try booting int he safe-mode and it did come up to a blank winXP desktop (no gibberish). No i didn't install the chipset/vid drivers. I will try that. Thanks.

[Wildnites]

Originally Posted by LaptopExtreme How old is your monitor? Maybe there is a resolution conflict. Have you tried a different monitor?

The monitor is a 5 year-old Sony Trinitron flat-screen. It didn't seem to have a problem with all of the WinXP setup graphics during installation, only when it booted to the opening desktop. But I will try another monitor just to rule it out. The problem is that I can't set resolution because the desktop/mouse pointer is not available, just a bunch of unintelligible screen gibberish.

[Force Flow]

It sounds like something may have happened to the boot sector.

Try booting with the XP CD and go into the recovery console. They type in these two commands when you get there:

fixboot

fixmbr

[edit]: nevermind...I looked at your initial post again, and I see you're experiencing a different kind of "screen gibberish" than I initally thought.

Check your video card and make sure that the heatsink is not clogged with dust, and also make sure if it has a fan, that it is running. It's possible that the card is overheating.

[flanzig1]

Also, check the caps on the video card. If they are bulging or leaking, they will cause things that you discribe.

[glc]

You have a defective video card.