Resolved Green tint on computer and it's not the monitor and cable. What to do?

A few days ago, I restarted my computer and now I have a green tint color that completely covers any other color except black. I looked around on many forums and contacted technical support from my computers' manufacturer. I have tried many things; Turning off the pc and checking the hinges, screws and what not on the monitor, PC and the cable that connects the two. I tested the monitor and the cable that came with the monitor on a different PC and it came out fine however, I tried a different monitor plus a different cable on my PC... The green tint remained. Also tried updating display drivers and the tech support told me to reinstall VGA drivers... except they want me to call their phone services which cost per minute to figure out how to do that...

So, I've come for help to seek an answer because I've never had this problem on my old computer.

 

Feel free to ask questions. I know I left some elements out but, this green is a true eyesore after staring at it a long while...

 

Sadly, I have tried that already aswell. Also, it appears right as the computers gets to the boot screen, like the Acer logo and the bios info... Thanks for the advice though.

I have a feeling it is the VGA... But I have no idea how to remove a motherboard.

I was thinking to get a GPU, but I'd need a higher PSU and that would be a problem since my PC is slim.

 

It's good that you include your system information in your profile.

Pete, graphics are onboard, it has a PCI-e X16 graphic expansion slot, but be careful if you ever get an add-in graphics card, the power supply is tiny

If you want to check if it is a hardware problem, boot into Safe Mode (F8).

Here are some specs
http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/acer-aspire-x1200-u1520a/4507-3118_7-33229227.html

Here are Vista 64 drivers, I got them from the UK website, not knowing your location
http://www.acer.co.uk/acer/service....tx1g.c2att92=122&ctx1.att21k=1&CRC=2980211862

If it works in Safe Mode, one thing you could try is a System Restore to a time before the problem started.

Matt

 

Yes, the power supply is what's on my mind at most if I try to add a graphics card.

It is still green tinted after rebooting in safe mode and system restore.

I'm in the US, and believe me Matt, I have checked the website for all sorts of updates along with the Nvidia website. The sad thing is, I only had this computer for a month. I had bought a Dell from goodwill 2 years ago and never had problems with it.

Why does this has to happen in my birth month?

 

It's in green tint in safemode as well, and I tried system restore 3 times.

I downloaded the latest display and VGA drivers. I want to understand how to reinstall the VGA drivers since the tech support just wanted to mooch money off of me.

Option two would be to find a PSU for a compact PC like mine but, no clue where to look.

 

I might still check a few things hoping it was not hardware.

Right-click on a blank space on the desktop and select the NVIDIA Control Panel. Check how the monitor is listed, it should say the brand (Planar) and model. At the top of the different boxes there should be a selection Restore Defaults. You can select it for all the boxes, but particularly for the "Adjust Desktop Color Settings ".

The monitor might need drivers, but since you have tried a different monitor, actually, maybe the wrong drivers are installed. Monitor "drivers" are mostly(?) just a colour scheme/system anyway, which seems relevant in this case, although I might expect them to go back to standard in safe mode.

You can go to Device Manager, Monitors, highlight and uninstall any listings there, then reboot.

Vista has colour settings. Start -> Control Panel -> Color Management. If there are any listings there, I would write down what they were (just in case) and Remove them. If there are no listings, Windows uses standard settings.

The method is to go to Start -> Control Panel -> Programs and Features, under the NVIDIA heading will be both the graphics and the motherboard chipset drivers. Be careful not to uninstall the chipset drivers, nVidia call the chipset drivers nForce, they call the graphics drivers GeForce. [Edit: You might need to be careful when you reboot. If the Add New Hardware wizard runs, it might be best to click Cancel and run the drivers installer when you reach the desktop.]

But wait...
Did you buy this computer new? The drivers appear to be dated 30th June 2009. It should have 1 year warranty (stated in those specs). If it is less than 1 year old, you should have free service and support from Acer. If you send it away for repairs, expect that it will come back reformatted, so back up your data.

If it happens to be out of warranty, I might still look at reformatting and reinstalling Windows before trying to get a new motherboard or an add-in graphics card (which btw, would very likely need to be Low-Profile).

Matt

 

Yeah, it's out of warranty and I bought the pc a month ago reconditioned. Gateway Renovation Group has a warranty of three months for labor and parts.

I've been meaning to get a graphics card since I've bought this computer though but, now it seems I need one haha. Just with a psu of 220 and can't seem to find a slim psu to replace it with, I would need to find what graphics card won't fizz my comp out.

Got any suggestions for graphics cards? And/or finding compact type PSUs?

 

I'm confused. You say it is 1 month old and out of warranty, then you say there's a 3 month warranty.

As requested earlier, we need to know the exact make and model of this computer. We cannot assume the computer listed under "My System" is the one in question, as many people have more than one computer, or may be working with someone else's computer.

Note that Newegg has 19 Low Profile (microATX) Power supplies and 14 Low Profile Graphics Cards. The list of cards include PCI, AGP, and PCIe cards. If your motherboard supports PCIe (PCI Express), you should go that way. The computer would have to be several years old to support AGP, but if the case, that would be good too. If PCIe or AGP are not supported, then select from the PCI cards. In any case, you should see an improvement in over all computer performance as just about any add in card will be better than on-board as the GPU will likely be more powerful, and the card will come populated with RAM tweaked for graphics. Disabling the on-board will then free up the large chunk of system RAM that has been snagged and is being used for graphics processing, so in effect, you get a little RAM increase along with a better graphics solution.

You are wise to consider your PSU requirements before adding new hardware.

 

Yes, it's out of warranty with Acer. But it has 3 months warranty for parts and labor from Gateway renovation group. I don't know who they are and I tried to call them last week but, no one ever answered the phone so I'll try calling on Tuesday.

Yeah, my PC has PCI express x16. My main concern about getting a graphics card is because it might use up too much and fry my motherboard. I only got this PC last month and it would su ck to lose it with my birthday in a few weeks.

BTW; It's an Acer Aspire x1200 - AX1200-U1510A, reconditioned. Bought it from Tigerdirect August 1st of 2009.

 

Gateway and Acer merged about 2 years ago.

The only way your motherboard could get fried is if there is some sort of catastrophic failure - and that would happen with the PSU, not the card.

It looks like Newegg is down for the moment but there were several low profile PCIe cards you can choose from.

 

They have? Wow,
I really didn't know that.

I guess I should find a card that doesn't use much volts and such huh? What would you recommend?

 

Power consumption is in watts. The voltages are constant (assuming a properly working PSU) at 3.3V, 5V, and 12V.

You need to set your budget and go for it. Newegg has 5 low profile PCIe cards. Check the specifications (on Newegg and/or the maker's product page) for PSU minimum requirements, then buy the PSU that supports it.

Acer buys Gateway

 

There is an extensive review here
http://www.techspot.com/review/119-acer-aspire-x1200/
with internal photos.

The power supply is a "long, thin" type. The graphics expansion slot is hard up against the side of the case.

They say full load is 85 - 90 Watts, but do you have many, say, USB devices connected to it?

One further question. If you boot into the BIOS/Startup configuration settings, is the green tint there? If the graphics are "broken" you should get it fixed/replaced under warranty. You won't be able to fit in a graphics card with a large heatsink or fan.

Matt

 

I have four USB devices plugged into it. 2 Being the speakers and keyboard that came with the PC.

And yeah, boots up into BIOS with green tint.