Computer Help (Video related) Needed

"Darus" > schrieb im Newsbeitrag
ups.com...
> 1. Yes, the power supply is connected to the card.
> 2. No exchange of the card, it's about 2 years old.

You don´t need to replace it until it really gets on your nerves.
It´s not a faulty card I think, it´s a bad design of the card or the
drivers, I tend to say drivers, because I never had the problem in Windows
Me.

> 3. Without having read the link provided (yet, I will though. Thanks),
> is this an issue that comes up "at any time" or is it noticed right
> away and continues until replaced? Seems a bit odd that it worked great

When I was still using my 3dfx Voodoo5 the Radeon was used in another system
running Windows Me without a single problem. In my system running Windows Me
everything is ok, too. Only with XP it´s making trouble.

> for 2 years and then all of a sudden exhibits problems that ppl. have
> had as soon as they originally installed the card. I suppose it's
> possible.

Perhaps you did update drivers or OS!?!

> Here's something else that I have noticed. (Again it's a Dell.) When it
> does boot correctly, the green power light on the case lights as well
> as the busy light for the hard drive. When the video fails to work, the
> same power light does not work. I can hear the computer running and can
> see the green power light on the mobo. The 2 optical drives initialize
> and flash the "in use" lights briefly as well. Just the power light
> acts differently.

My lights are the same in both cases. My system really seems to boot up
correctly, just without showing a picture. I can shotdown it using
keyboard-shortcuts.

I forgot to tell you what did reduce the frequency of the problem:
Go to the screen which should be called "services" in the English version of
XP. There you have to disable "Ati HotKey Poller" and "ATI Smart". You don´t
loose performance by doing that, those two services are pretty useless.

Summary: On my system the problem only occurs when booting XP with a cold
start when the ATX-PSU was left on. I have everything connected to a
connector strip which has a seperate on/off-switch to cut the power
completely, so I use that switch and the problem is "solved" :-)

Best regards
Stephan

How many watts is your p/s? You may need a more powerful p/s. 300 watt
minimum is what I have read the 9800pro takes..